An Earth Day Reflection On The Breathtaking Effects Of Cutting Back On Meat (better, contract)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So you respect those animals so much that you kill them and eat their dead carcasses? Riiiigght!
That was predictable. But I've pondered on this long and hard, and it does take thinking about it from a slightly different perspective and with an open mind to get it.
We all have our places in the great circle of life. Man is the only animal who thinks that he is somehow so much better than all of the other creatures that he can and should step out of the place designed for him by nature (taking into account that we are biologically designed to be omnivores/scavengers) and that this somehow makes him superior. (Which is the other face of the "man is superior to animals and therefore has dominance over them and may use them as he will" attitude - same attitude, really, just a different mask).
I DO feel that I owe it to the animals that I will be eating to make sure that they have the best lives possible while here. Thus, those that I raise from birth (or shortly thereafter) have great pasture, fresh water, the company of their kind (being herd animals, this is critical for their well-being), right down to backrubs and the occasional beer. The young are not removed from their dams until the dams are kicking them away, and even then, they will remain in the herd. (Same with my foals, by the way - by the time they are weaned, the mares have already kicked them out of the nest, so to speak.) I respect them, I treat them well, and I never forget that their place, and mine, in the design of things both deserve equal respect.
I have no argument with vegetarians, as long as they have no argument with me. But I HAVE considered why I eat meat (beyond the health reasons that exist for my particular physical make-up), and I'm quite comfortable with it from an ethical and spiritual perspective.
That was predictable. But I've pondered on this long and hard, and it does take thinking about it from a slightly different perspective and with an open mind to get it.
We all have our places in the great circle of life. Man is the only animal who thinks that he is somehow so much better than all of the other creatures that he can and should step out of the place designed for him by nature (taking into account that we are biologically designed to be omnivores/scavengers) and that this somehow makes him superior. (Which is the other face of the "man is superior to animals and therefore has dominance over them and may use them as he will" attitude - same attitude, really, just a different mask).
I DO feel that I owe it to the animals that I will be eating to make sure that they have the best lives possible while here. Thus, those that I raise from birth (or shortly thereafter) have great pasture, fresh water, the company of their kind (being herd animals, this is critical for their well-being), right down to backrubs and the occasional beer. The young are not removed from their dams until the dams are kicking them away, and even then, they will remain in the herd. (Same with my foals, by the way - by the time they are weaned, the mares have already kicked them out of the nest, so to speak.) I respect them, I treat them well, and I never forget that their place, and mine, in the design of things both deserve equal respect.
I have no argument with vegetarians, as long as they have no argument with me. But I HAVE considered why I eat meat (beyond the health reasons that exist for my particular physical make-up), and I'm quite comfortable with it from an ethical and spiritual perspective.
I don't doubt you've thought long and hard about it but if you are kind to those animals and then suddenly kill them, how is that respecting them, let alone honoring them? So you're only kind until you get hungry? Do you eat your horses too? If not, why not?
I agree with you that man somehow feels superior to other animals - why else does man (especially in the western world) kill them, eat them, and wear their skins?
I don't agree that man is designed to eat meat - look at our teeth (no good for tearing flesh), our long intestine system (unlike the short ones real carnivores have), etc. Plus, real carnivores eat their meat raw and have acidic enzymes in their saliva (which man does not have) to start breaking down the meat. You are incapable of tackling an animal, tearing it open with your bear hands, and eating its flesh like a real carnivore. Several pounds of rotting animal flesh sits in your intestines while your body tries (in vain) to digest all of it, unlike the veggies and grains that are easily digested. Man has adapted tools to enable him to kill, cook, and eat animal flesh but this does not mean your body was designed to handle it - thus the colon cancer, diverticulitis, heart attacks, etc. That doesn't mean a cheesburger can't taste great, it just means that your body was not designed to process it well.
I respect it when someone tells me they are a carnivore because they love the taste of meat but to say killing and eating them is spiritual and respectful, it seems quite a stretch. Go ahead and eat that meat but I'm not convinced that its somehow being "spiritual."
We are not carnivores. We are omnivores/scavengers, designed to eat just about anything, depending on (a) where we happen to find ourselves and (b) where we tend to stay for generations and evolve to adapt to our environment. (One of the human traits that makes it possible for us to overrun the planet, in fact.)
You don't have to believe that it is spiritual, any more than I have to agree with you when you think that stepping outside of our place in the design when the other animals do not is respectful or that that attitude is one whit different than thinking that animals are there solely for our use - to me, it's, as I said, exactly the same attitude dressed up in different clothing pretending that it isn't.
I think we're, all the animals, all in this together and we all have our place in the ecology, and if mine is omnivore/scavenger, then I'm doing the earth and the other animals a disservice if I pretend that it's not in some attempt to make myself feel superior, just as saying that God gave us dominion over the animals and they are here for our use so that I can feel superior is doing the same disservice. But, obviously, your mileage can and does vary, and you must live by your lights as I do by mine.
We are not carnivores. We are omnivores/scavengers, designed to eat just about anything, depending on (a) where we happen to find ourselves and (b) where we tend to stay for generations and evolve to adapt to our environment. (One of the human traits that makes it possible for us to overrun the planet, in fact.)
You don't have to believe that it is spiritual, any more than I have to agree with you when you think that stepping outside of our place in the design when the other animals do not is respectful or that that attitude is one whit different than thinking that animals are there solely for our use - to me, it's, as I said, exactly the same attitude dressed up in different clothing pretending that it isn't.
I think we're, all the animals, all in this together and we all have our place in the ecology, and if mine is omnivore/scavenger, then I'm doing the earth and the other animals a disservice if I pretend that it's not in some attempt to make myself feel superior, just as saying that God gave us dominion over the animals and they are here for our use so that I can feel superior is doing the same disservice. But, obviously, your mileage can and does vary, and you must live by your lights as I do by mine.
mnivore/carnivore - what I said about human anatomy stands. We can agree to disagree on our place in the "cycle of life." I just know I don't have to do any mental gymnastics to live my values.
I always thought having dominion over something meant a responsibility to nurture and protect it, not pillage it. In any case, good luck with that.
So you respect those animals so much that you kill them and eat their dead carcasses? Riiiigght!
Yep - Sure do.
The good Lord put them there Angus and Kobe beef on this earth for my pleasure.
I surely do Praise the Lord each time I have one of them there Rib Eye or T-Bone steaks, 1 to 1 1/2 inch's thick, Rare (of course) - cooked over Hickory.
I respect it when someone tells me they are a carnivore because they love the taste of meat but to say killing and eating them is spiritual and respectful, it seems quite a stretch. Go ahead and eat that meat but I'm not convinced that its somehow being "spiritual."
Oh, to the contrary.
When I go deer or elk hunting, it IS a "spiritual" experience. And, if I'm lucky enough to get my deer or elk and dress it out, then have the meat processed and bring it home, I say a prayer to God thanking him for this fine food on our table.
When I go deer or elk hunting, it IS a "spiritual" experience. And, if I'm lucky enough to get my deer or elk and dress it out, then have the meat processed and bring it home, I say a prayer to God thanking him for this fine food on our table.
So its spiritual in a Jeffrey Dahmer kind of way - now I see.
Tell me, Ex-Pat, do you go around preaching to and insulting lions and tigers and bears? Are you one of those appalling people who tries to make their canine and feline companions vegetarian or, worse, vegan, trying to convince them (and yourself) that they don't need to eat meat? Or is it just your fellow humans that you regard in that manner and, if so, how do you justify it to yourself? Do human beings somehow cease to be animals worthy of your respect by the virtue of sharing more DNA with you? I think you have to do more mental gymnastics than you'll let yourself acknowledge.
Or is it living more according to nature's design for us that irks you so much? Are we supposed to somehow be "above" that and know better than nature herself? (Yes, I realize there are people that believe that, of both stripes, and set about trying to change things, including other people, to fit their personal idea of "better", but I think there's precious little to choose between them in terms of their true attitude towards those who share the planet with them, be they human animals or not. Both expressions of that attitude of "I'm better than anything and anyone else on the planet and know better than whoever or whatever created it all" risk being the destruction of us all.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
