Jesus the Compassionate Christ Won’t Frequent MxDxxxxd’s. By Dr. Chapman Chen

“Vegetarian” Christian theologian Stephen H. Webb (1961–2016) argued that MxDxxxxd’s provides inexpensive, calorie-dense food and implied that Christians should accept fast food and factory farming as unavoidable features of modern life. He even suggested that because Jesus identified with ordinary people and ate simple food, He would likely patronise MxDxxxxd’s were He to return today (Webb 2011:20–24).

1. Jesus Desires Compassion, Not Sacrifice!

Such a claim fundamentally misunderstands the moral trajectory of Jesus’ teachings.

Jesus would protest MxDxxxxd’s — not patronise it.

Christ explicitly declares, “I desire compassion rather than sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7 NASB). He also affirms the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not kill” (Matthew 19:18; Mark 10:19), when teaching about the path to eternal life. Linguist Reuben Alcalay notes that the Hebrew phrase לֹא תִּרְצָח (Lo tirtzakh) in Exodus 20:13 expresses a fundamental moral boundary against violence toward sentient life (Alcalay 1981; Rosen 2004:87). The spirit of this commandment resonates deeply with Jesus’ consistent ethic of mercy.

2. The Second Temple vs Modern Fast-Food Systems

Rather than eating there, Jesus the Compassionate Christ would challenge such a system. The Gospels show Him confronting economic and religious structures that harmed the vulnerable — most vividly when He raided the Temple (Matthew 21:12–13). He was not objecting to commerce in general but to sacred life being reduced to profit and exploitation. Both the Second Temple and modern fast-food systems commodify innocent sentient creatures of God into instruments of financial gain. . If Jesus overturned tables to liberate animals and defend spiritual integrity, it is difficult to imagine Him quietly endorsing industries built on industrialised killing. A modern equivalent would not be silent complicity but prophetic resistance.

3. MxDxxxxd’s as the Antonym of Compassion

MxDxxxxd’s, by contrast, stands in direct opposition to compassion in at least five major ways (cf. Food Not Bombs n.d.):

3.1. Systematic Cruelty to Animals

The fast-food industry depends on intensive confinement, mutilation, and slaughter of billions of animals each year. These beings are denied natural behaviours, fresh air, sunlight, and freedom of movement. Their lives are marked by suffering; their deaths are industrialised violence.

3.2. Promotion of Unhealthy Diets

Despite marketing claims, fast food is typically high in saturated fat, salt, and refined sugars while low in fibre and micronutrients. Regular consumption is strongly associated with increased risk of heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and obesity-related illnesses.

3.3. Exploitation of Workers

Fast-food labour is often characterised by low wages, minimal job security, high stress, and unsafe working conditions. Pressure to maximise profit leads to understaffing, rushed labour, and frequent workplace injuries such as burns.

3.4. Economic Injustice Toward the Poor

Global supply chains for cheap meat rely on land grabs, monoculture feed crops, and export-driven agriculture that displaces local food systems. Grain that could nourish hungry communities is diverted to livestock feed for wealthier nations.

3.5. Environmental Destruction

Industrial animal agriculture is a leading driver of deforestation, biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, and greenhouse-gas emissions. Packaging waste from fast-food chains adds significantly to global plastic pollution.

4. Conclusion

The issue is not whether Jesus ate “simple food.” The issue is whether His life and teachings align with systems built on violence, exploitation, and environmental ruin. They do not.

To put it in a nutshell, instead of dining at MxDxxxxd’s, Jesus the Compassionate Christ would challenge it — just as He challenged exploitative structures in His own time. Ironically, Stephen H. Webb, a Christian veggie theologian whose credibility has been seriously questioned, co-founded the Christian Vegetarian Association but was removed from his position as co-chair in 2006 after publishing articles in which he acknowledged eating meat on occasion while publicly promoting vegetarianism. His suggestion that Jesus would patronise a global fast-food empire stands in tension not only with Christ’s ethic of mercy but also with the historical and theological currents of Christian compassion.

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References

Food Not Bombs (n.d.). “What’s Wrong with McDonalds’?” FoodNotBombs Net. http://foodnotbombs.net/mcdonalds.pdf

Webb, Stephen H. (2011). “A Response to William T. Cavanaugh’s “Out to Lunch”,” The Other Journal 19: 20-24. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Other_Journal_The_Food_and_Flourishi/jkJNAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Webb,+Stephen+H.+%E2%80%9CA+Response+to+William+T.+Cavanaugh%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%9COut+to+Lunch%E2%80%9D,%E2%80%9D&pg=PA20&printsec=frontcover

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