Should Christians go vegetarian?

Came across this article today:
BBC - 404: Not Found
I found it interesting as I have been veggie for about 22 years now.Although there is no explicit commandment to abstain from meat, do christians not have a duty to ensure there is no suffering of animals which are God's creation, but another view held is I would agree with the point made that as per genesis, the original creation was a vegetarian society (as there was no death). So shouldn't Xians at least try to achieve God's original plan?

Thread copied here from the Should Christians go vegetarian? thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

I dont think it is necessary for all Christians to become vegitarians--but I believe that when animals are slaughtered for food that theyshould have been given good lives,treated well and that the process should essentially be kosher(or as some organic meat is produced)Our society over consumes meat---we are literally greedy for profits and insatiable in fast food appetites. Christians should be temperate and should oppose mass killing of animals for profit and no respect given the lives of those animals.I believe that we are allowed to eat organic or kosher meat...in moderation. I try and stay temperate myself. Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

Yes, all creatures were vegetarian from the Creation, but after the Flood God specifically told Noah that they should now eat meat: One commentator speculates that this might be because the land was agriculturally poorer after the Flood.I've also speculated that all things were genetically poorer after the Flood so that meat would be the most reliable source of nutrition.In the New Testament teachers who forbid the eating of meat are strongly condemned: So no, Christians are not in any sense required to go vegetarian and enforcing such an idea would be very wrong.Nevertheless there is also no command against going vegetarian if you want to, and of course it is always right to minimize the suffering of animals.

Really? Kosher? Prepared according to Jewish law?

Maybe so, but what was God's original plan? The idea that " the original creation was a vegetarian society (as there was no death)" is sheer nonsense.I eat meat out of respect for the lions. But I only eat vegetarians.

If I'm not supposed to eat meat, then why do I have canine teeth?

ok... Thanks for the noah quote, but that seems a little contradictory to me

I'm not trying to tell you you should be veggie, I don't give a shit what YOU eat.
I'm questioning the biblical literalists about the bible's teachings.But in answer to your PRATT: (this is largely a cut and paste as this argumant has been done a million times.)-Not only do most mammals (with the exception of rodents, rabbits, and pikas), including herbivores, have canine teeth; the largest canine teeth of any land mammal belong to a true herbivore: the hippopotamus.-Camels are herbivores with an average lifespan of 40 years. They eat foliage, dry grasses and desert vegetation mostly thorny plants. Sharp canine teeth in both the upper and lower jaws enable them to crush woody plants for food.-The Javelina, or peccary, is a furry cousin of the pig. Their spear-like canine teeth are used to shred cactus pads, a primary source of nourishment.-the human anatomy resembles that of herbivorous animals (such as the gorilla and the elephant) more than that of carnivorous and omnivorous species. Our mouths’ openings are small; our teeth are not extremely sharp (even our canines); and our lips and tongues are muscular. Our jaws are not very stable (and would therefore be easy to dislocate in a battle with prey), but they are quite mobile and allow the side-to-side motion that facilitates the crushing and grinding of plants.Our stomachs are only moderately acidic, The herbivore’s stomach also has a higher pH than the carnivore’s or omnivore’s, perhaps in part because plants ordinarily do not carry the dangerous bacteria associated with rotting flesh.Like herbivores and unlike carnivores and omnivores as well, we have long small intestines, enabling the digestion of complex carbohydrates, a process that begins in our mouths, where we, like the committed herbivores, have carbohydrate-digesting enzymes as well.Like I said, the purpose of this thread is not to preach vegetarianism, I am questioning what the biblical literalists view is.
But the idea that we are born carnivores is nonsense.

in the context of the biblical creation myth, pre fall, there was no death. therefore no meat was eaten, Edited by Heathen, : No reason given.

What about Genesis 4? God prefers the meaty offering of Abel to the veggieburgers of Cain. And in Genesis 8 and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers we're told how much God likes the smell of meat cooking, to the extent that he'll even forgive sins in exchange for a good sniff of it.Any atheist wishing to hedge his bets could do worse than to be buried with some ribs in BBQ sauce. Picture the scene: the unbeliever approaches the Great White Throne, and "THOU HAST SINNED", thunders wrathful Jehovah, "THOU HAST DISBELIEVED, THOU HAST BLASPHEMED ...""Yeah, but smell this."

And where do you fit Abel into all this?

Someone didn't get the memo.

this is all post-"fall" though,
The original, "perfect" creation had no meat, (at least the meat was still attached to the bones and walking around)isn't that what Christians should be aspiring to? a pre-fall state of perfection?