Never one to shy away from controversy, PETA has brought on Angela Simmons to do a new advertising campaign that states “eating meat is a sin.” Simmons, covered primarily by a long-flowing black weave and otherwise completely nude, is creatively positioned as being some sort of new-age Eve with a luscious red apple as her only prop. Excited to find her “niche” as an activist, she shares:

“I wanted to bring attention to a vegan lifestyle and raise awareness for PETA. I feel it’s very important to show compassion for all of God’s creations—and adopting a vegan diet for me is the best way to live a healthier lifestyle and keep innocent animals from suffering.”

Although excited to see Angela raising her fist for the vegan cause, should PETA really play upon a biblical reference and suggest that eating meat is a sin? After all, most biblical prophets and disciples were carnivores; veganism didn’t seem like the “thing” to do.

Does PETA’s new ad campaign with Angela Simmons bother you? Or is it exciting to see a Black “Eve” stirring up some controversy for the vegan cause? Weigh in.


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18 Comments

  1. the bible says that God gave man dominion over animals to be used as food as well as plants (Genesis 9:1-3 New International Version), and also says that Christians should not judge each other for how they worship the Lord through their dietary habits (Romans 14:1-4 NIV).

    eating meat is no more a sin that eating solely vegetables.

    • @curious: “But you must not eat meat that has lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.” (Genesis 9:4-5) God made an accommodation for sinful, post-fall humanity, but THEN reminded them that they would be held accountable for all blood shed. So, is it a sin? Perhaps not exactly, but it certainly is never admirable to kill.

  2. Eating meat is a sin, yet posing with all of your goodies hanging out is not? Comedy.

  3. Puh-lease. People will say anything to get a bit of attention. SMH

  4. I hate to LOL, but I must LOL! The bible is so specific on what kind of meat you should eat there’s a whole list in Leviticus of what not to eat. If she had a sign that says “Don’t dine with swine; it’s a sin” perhaps it would have more effect, but to suggest that the bible is anti-meat eating is laughable and even more proof that people don’t read it.

    • @Ang: You are referring to the Law of the Old Testament. That referred to a specific time and culture. People were also commanded to sacrifice animals, during that time, but that doesn’t mean it was the ideal thing to do in and of itself, but simply that it was necessary at the time, and it certainly doesn’t apply as a reason to justify meat-eating in current society.

  5. Most likely the reference to eating meat as a sin is because an animal is murdered in order to eat its flesh and since killing is “supposed to be” a sin one would infer that eating meat is a sin.
    I’m not sure this is what PETA meant but that is what I gathered.
    That is the problem with all religions: all the different Gods(and their self-appointed prophets) put their stamp of approval on killing animals when there was no need to do so. This is why it is so hard to eradicate the eating of dead animals in the AA community because too many are clinging to the notion of God and His heavenly blessing of murder and oppression.

  6. I think she will look back on this and understand that this was a bit silly or maybe not. Maybe she wanted so strongly to be for the cause or feels strongly about animal cruelty that she feels this is right for her. Maybe the slogan could have focused on how inhumanely animals are treated for human use or something, which I think is the overall point anyway.

    sidebar: Um, so is anyone else wondering…What did Rev. Run Say? Dun dun duuuuuuun, lol!!!

  7. I don’t think they were trying to convince any Christians that it really is a sin to eat meat according to the Bible. It’s just an advertising campaign, a marketing strategy that is controversial and meant to have tongues wagging just like anything else PETA does.

    Personally, I think the poster is hot. Not mad at all at Angela. She looks great. Why do people get so up in arms whenever someone takes off their clothes? It’s not like she’s bending over making her butt clap. It’s done tastefully. Come on, we’re all adults here…

  8. I love how PETA tries to stop the exploitation of animals by exploiting women…smh

  9. A couple of things I love about this ad: one, the fact that she has full hips and that they weren’t airbrushed into a creepy size -2.

    and two, the fact that the mythical Eve is featured as a Black woman, the mother of all of mankind.

  10. This is interesting. I am a Christian and I do believe that there is sound theological reasoning for vegetarianism and veganism, (sidenote to the author, Many good leaders in the Bible did terrible things such as murder and adultery, yet those things are not viewed as ‘okay’ as a result) so I don’t find the slogan to be as shocking as most would.

  11. This ad and its intent are just ridiculous. Never mind the claims that eating meat may be a sin. I am just very uncomfortable with the notion of using sex as a selling point in a campaign that is meant to shed light on animal cruelty. As Cocoa mentioned above, PETA wants to talk about what’s considered a sin but to do so they have a woman belittling herself by posing with fake hair covering her breasts and her hand covering her vagina. And I’m sorry, but I find the Eve reference a bit blasphemous. I’ve lost all respect for PETA and their so called “ethical” treatments. Perhaps if they showed the same respect for humans as they do for animals, their aims would be more valid.

  12. The original plan was for man to eat fruits, vegetables and nuts. But then sin entered the world and meat was introduced into our diet. But to be clear the food laws of thee old testament where obeyed by Jesus himself. So dismissing the old testament as not relevant is kind of ignorant.

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