We believe that a kinder world begins with the choices we make every day. Our mission is to inspire compassion through education, advocacy, and community — one meal, one conversation, one heart at a time.
At a glance
Overview
The Unity School of Christianity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, has a deep historical foundation in spiritual vegetarianism. The Fillmores believed that all life is sacred and that true spiritual maturity requires a commitment to non-violence toward all living beings. They taught that the 'Golden Rule' of harmlessness and lovingkindness should extend beyond human interactions to include the animal kingdom.
For over forty years, Charles Fillmore wrote passionately about the physical, mental, and spiritual harm caused by consuming animal products. He viewed the body as a temple and a 'harmonious instrument for the soul,' which he believed could not be fully refined while consuming the cells of slaughtered animals. This tradition emphasizes that universal peace on earth is inextricably linked to how we treat our 'little sisters and brothers' in the animal world.
Today, the Interfaith Vegan Coalition seeks to bring these founding ideals back into alignment with everyday church practices. By revisiting the original 'Thirty-Two Statements of Faith' and the metaphysical considerations of food, Unity members are encouraged to see plant-based living as a path toward world peace, personal health, and deeper spiritual at-one-ment with the Divine.
Principles
Unity teaches that God is love, and to demonstrate Love Universal, one must move beyond every form of cruelty. This involves protecting every creature from violence and destruction.
All life is considered sacred; therefore, humans should not kill or be a party to the killing of animals for food. Cruelty and war among humans are seen as extensions of the violence inflicted upon animals.
The body is a temple for the soul. Consuming animal flesh is believed to introduce 'violent vibrations' and 'psychic agony' into the human system, hindering spiritual refinement.
Universal peace cannot manifest on earth until humanity observes the law 'Thou shalt not kill' in all phases of life, including the treatment of animals.
No one lives unto themselves alone. Unity members are encouraged to recognize their responsibility for the 'stumbling of brothers' who are employed in slaughterhouses to meet the demand for meat.
A mind opened toward God naturally develops qualities of mercy and justice, recognizing the right of every creature to live out the full measure of its years without human interference.
“We believe that all life is sacred and that man should not kill or be a party to the killing of animals for food; also that cruelty, war, and wanton destruction of human life will continue so long as men destroy animals.”
— Charles Fillmore, original Thirty-Two Statements of Faith
“I could not refine my body and make it a harmonious instrument for the soul, so long as I continued to fill it with the cells of dead animals.”
— Charles Fillmore, The Vegetarian, May 1920
“We need never look for universal peace on this earth until men stop killing animals for food.”
— Charles Fillmore, The Vegetarian, May 1920
“The invisible psychic agony of millions of cruelly slaughtered animals saturates our earth’s atmosphere and the whole race suffers in sympathy.”
— Charles Fillmore, Eating and Drinking, November 1931
“The master on the spiritual plane... must love every creature, every beast of the field, every fowl of the air.”
— Charles Fillmore, Flesh-Eating Metaphysically Considered, May 1910
In practice
Charles Fillmore, the co-founder of Unity, was a conscientious vegetarian who included a specific statement on animal welfare in his original 'Thirty-Two Statements of Faith.' This statement explicitly linked human war and wanton destruction to the destruction of animals. Although this statement was removed from official church teaching in 1939, it remains a cornerstone of the tradition's original spiritual vision.
Fillmore’s writings, many of which are preserved at Unity Village in Missouri, argue that spiritual aspirants must adopt a plant-based diet to contribute to world peace. He believed that the 'lust for blood' permeates race thought and must be overcome to achieve a higher state of consciousness.
In practice
In Unity metaphysics, food is more than just matter; it carries the vibrations of the consciousness from which it came. Fillmore taught that animals experience terror and anger during slaughter, and these 'mental currents' permeate their flesh.
When humans consume these products, they take in elements of fear and violence that unsettle the physical and spiritual body. Unity teaches that many 'unidentified mental complexes' and 'vague fears of impending danger' may actually be echoes of the psychic terrors experienced by slaughtered animals.
In practice
The historical 'Unity Inn' was established specifically to demonstrate that humans can live well and healthfully on a meatless diet. This practical application of faith shows that the transition to veganism is not just a theory but a livable reality.
Modern Unity leaders, such as Reverend Carolyn J. Michael Riley, have continued this tradition by declaring church spaces as 'fur-free zones' and advocating for a consciousness that recognizes the 'Spirit' more clearly when vibrations of death are removed from the environment.
In practice
In Unity tradition, the physical body is viewed as a temple for the soul, and the quality of that temple is influenced by the vibrations we introduce into it. Charles Fillmore taught that the mental state of an animal at the time of its death remains within the cells of its flesh. When we consume these products, we are not just taking in physical matter, but also the 'vibrations of terror' and fear that the animal experienced. This can create a sense of internal discord, making it more difficult for a spiritual aspirant to achieve a state of peace and clear meditation.
By choosing plant-based foods, we align ourselves with the 'Love Universal.' This practice is seen as a way to refine the body into a harmonious instrument for the Spirit. Fillmore suggested that as one's spiritual consciousness develops, a natural discrimination in food choices often follows, leading away from anything that involves the suffering of innocent creatures.
In practice
Unity teachings emphasize that universal peace on earth is inextricably linked to how we treat all living beings. The 'lust for blood' in human history is seen as a cycle that will only be broken when we extend the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' to the animal kingdom. This perspective suggests that war and human cruelty are outward manifestations of the same lack of reverence for life that allows for the slaughter of animals.
True spiritual maturity involves recognizing the right of every creature to live out the full measure of its years. When we protect the helpless, we are practicing a quality of mercy and justice that opens the mind toward God. This is not just a dietary choice, but a commitment to a life of harmlessness that contributes to the collective peace of the world.
In practice
Early Unity writings proposed a fascinating link between the consumption of animal products and the craving for stimulants like alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. Fillmore observed that the 'fever' caused by digesting meat often led to an unnatural thirst, which in turn drove people toward strong drink. He suggested that a transition to a vegetarian diet could serve as a natural remedy for intemperance.
By moving toward a diet of cereals, vegetables, nuts, and oils, the body finds all necessary sustenance without the inflammatory effects of animal products. This shift supports a clear mind and a steady temperament, allowing the individual to remain focused on spiritual growth rather than physical cravings.
In practice
Modern Unity leaders, such as Reverend Carolyn J. Michael Riley, have expanded these historical teachings into contemporary actions, such as declaring church spaces 'fur-free zones.' This reflects the belief that removing products associated with death and suffering allows the Spirit to be felt more purely within the community. It is an invitation to raise the collective consciousness regarding the animal kingdom.
When discussing these topics within the congregation, the focus remains on 'Love Universal' rather than judgment. The goal is to encourage members to see the 'flash of wild birds’ wings' and the 'smallest wind-blown flower' as expressions of the Divine. By framing plant-based living as an act of affirmative prayer, the community visualizes a world where all needs are met through kindness.
In practice
Unity’s approach to the environment is rooted in the understanding that the world is 'athrill to the wakening of spring' and every leafing limb is kin to Divinity. Protecting the earth from human-caused destruction is seen as a spiritual necessity. A plant-based diet is a practical application of this stewardship, reducing the burden on the planet's resources.
Using affirmative prayer, Unity members can give thanks in advance for a world where humanity lives in harmony with nature. This involves visualizing the restoration of the earth and making personal commitments to do no harm, trusting that the Universe provides abundant plant-based sustenance for all.
Food
Unity Inn Tradition: Emphasizes meatless dining as a spiritual practice.
Cereals, vegetables, nuts, and oils: Cited by Fillmore as containing all necessary elements for sustenance.
Exclusion of 'strong liquids': Fillmore taught that a plant-based diet removes the craving for tea, coffee, and alcohol.
Plant-based dairy: The tradition encourages moving away from butter and eggs to achieve full temperance.
Pure Water: Encouraged as the natural cooling draught for a body not fevered by rotting flesh.
Spiritual Fasting: Often involves abstaining from animal products to refine the 'conscious mind'.
Unity Inn historically demonstrated that one can live well on a meatless diet using grains, fruits, and nuts.
Emphasis on 'Nature's prepared foods' such as cereals, vegetables, and oils over processed animal products.
Traditional focus on avoiding 'rotting flesh' to eliminate cravings for alcohol and caffeine.
Use of plant-based potlucks to demonstrate the abundance of God's provision without harm.
Arguments
These are not arguments against religion; they are arguments made by practising Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Pagans and Quakers about what their own commitments imply once industrial animal agriculture is described honestly.
Every scripture quoted on these pages was written in a world of small herds, named animals and visible slaughter. None of them contemplated seventy billion land animals a year in windowless sheds. Believers who go plant-based rarely claim to have found a hidden vegan verse — they argue that the old rule of mercy, applied to a genuinely new system, produces a new answer.
Common to every tradition covered here.
Kosher and halal law, and the Hindu and Buddhist expectations around the life of a cow or a bird, all presuppose an animal that was fed, watered, rested and handled without cruelty before death. Industrial rearing violates that precondition long before the knife. A growing number of rabbis, imams and pandits argue that the requirement therefore fails at the farm even where the slaughterhouse is certified.
The traditional gentle picture — milk freely given, eggs simply gathered — described a household animal. Modern dairy involves annual insemination and the removal of calves; modern laying involves the killing of male chicks. Traditions that permit dairy on the grounds that it costs the animal nothing are, on their own logic, obliged to look at what it costs her now.
Feeding the stranger appears as an obligation in nearly every tradition: langar, iftar, the parish supper, prasadam, the Sabbath table. A plant-based table is the most inclusive one available — no guest is excluded by kashrut, halal, caste custom, allergy or conscience. Communities that make the switch usually discover that hospitality got easier, not harder.
Animal agriculture is a leading driver of deforestation, freshwater use and greenhouse emissions. Traditions that teach the earth is entrusted to us — from Laudato Si' to the Zoroastrian duty to keep water and soil unpolluted — increasingly treat diet as part of that trust rather than a private preference.
Several traditions treat the body as something held in trust: Adventists have taught a plant-based diet for over a century, and their longevity data is among the most studied in nutrition science. Where scripture asks believers to guard their health, well-planned plant-based eating is one of the few dietary patterns with strong evidence behind it.
Action
Objections
Every community raises roughly the same questions. None of them are unreasonable, and none of them are new. Here is how practitioners inside these traditions usually answer.
Usually, yes — permission is not the same as a command, and almost every tradition frames that permission as a concession hedged with conditions: gratitude, restraint, avoidance of cruelty, limits on when and how. Plant-based believers argue that when those conditions can no longer be met, the permission no longer applies in practice.
Most traditions with a sacrificial history no longer practise animal sacrifice, and their own reformers argued against it long ago — the Hebrew prophets, early Christian teachers, Buddhist and Jain critiques of Vedic ritual. Choosing plants is generally presented as continuing that internal argument, not rejecting the tradition.
Congregations that start with food rather than doctrine report the opposite. Adding good plant-based dishes to a shared meal excludes nobody; removing everything at once and lecturing about it divides quickly. Every kit recommends the first approach.
Nearly every kit includes plant-based versions of the specific festival foods of its tradition, developed by cooks from inside that community, precisely because the meaning of the dish lives in the occasion and the recipe rather than the animal.
Slaughterhouse work is among the most dangerous and most exploitative employment in industrialised countries, intensive farms concentrate pollution in the poorest neighbourhoods, and grain fed to livestock competes with human food. Faith-based advocates tend to present this as one justice question, not two.
Major dietetic associations state that well-planned plant-based diets are appropriate at every stage of life, including pregnancy, infancy and old age, with attention to vitamin B12 and a few other nutrients. Communities usually ask a dietitian to review the menus they serve.
Many have simply never been asked. The kits behind these pages exist because clergy requested material they could read, check against their own sources and preach from. Bringing one of them to a leader is a normal and welcome request, not a challenge.
No tradition here demands perfection, and several explicitly warn against the pride that chases it. The consistent counsel is direction of travel: one meal, one meeting, one festival at a time.
Get started
Almost every advocacy kit recommends the same unglamorous sequence. It works because it starts with hospitality rather than argument.
Make a single monthly gathering fully plant-based, cooked by people who cook well. Nothing persuades like a good lunch that nobody expected to enjoy.
Plant milk beside the tea urn, a vegan option on every table, labelled clearly. No announcements required.
A rabbi, imam, priest, monk, granthi or Friend who eats this way and can explain it from your own sources carries further than any outside campaigner.
Run a short study series on the passages about animals in your own scripture. Let people reach their own conclusions with the sources in front of them.
Review what the community buys: leather, silk, wool, down, animal-tested products, and the charities it supports. Small procurement changes outlast enthusiasm.
Resources
Questions
Shared threads
Long before anyone used the word vegan, every tradition on this page had a word for refusing to cause needless harm. Those words are not interchangeable — each carries its own history, law and practice — but placed side by side they show how widely shared the underlying instinct is.
| Word | Tradition | What it asks of us |
|---|---|---|
| Ahimsa | Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism | Non-injury in thought, word and deed — the first vow, and the measure against which every other practice is judged. |
| Tza'ar ba'alei chayim | Judaism | The prohibition on causing distress to living creatures, a Torah-level obligation that overrides considerable convenience and cost. |
| Rahma | Islam | Mercy — the attribute by which God is named at the opening of almost every chapter of the Qur'an, and which the Prophet extended explicitly to animals. |
| Stewardship / dominion as care | Christianity | Responsibility for creation modelled on a shepherd rather than an owner: the animals are entrusted, not surrendered. |
| Daya | Sikhism | Compassion as one of the five virtues, expressed daily in langar — a free meal served to anyone, traditionally meat-free so that nobody is excluded. |
| Metta / karuna | Buddhism | Lovingkindness and compassion cultivated deliberately towards all sentient beings, including those who end up on plates. |
| Testimony of peace | Quakers | A refusal to participate in violence that many Friends have extended from war to the systematic killing of animals. |
| Asha / good thoughts, words, deeds | Zoroastrianism | Alignment with truth and right order, including care for the good creation of water, earth, plants and animals. |
Swipe sideways to read the full table.