Slaughtering animals is a messy, bloody business — but that reality is nothing new. With Passover starting this weekend and Easter Sunday next week, for practicing Orthodox Jews and Christians, the blood sacrifices offered in the Old Testament are prominent in the thoughts of many this time of year. For those practicing Judaism, it will be reflected in the Passover Seder this weekend. For Christians, it will be in the Good Friday communion services next week and then again on Resurrection Sunday.

Certainly for Christians, Jesus is the fulfillment of what the sacrificial Passover Lamb depicted in the mercy of God: His blood was shed for the remission of sins. For Jews, though the animal sacrifices in the Torah are no longer offered at the Temple in Jerusalem, many still eat the same meat on an Orthodox Kosher diet, where the cow, lamb, chicken or goat has been slaughtered. If you missed my blog last year on Kosher slaughter, click here.

Because I’m often in a meat plant, seeing blood on the floor is common. There’s not only blood on the floor, but on the tables, aprons, walls and gloves. There’s blood all over the place. It’s a messy business, and it makes some people squeamish. Our rapidly changing culture seems to have an increasingly difficult time psychologically processing ‘blood on the floor’ as a means to a necessary end. Having healthy, nutritious protein for food requires it. Why is this reality increasingly tough for our culture to accept?

There are several reasons:

Less than 1.5% of Americans are actively involved in firsthand food production.
Many plant-based companies strategically market for ending the raising of food animals, partly based on an emotional appeal against eating meat.
It’s increasingly intolerable for those of younger generations to think of animals slaughtered for consumption when there are more emotionally palatable options.
The alarm over global warming has many people convinced that animal agriculture is harmful to the environment and must be phased out. Bill Gates, many celebrities and politicians, and countless others use their social media influence to message this concern.

I don’t think the reason is as simple as urbanization. In other countries that have large urban centers, we don’t see this same growing distaste for "blood on the floor." For example, there are huge cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mexico City, most South American cities and many others that don’t seem to have the same growing "anti-meat" sentiments in their cultures. The problem seems to be the most pronounced in the U.S., Canada and the EU.

I do see a strong correlation between this anti-meat sentiment and the growing secularization of Western nations. The erosion of Judeo-Christian values that helped form and preserve our nation is also having a strongly negative effect even on the meat industry.

Secular thought and Postmodernism have convinced many that objective truth is old-fashioned and outdated. Facts can thus be manipulated and even falsified to fit a subjective reality. For example, consider how companies like Beyond Meat manipulates data about animal agriculture’s environmental impact. On its website the company claims its product uses 99% less water, 93% less land, puts out 90% less GHGE and uses 46% less energy than a comparable 4 oz. of beef. This data comes from a study they funded. Many people have climbed onboard this type of subjective, meatless message without bothering to fact-check the claims. Many simply prefer this message because it’s contrary to traditional or religious thought.

Those who define the Old Testament Jewish practice of sacrificing animals as especially cruel fail to realize that all of the meat used in their sacrifices was also used to feed people who would’ve otherwise starved without it. None of the meat went to waste. Those who try to deny the New Testament sacrifice of Christ at the time of Passover fail to realize what those Old Testament Sacrifices were pointing to, namely, that we need our sins to be forgiven. But you don’t have to subscribe to religious thought at all to realize the unique health benefits of consuming meat as part of your diet. Even if you deny yourself the celebration of the Passover and Resurrection, you can still enjoy the benefits of a nutritious and delicious dinner.

So, pull up a chair at your family’s traditional dinner this holiday season, and enjoy the provision of good healthy meat!

Our culture’s changing attitudes about animal slaughter

Join for free* to continue reading.