Vegetarianism and religion

The practice of vegetarianism is strongly linked with a number of religious traditions worldwide. These include religions that originated in India, such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. With close to 85% of India's billion-plus population practicing these religions, India remains the country with the highest number of vegetarians in the world.

In Jainism vegetarianism is mandatory for everyone; in Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism it is promoted by scriptures and religious authorities but not mandatory. In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and the Bahá'í Faith, vegetarianism is less commonly viewed as a religious obligation, although in all these faiths there are groups actively promoting vegetarianism on religious and humanitarian grounds, and many other faiths hold vegetarian and vegan idea among their tenets.

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