Should There Be an Anti-Meat Pledge?

In the case under discussion, the president of the General Conference, quite willing to act according to instruction from the messenger of the Lord, felt he must do so intelligently and with proper preparation. And in this vein he wrote at length:6BIO 203.3

Now it seems to me that we should do a lot of careful preparation in the way of teaching before we press the signing of a pledge. If we do not, it looks to me that we shall have a lot of unhappy divisions in churches and families. We have ministers and brethren who are not well balanced. Let these men get among our Scandinavian, German, and Russian brethren who have not been led along this road as far as some have been and try to force this pledge and we shall have trouble. A few years ago some of our good brethren in England pressed advanced views on health reform. This teaching was taken up by some extremists in Germany and pressed to the point that nearly wrecked a number of churches. Elder Conradi had to step in and counteract this work....6BIO 203.4

We have not given this important part of our message [health reform] the attention we should of late. Some have backslidden on this point. We must reform. It would be terrible for our people to go back to the general use of flesh foods, tea, coffee, et cetera. My heart responds to this message, and I am ready to stand in the front ranks in making a strong effort to help our people to reach a higher standard.6BIO 203.5

But it is my conviction that we must begin with care to educate. Let doctors and ministers give good clear talks on the subject. Let tracts be prepared which will give the people facts regarding the dangers of flesh foods. Let us place the whole question on a high attractive platform. In my tent and church work in New Zealand, I had no trouble in persuading the people to become vegetarians when I took pains to give them good plain reasons which appealed to their reason.—DF 509, AGD to WCW, July 17, 1908.6BIO 204.1

W. C. White, in reviewing the question of an Anti-Meat Pledge in 1911, explained:6BIO 204.2

The officers of the General Conference, and especially those who have labored long in foreign countries, and who have engaged in controversies in various foreign lands over this and kindred questions, felt that the movement on the part of our people to pledge themselves to not eat flesh would cause unnecessary strife and unnecessary criticism of our people in mission fields. The officers of the General Conference advised that we should not make the pledge against flesh meats a general issue, and it was agreed that the matter should rest until we could give it deliberate consideration.—DF 509, WCW to F. M. Wilcox, October 12, 1911.6BIO 204.3