All Lives Matter; Vegan Christians are Neither Left Nor Right. By Dr Chapman Chen
All lives matter, human or animal, born or preborn. Vegan Christians are neither left nor right.
The Right frames us up for worshipping animals and for supporting the killing of preborn babies, which we do not.
The Far Left frames us up for weaponizing the phrase "All Lives Matter" to silence or derail specific conversations about systemic racism and police brutality against Black individuals. They also unfairly accuse us of depriving pregnant women of their “right to bodily autonomy” by defending helpless preborn babies.
We do not mind. “…if a man strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other as well,” Jesus teaches us to bear insults (Matthew 5:39) (n.1). “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you,” Jesus assures us (Matthew 5:10-12).
Jesus Himself was challenged, questioned, misunderstood, accused, mocked, rejected and ultimately executed. Even while hanging on the cross, Jesus still prayed to God on behalf of the Roman soldiers who crucified him and the others who put him to death, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
We just staunchly follow Jesus the Vegan Christ, who embodies unconditional love and universal compassion. We love “the glory that comes from God” more than “the glory that comes from men” (John 12:43); we seek the approval of God rather than the approval of men (Gal. 1:10).
Notes
1. Here, Jesus is telling us not to take revenge for personal humiliation, rather than physical assault. Otherwise He would have used a different example than a mere smack on the cheek. Since most people are right-handed, how does one slap you on your right cheek if they are standing in front of you? What we find in verse 39 is imagery of someone hitting your right cheek with the back of their hand, which was an ancient insult (cf. Job 16:10; Lam. 3:30; Matt. 26:67; John 18:22; 2 Cor. 11:20). A slap on the face was demeaning and dishonoring (Crain 183).
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