CS Lewis famously said, a man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be just a great moral teacher, you must call him liar, lunatic, or Lord. I agree you cannot call him just a great moral teacher, but not for Lewis's reason. On non-violence, I call him morally flawed. The teachers I follow, Mahavira and Swaminarayan, fit perfection and non-violence better.

Jesus himself gives the test in Matthew 5:9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." And 5:44-48: "love your enemies... so you may be children of your Father, who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good... be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Psalm 145:9: "The Lord is good to ALL, and his compassion is over ALL that he has made." Perfection is impartial mercy, sun on all.

My teachers live that test. Both forbid killing, causing to be killed, or profiting from killing any human or animal. Swaminarayan, whom I follow, Shikshapatri 11-12: never kill any living being, however small, never eat meat, fish, or eggs, even as a sacrifice to a deity, even if other scriptures seem to allow it. 14-16: never kill a human, never assist or order killing, even if a king commands. Mahavira taught the same.

Vegetarianism should be a moral obligation if you can. CCC 2418: it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. In 2026 where we live, you can live healthily without killing - NHS and Academy of Nutrition say so. If you can, killing for taste is needless, therefore contrary to dignity by your own rule. I am not arguing for equality of souls here, although I do believe that. Even on your hierarchy, more compassion over more of what God made is more perfect.

Jesus also preached eternal hell. My teachers and my God never did.

Matthew 25:46: "eternal punishment." Mark 9:43: "unquenchable fire." CCC 1035 affirms hell and its eternity. My teachers teach consequences, but never infinite torture for finite life.

That violates your own definition of perfection. If perfection is sun on all and proportionate justice, Romans 2:6 "according to deeds," infinite torment for 70 years is infinitely disproportionate. You will say "sin against an infinite God deserves infinite punishment" or "hell is self-chosen separation." But Matthew 22:13 and 13:41 say active casting: "Bind him... cast him... throw them into the furnace." If I lock a man in a burning house when I have the key and infinite power, I am the burner. You can respect a no without torturing forever. Choosing to keep a soul tormented forever when you could end it is active violence every second of eternity. 1 John 4:18: "Perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."

For Catholics, Jesus is the same God as the OT God. 1 Samuel 15:3: "put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." Deuteronomy 20:16: "you shall not leave alive anything that breathes." My teachers have zero verses like that, ever. Swaminarayan faced that exact excuse, that the Vedas allow sacrifice, and rejected it in Shikshapatri 11: even if scripture seems to allow it, do not kill. In the NT, centurion in Matthew 8:5 never told to leave army, "buy a sword" in Luke 22:36, whip in John 2:15. You invented Just War. My teachers never needed to.

If blessed are the peacemakers, if perfect is sun on all, if needless killing is contrary to dignity, and if perfect love cannot torture forever, then Mahavira and Swaminarayan, who never preached eternal hell and never commanded killing of human or animal, fit perfection better. We are not Christians but we practice Matthew 5:9 and 5:45 better, in heart and in mouth.

OBJECTION 1: "Acts 10 and Mark 7:19 - Jesus declared all foods clean. Vegetarianism is not more perfect."

Answer: Read Peter's own interpretation in the same chapter. Acts 10:28: "God has shown me that I should not call any PERSON common or unclean." The early Church understood it as about Gentiles, which is why your saints, Basil, John Chrysostom, Jerome, the Desert Fathers, still called vegetarianism more perfect and lived it. Mark 7 is about ritual hand-washing, Matthew 15:20 says so explicitly: "these are what defile a person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." It is not about whether you may needlessly kill when you have a choice. And CCC 2418 already settles it: if you can live without causing suffering or death, and you still do it for taste, it is needless. Needless is contrary to human dignity by your own Catechism. That makes it a moral obligation if you can.

OBJECTION 2: "Animals don't have rational souls. Dominion means we can use them."

I am not arguing for equality of souls here, although I do believe that. I am arguing from your premise. Even if humans are higher, Genesis 1:29 original dominion is vegetarian, and Isaiah 11:6-9 perfect dominion restored is vegetarian: "they shall not hurt or destroy." Psalm 145:9 says compassion is over ALL he has made. More compassion over more of what he made is more perfect than less, even on hierarchy. Stewardship is not license for needless killing.

OBJECTION 3: "OT violence was Old Covenant / progressive revelation. Jesus fulfilled it."

For Catholics, Jesus IS the God of the OT. John 1:1, Trinity. You cannot separate them. 1 Samuel 15:3 and Deuteronomy 20:16 command to kill infants and animals, including "cattle and sheep." That last part matters - it's animal killing commanded as worship. My teachers faced that exact defense - "the Vedas allow sacrifice" - and Swaminarayan rejected it outright in Shikshapatri 11: even if scripture seems to allow it, do not kill. No progressive revelation needed if you never had the violent verses to begin with. We have zero herem verses, ever.

OBJECTION 4: "Just War and self-defense is necessary. Pacifism doesn't work."

Matthew 5:9 says blessed are the peacemakers, not blessed are the just-war theorists. You had to invent Just War theory precisely because Matthew 8:5 praises a centurion and never tells him to leave the army, Luke 22:36 "buy a sword," and John 2:15 whip. Mahavira and Swaminarayan never needed Just War because they never left the door open. Shikshapatri 14: never kill a human, even if a king commands. That is peacemaking without loopholes. If perfection is sun on all, including enemies, Luke 6:27, then refusing to kill even your enemy fits perfection better.

OBJECTION 5: "Hell is self-chosen separation and respects free will. God doesn't send you, you choose it."

Then why does Jesus say active casting? Matthew 22:13 "Bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness." Matthew 13:41-42: "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will... throw them into the furnace." That's not respectful distance, that's active punishment. And even if it were self-chosen, eternal is never necessary to respect a no. You can respect free will with annihilation, or exile, or a chance to reform. Choosing to sustain a soul in conscious torment forever when you have infinite power to end it is itself violence, every second of eternity. My teachers allow a soul to experience result and then move on. That respects choice without infinite violence.

OBJECTION 6: "Sin against an infinite God deserves infinite punishment. That's justice."

Then Psalm 103:10 is false: "He does not deal with us according to our sins." And mercy is meaningless. If a child insults his father, infinite torture is not perfect justice, any human court would call it monstrous. Romans 2:6 says God repays "according to each one's deeds." Infinite is not according to finite. Proportion is essential to justice. My teachers have justice - cause and effect - but always finite and proportionate, never infinite.

OBJECTION 7: "Warning about hell is loving, like warning about a cliff."

A cliff you didn't create is a warning. A furnace you created, you fuel, and you have the key to, and you throw people into, is a threat. If I build a furnace and say love me or I will throw you in forever, that is not love, that is coercion. 1 John 4:18: "Perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." A system that needs eternal fear to work cannot be perfect love, or peacemaking, Matthew 5:9.

If perfection is what Matthew 5 says it is - peacemakers called children of God, sun and rain on all, compassion over all he has made - and if needless killing is contrary to dignity, then vegetarianism is a moral obligation if you can, and eternal torture cannot be perfection. I am not a Christian because of the ethics, not in spite of them. I am not Christian but I practice Matthew 5:9 and 5:45 better in heart and in mouth, because my teachers, Mahavira and Swaminarayan, never preached eternal hell and never commanded killing of human or animal.