What Does Sparingly Mean?

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Hooray, GIA here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where

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Judy and I talk about those

things that bring us joy for me.

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I find joy by connecting with

nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of

magic and wonder I come across while

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navigating this remarkable journey.

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We call life.

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I know you have all been waiting on

the edge of your seats for this podcast

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because today we are going to talk

about the third do of the word of

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wisdom, which is eat meat sparingly.

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Oh, you weren't waiting anxiously.

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That's too bad because I have been

anticipating this episode for weeks.

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Traditionally we read the word of wisdom

focused on the don'ts, but I love to

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focus on the dos, those things that

we should be putting into our bodies.

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In my reading of the word of wisdom,

I find for dos they are eat plants.

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Eat seasonally with

prudence and Thanksgiving.

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Eat meat sparingly and eat grain.

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I love this list because I believe

all of them connect me with the

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earth, which in turn connects me

to our earth's precious creator.

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If you are interested in an overview

of this topic or in hearing my thoughts

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about the first dues of the word of

wisdom, please see episodes 65 73 and 77.

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Now before we go any further, I need to

say that I am in no way, shape, or form

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trying to tell you how you should eat.

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I am reading the word of wisdom

and trying to figure out what

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it means for me and my life.

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I am only sharing my thoughts

in case it helps someone else

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on their own eating journey.

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I am a relatively healthy person,

so following the dos of the

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word of wisdom is easy for me.

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But there are all kinds of reasons why

this type of diet may not work for you.

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For example, I have a friend who has a

severe histamine reaction to any plants.

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Meat is one of the only things

she can eat without pain.

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For this and many other reasons,

I do not believe the word of

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wisdom is meant to be dogmatic.

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What you take into your

body is between you and God.

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That said, I also believe that what

you eat should be done mindfully,

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thoughtfully, and with intention.

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This is why with all the confusion in the

world today about how we should eat, I

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find the word of wisdom to be a gold mine.

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So when starting off, I want to blow

the elephant out of the water here.

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The word of wisdom says

eat meat sparingly.

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Judy and I have a sister-in-law

who once said, I hit my finger

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with a hammer sparingly.

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The definition of sparingly

is pretty obvious, right?

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Though I do understand

there is some leeway.

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So I am not here to tell you what

sparingly should look like in your

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life, but I am going to focus on

eating meat sparingly in this episode,

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and it's really important to me that

you not become offended or insulted.

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I am not trying to tell anyone that they

are following the word of wisdom wrong.

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Just take in what I have to say and see

what you can glean from my thoughts.

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I also want you to know that if you are

feeling overwhelmed by this topic, I

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have two unique twists on the word

sparingly that I will be sharing

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towards the end of this episode, and

it is my intention that they feel even

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the most meat bound person with hope.

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So hold on for those.

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Okay, let's dive in.

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I want to start by reading the

exact verses in doctrine and

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covenants that cover this topic.

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That would be chapter 89, verse 12,

13 and 15, which say Yay, Flesh also

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of beast and of the fouls of the air.

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I the Lord, have ordained for

the use of man with thanksgiving.

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Nevertheless, they are to be used

sparingly, and it is pleasing unto

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me that they should not be used only

in times of winter or cold or famine.

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And these have God made for the use of man

only in times of famine and excess hunger.

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To me, this sounds like meat should only

be eaten when there is no other option.

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I think of Lehigh's family crossing

the desert and basically living on

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meat because that was all there was.

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Now in my experience, meat lovers are

pretty quick to point out that doctrine

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and Covenants 49 makes it very clear

that we are not banned from eating meat.

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And they're absolutely right, so

let's talk about that for a moment.

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As you may know, many early

members of the church came from

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the shaker religious tradition

Where eating meat was forbidden.

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This practice, along with other

practices prompted Joseph Smith to seek

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clarifications, doctrine, and covenants.

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49 verses 18 and 19 were the

answers to that meat question.

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It says,

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and who so forbid it

to abstain from meats.

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That man should not eat the

same is not ordained of God.

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for behold the beast of the field and

the fouls of the air, and that which

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cometh of the earth is ordained for the

use of man, for food and for Raymond,

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and that he might have in abundance.

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Yep.

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It's pretty clear.

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As members of the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter Day Saints,

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we are allowed to eat meat.

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But that's not the end of the story.

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Let me continue and read verse 21, which

says, and woe be unto man that sheth

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blood or wasti flesh and hath no need.

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Yeah, that's pretty clear as well.

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Woe unto man that shed it.

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Blood or wasth flesh.

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When the Lord says wo, it seems

like something we should be paying

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attention to, don't you think?

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and in case that isn't enough, if

you look at the footnote for Shed,

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you are led to the topical Guide for

Sanctity of Life and the Joseph Smith

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translation of Genesis nine 11, which

says, and surely blood shall not be

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shed only for meat to save your lives.

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And the blood of every beast

will I require at your hands.

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The blood of every beast

will I require at your hands.

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That sounds pretty

serious, don't you think?

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Yeah.

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God takes the sanctity of life seriously.

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The word of wisdom is specifically

for our time, for right now, for

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this last dispensation, it wasn't

given to the people at the time of

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Abraham or to the disciples living

while Christ was on the earth.

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This is for us.

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The people at those times were given

their own food principles based on the

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things going on during their lives, and

we have been given hours to deal with

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what is happening on the earth right now.

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As I mentioned in my last word

of wisdom episode, I think eating

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seasonally is the hardest principle

to understand, but eat meat sparingly.

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I think this one is the hardest to apply.

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Eating meat is deeply ingrained in our

society and even in our church culture.

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It's something we often feel we need.

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And meat is wrapped up in our traditions.

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I mean, can you have thanksgiving without

a Turkey or Sunday dinner without a pot

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roast or a bonfire without hot dogs?

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These things feel like a part of us.

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And let me say, I believe

changing how we eat is one of

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the hardest things we can do.

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What we put in our mouths is so personal,

but I have never known God to shy

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away from asking us to do hard things.

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So as members of the Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter Day Saints, we know that

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we are to eat meat sparingly, whatever

that word sparingly means to you.

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There is no question about that, which

means we really don't need to debate

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why we should eat meat sparingly,

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But I think having at least a few

possibilities as to the why is helpful

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towards actually living this principle.

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So I am going to share just a few reasons.

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First, let's talk a

little about meat quality.

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You likely know that 90% of our corn

and soy is genetically modified.

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That was done so that crops can

be sprayed with glyphosates.

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Glyphosates are herbicides

like Roundup that kill plants.

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The glyphosates don't kill the food

crop because it has been genetically

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modified to withstand the poison.

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But these glyphosates cause all kinds

of health problems, including cancer,

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and our crops are drenched with them.

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And guess what?

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These same crops are being fed

in abundance to food animals.

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Even if you only eat grass fed

beef, know that these animals are

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often sent to the feedlots for the

last months of their lives to be

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fattened up on glyphosate corn.

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Now there are lots of conscientious

farmers that you can buy meat

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from, but talk to them and

find out about their practices.

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Yep, healthy meat will

cost more, but guess what?

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The more it costs, the less you will eat.

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Almost sounds like God planned

it that way, doesn't it?

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Another reason for eating meat

sparingly is kind of obvious, but

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in the past world history, people

lived so much closer to their food.

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You raised your chickens, pigs

or cows, and you slaughtered them

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yourself, I'm sorry, but if you had

to ring the neck of a chicken and

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then pluck it to have chicken breast

on your salad, would you do it?

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I'm just saying, I think one of the

reasons we eat so much more meat these

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days is because we are so far removed

from the process of meat production.

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And along this same idea, I am

increasingly convinced that we

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are asked to eat meat sparingly

at this time in history because of

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the appalling conditions so many

of our animals are being raised in.

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Listen to these words from

the gospel principles manual.

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All living things were created

spiritually by God before they

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were created physically on earth.

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Each was created to fulfill the measure

of its creation and to have joy therein.

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I believe God cares deeply about

the treatment of his creations

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In Deuteronomy, He gave specific

instructions about how oxen were to be

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treated during the threshing of corn.

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He cares about a beast of burden.

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And one of my favorite scriptures from

Luke says that when a sparrow is sold,

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not one of them is forgotten before God.

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Uh, he remembers every sparrow.

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Don't you think he remembers

every chicken, Turkey, and pig?

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I recently watched a horrific documentary

about how food animals are treated

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and about the slaughtering process.

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Honestly, I have never seen an

animal slaughtered before, and while

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that was traumatic, it wasn't the

part that has been haunting me.

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It is how the animals are

treated while they are alive.

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I am not going to go into graphic

detail here, but I want to say that

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in our modern food industry, pigs are

held in cages so tight they can't move.

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Roasting.

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Chickens are bred to have such big

breasts, they can't stand up, and cows

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are pumped full of antibiotics so they

can keep producing milk for years.

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And this is just the mild stuff.

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it's not just that animals are not allowed

to fulfill the measure of their creation.

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They are literally being tortured.

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And I, for one, believe we are going to

be held responsible for their treatment.

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I also believe God gave us the

word of wisdom at a time when he

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knew that the greed of men would

lead to the abuse of his creations.

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He is asking us not to be a part of it.

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I am particularly drawn to verse 18 of

the word of wisdom where Christ says it

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is pleasing unto me that they not be used.

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These words pleasing unto

me, hit me in the chest.

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I want to be pleasing unto my God.

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I want to show reverence and sanctity for

his creations by eating meat sparingly.

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To me, meat comes from real live

creatures with a right to joy.

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They are not the sterilized food

products we find wrapped in plastic

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and served up on styrofoam trays,

and certainly not something to

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merely be referred to as protein.

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Now since I brought up the word protein.

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Let's shift gears for a moment.

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As you are likely aware, there are

three macronutrients that are bodies

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need, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

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Yep.

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We need protein.

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But contrary to what some people

may believe, all of our protein

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needs can come from plants.

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I mean, that's how the cows get them.

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They eat plants.

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Right now in the food culture

of the United States, we

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are big on eating protein.

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The more the better.

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In fact, my fabulous man was recently told

by a doctor that he should eat a gram of

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protein for each pound of body weight.

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For him, that would be 140

grams of protein per day.

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Can I just tell you, that's a lot of

protein, but there are scientific,

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double blind studies proclaiming this

as truth, so it must be true, right?

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Uh, honestly, I don't know what

to say about the right amount

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of protein you should eat.

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Experts are all over

the board on this topic.

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I will admit that as a longtime

plant-based eater, I have recently

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been focusing on getting more

protein rich foods into my diet.

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Foods like beans, nuts

and organic soy products.

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And when I figured out not to

fill up on fiber like giant

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salads, this became a lot easier.

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but here is what I really

want to share about protein.

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No matter how much protein you decide you

want in your life, you can, and people

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do get all they want from plant sources.

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Even super athletes like marathon

rudders and bodybuilders thrive

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on plant-based diets, and they

can even do it without relying on

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heavily processed protein powders.

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