Is hunting animals a sin? I've gotten mixed answers on this but I do not see how this could possibly not be a sin.

no straight answer but its always yes and no.
hunting for thrill and kill is no doubt a sin.
hunting for hunger and survivability is not a sin.

Nothing in the bible stating this.

"hunting for hunger and survivability is not a sin."

See this is where I frustrated. Almost everybody who hunts these days is not doing it to survive. Keyword almost. There are people out there who are living in the wilderness and killing animals can mean life or death to them.
I have yet to see any 'normal' person hunt for survivability. By normal I mean the average go-doer of everyday life.

Consider this example. A man can afford a thousand dollar rifle, a hunting license, and a specific game card. Does he need to be 'hunting for meat'?
Now lets be honest. He probably also has a car, a house, and most importantly, a source of income.

If you have a source of income then using the 'hunting for the meat' is an absolutely poor excuse in my books. If you are hungry you go to the store and buy something. If you want meat you go to the store and buy it. You do not NEED to be hunting this animal for the meat, instead you simply do it for pleasure. This to me, is a sin.

This post was edited by 420Scheisse on Jan 24 2011 10:13pm

Even after all the expenses, hunting can actually still be cheaper in the long run. I say can, because it often is not.

I do not think hunting is wrong. If someone was just going through the bush shooting any animal they saw for the sole purpose of killing it, and leaving it there to rot. Then yeah, I'd say that's wrong... if more people could exercise common sense when thinking something was wrong or not we'd all be a lot better off.
And no, please don't take offense, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about all the morons who confuse the issue with useless babbling.

I must be in a bad mood, there is a pattern I'm seeing in my posting tonight... I think I'm going to stop posting for the night...

This post was edited by rlebar on Jan 24 2011 10:34pm

True, sure, but I think you are missing my point.

It is not to me that it's such a horrible thing(for as far as I know, the bible does not say it is a sin) but it's unnecessary.

We have huge companies mass-producing animals for meat to sell to you, me, and everyone else. Do you honestly think saving a few bucks is worth the killing of these animals?

I personally don't think money is a legitimate defense to this. You would have to be doing quite a lot of killing to be saving a noticeable chunk of money. (Don't quote me on that though)

My point is; if these hunters were NOT to kill the animal of their hunt, would they die? Do their lives depend on this hunting? No, so to me that is simply pleasure on their behalf.

And please guys, don't think I'm some peta freak or something, I'm a hunter myself, but the person I used is a real example, he is rather wealthy, and he is a true Christian.

And I just want you guys to try and understand what I am saying here.

Hunting these days is different then it was hundreds of years ago.

I'm saying that people these days hunts simply because they can, rather than must.

Are you telling me that God allows us human beings to kill animals simply because we can? What if every person in the world had that viewpoint. I don't think there would even be a single animal left, lol.

im christian and im fine with it

I understand where you're coming from and to be honest, to even open a discussion on the matter that hunting is basically obsolete and "could" be perceived as wrong because it's so un necessary opens a whole new can of worms on the ethical treatment of animals who are raised for slaughter... where the living conditions are just disgusting and many of the animals are killed in horrible ways and treated even worse while they are being raised.

To let an animal live it's life the way it was meant to and be shot and killed (hopefully quickly and relatively humanely) to be eaten, in my personal opinion is far less wrong, if either could be considered wrong, than raising animals for slaughter on a grand scale like many of the meat farms across north america do.

If scripture doesn't say it's wrong, then why beat a dead horse, so to speak. And no pun intended.

Let me ask this simple question. How could it ever be less wrong (or more right, or necessary in either case) to raise an animal and kill it for food for the sole purpose of doing so, or find an animal in the wild and kill it for food when the end result is the same? An animal dies so your belly can be filled.

No offense but in my mind the whole argument is irrelevant if you look at the bigger picture. At the end of the day, an animal dies. It's not like any less animals are going to die if we all stopped hunting (so long as the hunted animals are being eaten) because we'd stop eating our hunted food by eating butchery food. And that would only mean the butcheries would have to raise more cattle, chickens etc to keep up with the demand, and the demand would go up so they'd have to raise more, and in turn kill more.

And if that's the case, then why not let hunters hunt? so long as they are abiding by the laws (which in most places protects wildlife from being overhunted, so the animal populations is never in danger)

Good question!

I will start with the Biblical concept, we were given charge over the Earth and all that is in it, as caretakers.

Genesis has a nice progression of mans diet over time. It slowly moves us up the food chain. There seems to be a reason and nutritional Science is currently backing it. We need DHA(Omega-3) and B-12; just two nutrients unattainable from an untainted vegan diet.

The next couple books in the Bible, adds many more instructions, with know known Scientific and Empathetic benefits. Such as, eat grazers(more nutrients we need and less parasites), kill humanly(understand our place and lower stress hormones) and don't consume their blood(parasites and bad hormones). It's the basics of get what you need, don't consume what will harm you and don't cause suffering of the animal.

I'll end with, I grew up eating more deer than cows. I used to hunt a lot. I haven't now in years but ponder if I should just to make sure. I both eat well and what I eat has been treated as well as possible. Even as a child I never understood, why ppl want to put animal trophies on their walls and why they wanted those big old bucks(worst tasting meat ever).

Just a few random conclusions based on my lifetime of pondering, with one more...

,if it is a sin, in Christ, God forgives.