Beliefs about Hunting
by President Joseph Fielding Smith
by President Lorenzo Snow
by President George Q. Cannon
by President Joseph Fielding Smith
Question: "I am not writing this in criticism of the Church or even
questioning whether the Church is right or wrong, but it is something I have wondered
about for a long time. The scriptures seem clear to me that the Lord would rather not have
man kill animals unless they are needed to sustain life; and in your 'Church History and
Modern Revelation,' you present the same thought, even stating that killing for sport is a
sin. I fully accept this as being true and have patterned my life accordingly. What I am
wondering is why this is not generally taught here where so much hunting is done? I
realize that many hunters eat what they kill; but to me this does not justify the killing
just as a sport. I would appreciate it if you would express your thoughts on this
subject."
Answer: There is no statement in the scriptures indicating that the flesh of animals
and birds and other living creatures was used as food before the days of Noah. It was
after the landing of the ark that the Lord gave his commandment concerning the eating of
flesh.
It reads in the King James version that this permission was given to Noah and those who
came after as follows:
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and
upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes
of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be
meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life
thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives
will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at
the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.1
The Lord revealed this in a different form to the Prophet Joseph Smith as follows:
INTERPRETATION FROM THE INSPIRED VERSION
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green
herb have I given you all things. But the blood of all flesh which I have given you for
meat, shall be shed upon the ground, which taketh life thereof, and the blood ye shall not
eat. And surely blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood
of every beast will I require at your hands.2
The inference in this interpretation is that the use of the flesh of
living creatures should be indulged in sparingly although there was no sin in the shedding
of their blood when required for food. There is no inference in the scriptures that it is
the privilege of men to slay birds or beasts or to catch fish wantonly. The Lord gave life
to every creature, both the birds in the heavens, beasts on the earth, and the fishes in
the streams or seas. They also were commanded to be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth. It was intended that all creatures should be happy in their several elements.
Therefore to take the life of these creatures wantonly is a sin before the Lord.
It is easy to destroy life, but who can restore it when it is taken?
Moreover, were not all creatures commanded to be happy in their spheres at least by
implication if not by word? What a dreary world this would be should all life in the
heavens above, on the earth, or in the sea be removed? What is more joyful to the ear than
the voice of the robin on an early spring morning as he sings his song? The voice of the
thrush, the meadow lark, even the bark of a friendly dog, each of them expressing their
joy for their existence?
No! Man should be more the friend and never an enemy to any living
creature. The Lord placed them here.
A LESSON AS TAUGHT BY JOSEPH SMITH
No doubt most of our readers have read the story of Zion's Camp on its
fateful journey to the relief of their afflicted brethren. Even if you have, it is worth
telling here. The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote:
We crossed the Embarras river and encamped on a small branch of the same
about one mile west. In pitching my tent we found three massasaguas, or prairie
rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, "Let them
alone--don't hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose his venom, while the servants of
God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become
harmless, before the brute creation; and when men lose their vicious dispositions and
cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the
suckling child can play with the serpent in safety." The brethren took the serpents
carefully on sticks and carried them across the creek. I exhorted the brethren not to kill
a serpent, bird or an animal of any kind during my journey unless it became necessary in
order to preserve ourselves from hunger.
I had frequently spoken on this subject, when on a certain occasion I came
up to the brethren who were watching a squirrel on a tree, and to prove them and to know
if they would heed my counsel, I took one of their guns, shot the squirrel and passed on,
leaving the squirrel on the ground. Brother Orson Hyde, who was just behind, picked up the
squirrel, and said, "We will cook this that nothing may be lost." I perceived
that the brethren understood what I did it for, and in their practice gave more heed to my
precept than to my example which was right.3
DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE SOMETIMES NECESSARY
We all realize that there are times when it is necessary to destroy animal
life when it is the survival of the fittest and they become a plague to mankind.
President Joseph F. Smith many years ago, gave to the youth of the Church
this excellent counsel:
I have just a few words to say in addition to those that have already been
said, in relation to shedding blood and to the destruction of life. I think that every
soul should be impressed by the sentiments that have been spoken, and not less with
reference to the killing of our innocent birds, natives of our country, who live upon the
vermin that are indeed enemies of the farmer and to mankind. It is not only wicked to
destroy them, it is abominable in my opinion. I think that this principle should extend,
not only to the bird life, but to life of all animals. When I visited, a few years ago,
the Yellowstone National Park, and saw in the streams and the beautiful lakes, birds
swimming quite fearless of man, allowing passers-by to approach them as closely almost as
tame birds, and apprehending no fear of them, and when I saw droves of beautiful deer
herding along the side of the road, as fearless of the presence of men as any domestic
animal, it filled my heart with a degree of peace and joy that seemed to be almost a
foretaste of that period hoped for when there shall be none to hunt and none to molest in
all the land especially among all the inhabitants of Zion. These same birds, if they were
to visit other regions inhabited by man, would, on account of their tameness, doubtless
become more easily a prey to the gunner. The same may be said of those beautiful
creatures--the deer and antelope. If they should wander out of the park, beyond the
protection which is established there for these animals, they would become, of course, an
easy prey to those who were seeking their lives. I never could see why a man should be
imbued with a blood-thirsty desire to kill and destroy animal life. I have known men--and
they still exist among us--who enjoy what is, to them, the "sport" of hunting
birds and slaying them by the hundreds, and who will come in after a day's sport, boasting
of how many harmless birds they have had the skill to slaughter, and day after day, during
the season when it is lawful for men to hunt and kill (the birds having had a season of
protection and not apprehending danger) go out by scores or hundreds, and you may hear
their guns early in the morning on the day of the opening, as if great armies had met in
battle; and the terrible work of slaughtering the innocent birds goes on.
I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he needs them
for food, and then he should not kill innocent little birds that are not intended for food
for man. I think it is wicked for men to thirst in their souls to kill almost everything
which possesses animal life. It is wrong. I have been surprised at prominent men whom I
have seen whose very souls seemed to be athirst for the shedding of animal blood. They go
off hunting deer, antelope, elk, anything they can find, and what for? "Just the fun
of it!" Not that they are hungry and need the flesh of their prey, but just because
they love to shoot and to destroy life. I am a firm believer, with reference to these
things, in the simple words of one of the poets:
"Take not way the life you cannot give,
For all things have an equal right to live."4
And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer; and while
they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock;
and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain, saith the Lord.5
Is it not an excellent time for man to set the example as the Prophet has
said?
Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol.4, p.48
Copyright by Deseret Book
by President Lorenzo Snow
Killing for sport is wrong. In Adam-ondi-Ahman, while gradually
recovering from the effects of a malignant fever which had detained me a fortnight in Far
West, under the constant and skillful nursing of my sister Eliza, for some time I was
unable to either do or read much. One day, to while away the slowly passing hours, I took
my gun with the intention of indulging in a little amusement in hunting turkeys, with
which that section of the country abounded. From boyhood I had been particularly, and I
may say strangely, attached to a gun. Hunting in the forests of Ohio was a pastime that to
me possessed the most fascinating attractions. It never occurred to my mind that it was
wrong—that indulging in "what was sport to me was death to them;" that in
shooting turkeys, squirrels, etc., I was taking life that I could not give; therefore I
indulged in the murderous sport without the least compunction of conscience.
Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.188-189
Copyright by Bookcraft
by President George Q. Cannon
We should by every means in our power impress upon the rising generation the value of
life and how dreadful a sin it is to take life. The lives of animals even should be held
far more sacred than they are. Young people should be taught to be very merciful to the
brute creation and not to take life wantonly or for sport. The practice of hunting and
killing game merely for sport should be frowned upon and not encouraged among us. God has
created the fowls and the beasts for man's convenience and comfort and for his consumption
at proper times and under proper circumstances; but he does not justify men in wantonly
killing those creatures which He has made and with which He has supplied the earth.
Gospel Truth, Vol. 1, p.30
Copyright by Deseret Book
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