According to Vedic scriptures, civilization begins with the cultivation of food. Barbarians are those who do not know how to cultivate the land and instead eat animals.

Violence at the Table

The next step is to eat the children

According to Vedic scriptures, civilization begins with the cultivation of food. Barbarians are those who do not know how to cultivate the land and instead eat animals. That means they are not human beings, but sub-humans. They will even eat each other. The Bhagavat Purana says that in this age men will eat each other. They are already killing children in the womb. The next step is to eat them. Someday, when there is a food shortage, they will say, "Why not eat the fetus? It's just a lump of flesh, and very tasty too." The Srimad-Bhagavatam says that in this age people will eat their own children. This is the result of the advancement of science and politics. The real problem is godlessness.

Not even human beings

When a lion becomes hungry, he cannot go to the supermarket, buy something, bring it home, prepare it and then sit at the table to eat. He becomes so disturbed that he savagely kills and devours another animal. Human civilization, however, begins with cultivation of the land. A human being knows how to produce food out of the earth by combining the natural elements—sunlight, water, air, earth and the seed. Animals don't know how to produce food. They simply eat each other. If a human being gives up the cultivation of food and eats another animal, then he is no longer a human being, but an animal, a barbarian or savage.

Uncivilized means wild, without culture, without knowledge and without any shastras or scriptures. In this age, no one follows any shastras. Officially everyone says, "I am Christian, I believe in the Bible" or "I am Hindu, I believe in the Bhagavad-gita" or "I am Muslim, I believe in the Koran", yet no one actually follows the shastras; they just rubber-stamp the fact that they belong to some religious community. And because no one follows the shastras, there is no more civilized life on the earth.

Building airplanes, skyscrapers, automobiles, nightclubs, cinemas, hotels, telephones, etc. is not a sign of civilization or advancement of knowledge and culture. Insects build very wonderfully. The bees construct elaborate hives and honeycombs. The swallows build intricate nests. So to become a builder or architect is not the sign of civilization. To become a gentleman is the sign of a human being.

"Thou shalt not kill"

The scriptural precedent for nonviolence is given in the Bible: "Thou shalt not kill." This order is given by God. When the government says you must drive your car on the right, you have to follow the law. If you argue, "But in London they drive on the left, left is as good as right, so why do you say right?" then you can be injured in an accident. Religion is not a matter of our convenience, nor does our opinion carry weight. Religion means the orders given by God. You may not be in a position to fathom the reasons behind God's orders. When a father tells his son, "Don't touch these matches," the child will not know why not, but if he plays with the matches, the house burns down.

Meat eating referred to in the Bible was not actually meat eating as we are accustomed to in this age of modern slaughterhouses, McDonalds and Burger Kings. It had to do with sacrifice, not with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with fish and loaves cannot be compared to going on a picnic, catching fish and calling the neighbors over for a fish fry. Jesus fed the multitudes with two fish. If you can do that, you may also eat fish. But you cannot do it. You should not imitate; you should follow. Many people say that Jesus drank wine and ate meat. Jesus was also nailed on the cross, and walked on water. Can you do that? If not, why try to imitate? Whether Jesus actually ate fish is also questionable. We have to consider the time, place and circumstances of Jesus's life and teachings. When Jesus was feeding the multitudes, they were not living in New York City, but in the desert, where practically nothing edible was available. They lived in a part of the world where fish was practically all they had to eat. Self-preservation is a principle of nature.

Thrown back down into lower species

The Vedic literatures explain that the soul transmigrates through 8,400,000 species of life, experiencing the pains and pleasures of every one of them. The human being, who has the collective intelligence of all the different species, can control almost any species of life, but this does not give him sanction to exploit the other species. Has the living entity, who has evolved spiritually through these 8,400,000 species, finally reached a platform where his intelligence an consciousness are so developed only to exploit those who are in a more unfortunate situation?

Exploitation of the lower species is very sinful, and someone who exploits will be thrown again into those lower species of life—"You took advantage: now again you will be thrown down, and you will be taken advantage of." Karma applies to everyone. Even if we misuse the inert elements like stone and metal we'll be punished, because everything is God's property. We should not use anything for our own personal sense gratification. Everything is meant to be utilized for God's service.

Animal killing is vicious. It throws the living entity in the human body back into the lower strata of material existence, checking his progress so that he loses his opportunity for self-realization.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
As you sow, so shall you reap.

Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers, you do it unto Me. I have created them after My kin.

God created the animals also. We have no right to destroy them. Even if we accept the argument that animals have no soul—which is preposterous—why should we destroy them? They do not belong to us.

It is sinful to come into a situation which we did not create and start killing, destroying and exploiting. As soon as we take something that is not ours and destroy it, we become criminals. If someone vandalizes our house, he will be arrested. Similarly, when we destroy nature by polluting the rivers and the land, destroy the animals or destroy each other as human beings, that destruction is an offense against the Supreme Creator.

War and destruction the reaction to killing animals

You cannot create an animal, so why should you kill it? You don't want to be killed. Do you think an animal wants to be killed? If people had to kill the cow or any other creature themselves, they wouldn't do it. It's cruel and heartless.

The reaction for killing animals is war, pestilence and famine. Just as the state has laws, the universe also has laws. And one of these laws is "As you sow, so shall you reap." Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is science. And common sense: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

World leaders encourage people to engage in meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling. As a result, the masses of people have become mad. A civilized human being is one who can control his senses in eating, sleeping, defending and sex indulgence. Unfortunately, no one is controlling his senses.

But one who cannot control his senses is mad. A madman cannot control what he says or does. There are different degrees of madness, but anyone who indulges in meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling is a madman. It's only a matter of time before the madness reaches the acute state.

Madness manifests when the reactions to sinful activities reach their maximum. Then there will be war, and men will fully exhibit their animal nature. They will kill and destroy one another mercilessly, without consideration. That time is rapidly approaching. In this century alone there have been two world wars as well as numerous other wars like the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the wars in Cambodia, Angola, El Salvador, Iraq and Iran, Congo, too many to keep track of them all, and then the Gulf war and now the Iraq war. Srila Prabhupada said, "They have created so many atomic weapons, deadly weapons and germ warfare weapons. Due to the law of action and reaction they have created these, and the result wil lbe destruction."