The practice of living the life in Christ: fasting, vigil lamps, head-coverings, family life, icon corners, and other forms of Orthopraxy. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.
The harm inflicted upon animals is of great concern to Jesus Christ. Animals are abused, held captive for amusement, massacred for fashion, hunted for sport, and exploited and killed for their taste.
Animals are precious creatures. Mankind has no authority to harm them. The bible is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus is the tree of life.
I don't disagree with the idea that humans should respect nature and the creatures found within nature. What a wonderful witness they are to God's greatness! However, whenever I hear the "animal rights" activism type of stuff, this following verse normally comes to my mind:
When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water." - Matt. 8:28-32
9 On the morrow, as they went on there journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessal descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to earth:
12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat.
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again a second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. -Acts 10: 9-16
The quote above might not fit 100% into the topic since the main meaning behind this vision was that Peter should not reject teaching the Gentiles but I don't think that God would have given his intended message in this form if we were not allowed to eat animals. Acually I also think(emphasis on the work "think") that it was from this vision that God also told us that we are allowed to eat any animal included the "unclean" animals which the Jews had previously not been allowed to eat such as pork.
I used to be vegan, so I don't eat as much meat as most people. Still, I eat it, thereby absolving me of any false sense of ethical superiority that I might come off as having by saying this:
Angels are a light to monks, and monks are a light to men. Monks don't eat meat.
As for the environmental issue, it's true, factory farming and industrialized food in general are proven to be environmentally destructive. Of course, in my opinion, industrialized society is so far a cry from anything remotely Orthodox it's not much of an arguing point.