The Idolatry of Vegetarianism

"There’s no sin in being a vegetarian for health or religious reasons."

For health reasons, I can understand that. But the point I want to argue is the religious reasons. What are they?

I know many vegetarians by choice. Some may not have been brought up with meat due to economic circumstances and therefore unable to purchase meat, and some just naturally may be not interested in certain meat because of the smell or taste (that I can understand, since I am not fond of some fish myself). The sin I am talking about is the choice by which the individual feels that it is immoral to eat animals because they feel that the animal has the same rights as people and has feelings itself and therefore should not be killed and eaten and the idea of eating living creatures is just disgusting and cruel. But you know what? This isn't Biblical. This is Native American spiritualism and all those other religions that teach equality between humans and animals and every living thing or even non-living thing in the universe.
Some of us of course feel it is hypocritical for others to stand against not eating cats and dogs while still say that it is okay to each chickens and cows. Let's just start the argument from the beginning...

When God created the animals, he set apart different types of animals, and one type he called " livestock" (Gen. 1:25) in which we can understand as the typical farm animals such as chickens, pigs, sheep, horses and cows. Some other animals may fit into that category like deer and camels, depending where you live and what is available. Livestock are defined as domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labour and commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool.
Some vegetarians may argue their point by using the following verse 30, "And to every beast...bird...everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." Naturally we eat vegetation from the beginning, yes, but that is not commanded only to eat vegetables. That changes later on. In fact, the Levitical priests had to eat sacrificial animals under the Sinai Covenant.

Peter's Vision
In Peter's vision in Acts 10, a sheet descended down from heaven and in it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds. A voice says to him "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." By Jewish practice, they made certain food only acceptable. They made it religious on what to eat and not to eat. But God replied to him saying, "What God has made clean, do not call common."

If we look back to when Adam's sons gave sacrifices to God, God was pleased with the aroma of the animal burnt offering. And if you remember, God even killed an animal to cover to shame of Adam's and Eve's sin. So the intent to kill is good in this way. The intent to kill an animal for nourishing the body is fine.

Do Not Pass Judgement on One Another
Romans chapter 14: "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he mat eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgement on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him....The one who eats, eats in honour of the Lord. The one who abstains, abstains in honour of the Lord and gives thanks to God.....Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.....Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgement on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

Here is where I want to make my point. The strong believer eats whatever he pleases and thanks the Lord. The weak brother eats according to his ceremonial diet and thanks the Lord that he made a sacrifice on His behalf. In either case, the believer thanks the Lord, so the motive is the same.
The focus of Christian living is never one-self. Everything we do should be to please our Lord.
The reason you choose not to eat something has to come from faith. If the reason is for the animal and not for God then it is idolatry. It is elevating the animal before God. It is putting your heart before Him. I may be sounding like I'm pointing fingers at vegetarians about this but the issue is what is lying behind these thoughts. If you are putting food before God, then you will have to re-prioritize what is most important.
And where it reads, "It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble...." here is the only part that permits it good not to eat or drink so that you don't cause someone who is weak in their faith to fall into sin.

Now many may use this against my argument in verse 6, "The one who abstains, abstains in honour of the Lord and gives thanks to God." This doesn't mean that your philosophy that eating animals is wrong applies to this. No! this is the same kind of abstinence with things that people struggle with and are willing to let go of in order to serve God better. Just like a man might abstain from playing video games for the rest of his life or stop drinking beer because it's ruining his marriage, family life in general and health too. If it leads you to sin and make an idol then cut it out of your life so that you may live a more faithful and honourable life in thanks to God. Again this is for those who choose not to eat because of their feelings for the animals.

Another thing that I wanted to point out was the problem with vegetarians that advocate in their workplace, especially when working with children. Do not tell a child that the reason you choose not to eat meat is because you love animals. Some child who really adores you and looks up to you will begin to think that they are sinning because they eat meat. They will choose to abstain from eating meat because of wrong feelings. Feelings that make something clean unclean and give them the guilt that doesn't come from God. It's okay not to eat things because you just don't like it. But we should be teaching our kids to eat things because it is good for them. Of course I don't tell my kids to each whatever they like because they don't know what's good for them. If they simply don't like beef, I will tell them it is good for their body and God permits it. For myself, I force myself to eat things that I don't like but know it benefits my health. And I do it because it is not a sin and I'm allowed to eat anything. That's what I remind myself. But it is better to abstain from foods that are artificial and not good for the body(as difficult as it is for a sweet-tooth like me).

So to sum it all up, the Bible does not directly address vegetarianism as a dietary preference for health reasons. The Bible does, however, indicate that eating meat is acceptable.