As we all make our individual efforts to be more "green" it is right to mention that factory farming of animals causes the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet.
It also contributes to land degradation, water degradation, pollution, and soul degradation.
How is it any different to kill and eat a cow then it is to eat a dog, as they do in some countries? Is this prejudice? We tell ourselves that a cow or chicken is justifiable killing because, well, God intended it so, or because we need protein, or because dogs are man's best friend.
We have developed the habit of killing, and we rationalize our guilty feelings.
We live lives of inner contradictions.
Whether you buy into the belief that you are what you eat, or not, you may be psychologically effected anyway.
Killing, that is not euthanasia, is not compassionate, respectful, nor non violent.
This is the quagmire.
How can the soul be pure when the mind and the body are not? We talk about love and peace, the want of a better world, and yet we live in self-deception, and ill respect in our own internal world.
No one has probably ever come to true spiritual peace by eating other animals.
In being more "green" let us remember that are responsibility to the earth goes beyond the trendy eco friendly grocery bag.
It is a thoughtful awareness of all that comprises our planet.
Do you reuse your plastic sandwich bags, coffee containers, margarine tubs, and shoe boxes? Have you started buying more fresh fruits and vegetables and less packed items? Have you started walking to the store or taking your bike? Do you recycle, reuse, and reduce? In Genesis, God gave humans dominion over the earth and all its living things.
Perhaps this is our saving grace, the responsibility to go beyond our sense of superiority and possessiveness, and serve as protector of all.