Vegetarian Era


If meat-eaters have been following the news lately in America and around the world, they should be wondering why they eat animal flesh at all. It seems like God is sending His message to the world very clearly and urgently at the end of the millennium. The events surrounding the consumption of a flesh diet are not a coincidence.

It is rather interesting to observe that within a few months many different kinds of animals and fowl, which traditionally have been considered to be ordinary meals by meat-eaters, have encountered some strange and incurable viruses that can be transferred and fatal to human life. Let's look at what's been printed recently in the media:

BEEF: According to the Associated Press, on Wednesday 12/3/97, Britain announced a ban on rib roasts, T-bone steaks, and all other beef on the bone after new warnings about mad cow disease (Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, that causes brain damage and death) were issued. At least 20 people in Britain are known to have died of this disease so far.

On the same day, the American FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved use of irradiation on beef and other red meat such as lamb to kill bacteria at the end of the meat packaging production line. This radiation technique was adopted after 25 million pounds (or about 12 million kilograms) of hamburger were found that might have been tainted with E. Coli bacteria in the summer of 1997.

Americans are eating 13% less beef than in 1970, but it is still by far the nation's leading meat at about 64 pounds (or about 30 kilograms) per person every year.

The following is from the personal notes of this author:

With 250 million people in America, on the average of 16 billion pounds (or about 7 billion kilograms) of beef are consumed, or at least 16 million cows are slaughtered in America alone every year! More cows are killed to feed Americans than comprise the total human population of Australia which is approximately 15 million.

HOGS: On 12/4/97, the Indianapolis Star newspaper reported that in Indiana, some hog herds are still infected with pseudorabies, a highly contagious disease that is actually a herpes virus. This virus is not known to harm humans, (yet!)but it is deadly to wildlife such as raccoons, and farm dogs and cats have died of the disease that is nicknamed the "mad itch." The goal of wiping out pseudorabies by January 1, 2000, has cost Indiana pig farmers and taxpayers millions of dollars!

FISH: On October 20, 1997, "Business Week" magazine reported that a single cell called Pfiesteria Piscicida can kill fish by the millions and produce potent toxins linked to human skin sores and neurological disorders, including memory loss. Early in October of 1997, Virginia officials reported finding symptoms of Pfiesteria poisoning in five people, following similar reports in Maryland several weeks before. These "red tides" of Pfiesteria are striking many places around America and around the world. Virtually the entire coastline of the U.S. is now affected. The cost of the outbreaks is conservatively estimated to be about one billion dollars a year, and that figure could rise.

POULTRY: On 12/29/97, the Washington Post reported that a "bird flu" virus that apparently killed four people and infected many others in Hong Kong caused government authorities to announce plans to slaughter all chickens in the territory. They will also kill geese, ducks, pigeons and quail that might have been housed near chickens. The virus is known as AH5N1. By 12/31/97, 1.3 million chickens have been killed, either by carbon dioxide suffocation or by knife, which cuts across the neck.