Christianity doesn't ask you to be perfect (thank God), but it does ask you to try. Someone tell me what's trying about eating at Chick-fil-A because Mike Huckabee told you to. Was waiting in the drive-thru line hard? Was figuring out what to order agonizing? Tell me how you helped bring about the kingdom of God by eating at Chick-fil-A yesterday.
Because let me tell you something about Chick-fil-A. While some people talk about their cardboard factory-farmed chicken, I don't care. Chick-fil-A is delicious. It has herbs and spices that make the chicken smell so good that I occasionally surreptitiously ate it during my vegetarian years while I was slouching around College Mall in Bloomington. Their bite-size breakfast chicken sandwiches are perfect to eat with some fruit and trick yourself into thinking you're eating something healthy (you're not).
Now the good news is that I don't really know where there's a Chick-fil-A near me and I wouldn't buy it anyway because I've known about their politics for years. But it turns up at various office functions and I'll be damned if someone else has paid for that delicious chicken and I'm not going to eat it.
But Jesus is about burdens, y'all. Light burdens, but burdens nonetheless. And eating delicious chicken to do exactly the opposite of loving your neighbor? Not a burden.
I will only add this:
ReplyDeleteFactory farming is worth caring about. The animal suffering, yes, but the very human toll, not only in the health of those who eat the meat, but for the near-slave labor force given total power over helpless others. It's corrosive, to say the least.
I completely agree - I made that comment mainly for effect. I think factory farming is very troubling for all of the reasons you cite, which is why I do my best to avoid factory-farmed meat, though I can't claim purity on this score.
ReplyDeleteOne reason I quit eating meat altogether was because when I only ate meat once or twice a week, it was too easy to eat any meat put before me. And a year later I came to the same conclusion about eggs and dairy, although it's much harder to be pure on that one so I accept "better" over perfect. And I don't presume that others need to make my choices! I just had to.
ReplyDelete