Diet Bias: Evolution vs. Creation

by patio34 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  patio34

  1. Creation viewpoint: If one takes the Bible literally, then it follows that all humans were vegetarian until the flood. In fact, Gen. 1:30 states that all creation ate vegetation. One could deduce also from the Bible that the carnivore/prey cycle is not God's original plan and that possibly it would be done away with in a paradise earth (Isaiah somewhere). So, it could be taken further that being a vegetarian today may be a bit of a moral issue and was a natural state of humans.

  2. Evolution viewpoint: humans evolved from hunters. Humans were hunters and gatherers for eons. The only grains humans ate was what they found wild. Farming domesticated foods didn't occur for thousands of years. Humans evolved and existed by eating mostly animals and fish. They ate what vegetation they could find, but during the winters, they subsisted mostly on meat. Humans have not evolved any since Cro Magnon and therefore their bodies do much better feeding them what they evolved on: lots of meat and fish, fruits and vegetables.

  So? What you choose to hold as true can influence your diet. It has made a difference in my dietary preferences going from one conviction to another.

  Just some of my rambling thoughts. I don't intend this to be yet another creation/evolution debate; it's just a thought. Actually, it's covered in a few new books: The Omega Diet and The Omega Zone, for a couple.

  Pat
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  kelsey007

  patio you are unique

  Most people I know are creationist and they eat meat and lots of it.
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  Jesus Christ

  Most people I know are creationist and they eat meat and lots of it.

  Kind of says something about how much they've evolved doesn't it?
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  onacruse

  Well, ya know, this has been a bit of an issue for me for many years. I still eat meat, but honestly, whenever I eat chicken, pork or beef, I can't help but think of the "farms" where most of those hapless creatures are raised in squalid conditions, hugely overpopulated, deprived of the most basic meaning and dignity of their existence. Veal is the worst (I've never had it, never will).

  My feelings have nothing to do with evolution or creation, just simply the dignity of life.

  Craig
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  IslandWoman

  I am neither a fundamental creationist nor an evolutionist.

  My children and I though, are becoming more conscious of the small lives we feed off of. We agree with Craig:

  My feelings have nothing to do with evolution or creation, just simply the dignity of life.

  IW

  Edited by - IslandWoman on 30 October 2002 0:51:46
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  SpannerintheWorks

  CREATIONISTS : God created humans with flesh-tearing teeth

  EVOLUTIONISTS : The teeth of humans evolved to enable the tearing of flesh

  Spanner
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  patio34

  This is very interesting and thanks for the posts.

  Avoiding cruelty to animals is a powerful argument. I have John Robbins book Diet for a New America and agree with it completely.

  However, it does seem questionable whether a vegetarian regimen is the best for the human body. Creationists for the most part are very omnivorous. But there are large groups (such as Mormons or 7th Day Adventists?) who are vegetarian as a matter of religion.

  I've been trying to have more fish; but I realize they are farmed under probably less-than-humane conditions.

  Kelsey, you said:

  patio you are unique

  My reply: 1) Well I never! 2) Thanks! LOL!

  Pat
• 

  patio34

  P. S. It seems that nuts and nut butters are a good alternative to eating so much meat and fish. They're complete protein, aren't sentient beings, and contain healthful omega-3 oil.

  Enjoy your day!

  Pat
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  Fe2O3Girl

  Here is another view of how our past affects our current food preferences, taken from the BBC webpage on Human Instinct:

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/humaninstinct/programme1.shtml

  A Question of Taste

  Without food we die. But can our instinct to eat explain why we all crave fatty, often unhealthy, food? Like all our instincts, our appetites were formed millions of years ago. In this uncertain world, laying down fat was the perfect way to ensure against times when food was scarce.

  Our ancestors who craved food which was high in calories and rich in fat lived and passed on their genes to their children - those who didnt, died and left no descendents. Gradually, over millions of years, that craving for calories became instinctive behaviour.

  Edited by - Fe2O3Girl on 30 October 2002 9:23:13
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  patio34

  Hi FeGirl,

  Thanks for the link to that article. It brings up excellent points about our eating fatty foods, which may explain why there's such a prevalence of obesity today, when there's usually so much food available.

  However, our intelligence can prevent this tendency. We are more than our instincts.

  But, this seems to digress from my original point and that is that the physical human body needs to have certain elements, omega-3 oil for one, that is mostly found in flesh. Except for flaxseed, olives, avocadoes, etc. And that if one discounts evolution out-of-hand then one misses this advantage altogether. Because humans, if created according to the Bible, they would have had no need for flesh.

  But I've painted myself into a corner, because it is possible to have the advantages of the omega-3 factor from a vegetarian regimen if one is very careful and due to foods being available most of the time. Fish is an easier, more widespread source, though. And as humans were evolving, flesh foods were about the only reliable source.

  Pat

  Edited by - Patio34 on 30 October 2002 9:58:39