Kill the Vegetarians!

As I've continued to read the book, "Betraying Spinoza", I recently finished a section which details the trials and tribulations of Spanish (and later Portuguese) Jews during the infamous Inquisition. Thousands were burned at the stake and tens of thousands more were forced to convert to Christianity to avoid being burned alive. All this in the name of the most hallowed Jesus and the holy God!

While many will look back at this period aghast in horror and will call it an aberration, the history of Christendom is filled with such examples. Even today, we can see remnants of the Inquisition at work, albeit in a more modernized form. Val over at Matters of Integrity reminded of me of this when she posted a parody of "The Gathering Storm" video which claims that gay marriage is a direct assault on fundamentalist Christian values.

While today's fundamentalists are not attempting to fleece gay and lesbians of their riches and property (after burning them at the stake), the underlying mentality remains the same -- that the beliefs and behavior of some group weakens their own commitment to their ideals and beliefs.

It got me to thinking about a good analogy. Since most Christians are meat eaters -- God granted them dominion over the animal kingdom -- they could well feel threatened by vegetarians like me. Despite the fact that deciding to eat or not to eat other flesh is a personal decision, I could see how conservative Christians might take my personal decision as a threat to their Christian beliefs.

Many vegetarians -- me included -- are very forthwith in our views. We have lobbied and succeeded in getting vegetarian options made available in school cafeterias and public eating establishments. We have converted many former meat eaters to join our ranks by appealing to their sense of humanity as well as pointing out the environmental costs of raising meat to eat.

So, just like supporters of gay marriage, our views and beliefs are making inroads in public consciousness. I wouldn't be surprised if a segment of the conservative Christian church one day decides that we are force to be stopped at all costs. Their arguments would go like this:

Jesus ate meat and God himself has pre-ordained that humans eat meat. These vegetarians are undermining our faith by advocating against God's holy message. They are affecting the hallowed sanctuary of our homes by teaching our children that not eating meat is a viable option. If we don't stop them now, it will forever tarnish our legacy as carnivores.

Kill the vegetarians! Kill the vegetarians! (While we're at it, can we take possession of their belongings and property?)