Vegan: The Way of Compassion – Interview with the Reverend Father Chris Golding (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Father Chris Golding is famous for his favorite title – the “Vegan Priest.” Even though the Reverend admits that he is not the only vegan priest in the world, he wants to express who he truly is and ultimately affirms that a compassionate vegan lifestyle is the perfect path that God wants for us.

“I think when we are caught in what I imagine as a cycle of violence, there’s inherent violence in factory farming, particularly of meat of these large-scale commercial haulers, fish haulers, and harvesting fish and the resulting impact on other animal life. And more and more, I think we’re learning now the environmental impact of growing all this grain and feeding it to animals. And the inefficiency, taken out for a moment, just any compassionate response, the inefficiency of feeding a green, global population like that.”

“When I speak to the idea of being in a cycle of violence, I’ve done a little bit of reading and I’d certainly like to look into this more, of the effects that people working on the killing floor, the effect that has, being engaged in those physical acts of violence toward animals; what it has on their own soul, their own psyche; the way it has a negative impact on their relationships, the higher rates of domestic violence and other forms of, non-compassionate action. It’s really concerning.”

Father Golding now reminds us how the Bible says that the original diet of human beings was plant-based. He also expounds about the principles of non-violence that were the core of Lord Jesus Christ’s teachings, right up until His ultimate sacrifice. “And there’s a line in that that says, that God gave every green plant for food; that there’s a duty of the human beings to name the animals, but no mention of eating them. And so, the Seventh-day Adventists, part of the Christian faith take this quite literally. And they do, they’re vegetarian, they do not eat meat.”

“And so, that’s what I did. And I was vegetarian all the way through, from the age of 14 through the age of 30. And on my 30th birthday, just to sort of mark the occasion, I transitioned to a vegan.”