I hate vegetarians. Not all. Infact, I believe it’s a very healthy lifestyle and a perfectly valid choice. But what I hate are irrational or illogical reasons for becoming a vegatarian.
Last night I learned an aquaintance was a vegatarian. I always like to ask why (just for kicks), and she said because plants don’t scream when you eat them. (I think she meant that proverbially) To top it off she’s a philosophy major, so arguing with her was …errrrr. to say the least.
I tried to argue that just because we can’t hear or see plant emotion, they still have reactions to negative stimuli.
Then when I started challenger her theories with actual fact and logic, she said 'facts don’t prove anything."!!! They are only statements. Ug! That philosophy thing again!
I thought proofs were backed up by facts, that’s the way it works right?
I also said that I think it’s arrogant to think that one life form has more of a right to continue than another (cows have more rights than plants?). And even thought humans have more intelligence, that wouldn’t mean a damn thing if the sun were to burn out, so you have to look at our existence in relationship to the entire universe. Now, of course, I know we have to eat something, but to say that it’s better to eat veggies on a moral issue is odd to me.
My deal is that if you’re a vegatarian because it’s hip, or you lost a bet, or just cause you wanna, then i’m cool with that–as long as you admit that and don’t try and make yourself more moral than meat eaters
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Gosh, I didn’t realize I needed your permission vis a vis the grounds on which I reject eating meat.
In any case, ask yourself this, Mr. Morality: Is it justifiable to inflict unnecessary, horrific pain and torture on a being capable of feeling it and suffering from it just because we plan to eat it later?
“I love God! He’s so deliciously evil!” - Stewie Griffin, Family Guy
I ran into a bunch of vegetarians at grad school. It was an interesting experience, as I had never met one in real life before that.
Veggie #1: Ate no meat of any kind.
Veggie #2: Would eat chicken and fish (and the occasional burger if she thought no one was looking). But she still insisted she was a vegetarian, much to the consternation of Veggie #1 (“A chicken is not a vegetable!”).
Veggie #3: Ate no red meat for health reasons, but she smoked like a chimney and drank hard liquor at every chance.
Veggie #4: Stuck with it until hooking up with her steak-loving boyfriend. She likes them bloody rare, now.
Veggie #5: One one occasion, ordered a specialty salad that came with chicken. She requested no chicken. After the meal was over, she was still hungry and eyballing the left-over wings of another in our group. Upon getting the go-ahead, she ate the chicken right off the bone. Go figure.
What is so offensive to you about me trying to cause the least amount of pain and suffering that I can? If I followed your logic, there should be no penalty for murder either…so…got any loved ones? I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I chopped them up with this axe here; I want a snack.
In any case, ask yourself this, Mr. Morality: Is it justifiable to inflict unnecessary, horrific pain and torture on a being capable of feeling it and suffering from it just because we plan to eat it later?
so then, your argument would be that eating a plant causes no stress to it?
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Your preaching to the choir, fellas. i’m not making a moral judgement, she was. she was saying she thought it was immoral for me to kill animals to eat them… she didn’t accuse me of that, but that was her stance.
fine if you wanna eat veggies, i’m cool with that, but why does morality come into it?
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
I did read and understand you OP. Morality comes into play frequently when someone turns against his or her own nature. We are omnivores by nature, not herbivores. Morality is a human invention. It exists only in one’s mind.
metroshane:
I did read and understand you OP. Morality comes into play frequently when someone turns against his or her own nature. We are omnivores by nature, not herbivores. Morality is a human invention. It exists only in one’s mind.
I hope no one thought I was arguing against the above.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
shrugs I’m a vegetarian because I’m too broke to afford meat that’s worth eating. Plus my SO’s a vegetarian as well & I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store separately.
I get bored when other vegetarians start trying to take moral high ground about not killing animals. Like that makes them better than meat-eaters. Whatever. I’m better than everyone else for other reasons. grins
Self-righteousness is just tedious.
“All you need to be a superhero is a heart that is pure, a mind that
is strong, and underwear that is fresh!”
I never know what to call myself. When I go out to eat or cook for myself, I do not eat meat. I do eat fish at least once a week. When I go to my mother’s house for dinner, I usually end up having a bit of whatever meat she cooked, lest she harrass me at length until I give in and try “just one bite”. When I am working in Nepal and someone serves me meat, I eat it. I do this because it is a great sacrifice for them to provide meat (it’s very expensive and they are very poor). They are offering it as an honor to me, and I won’t be so rude as to decline. Once a year, on New Year’s Eve, I indulge in an old German tradition—I eat Hackapaeter. That’s raw sirloin. I think the American word is steak tartare. So waht am I?
Personally I don’t care much if I have a lable or not, but Americans are so used to meat all the time, that when I am not having any I am often asked why not. I never know quite what to say. Part-time Vegatarian?
To address the OP, I agree completely. I think many people are unclear on their reasons for being veg. Many seem to have a need to have some higher purpose for it and their arguments, I find, are a bit shakey. What’s wrong with, “I don’t eat meat because I don’t want to”?
Don’t get me wrong–I love life. I’m just finding it harder and harder to keep myself amused.
What do you mean “causes stress”? Does it experience pain in a way similar to the way mammals and birds feel pain? Not to the knowledge of the best available research, no.
I have never argued that it is not OK for living things to eat each other. I have frequently argued that it is not OK to take some of those living things and force them to live in unnatural, traumatically overcrowded, filthy environments; cut off their beaks so they don’t peck each other or cut off their tails so they don’t bite each other; put them on an artificially accelerated lighting program so they moult more frequently and can lay more eggs; feed them shredded paper for bulk; etc., etc., etc. That is called “torture,” and it’s morally reprehensible.
“I love God! He’s so deliciously evil!” - Stewie Griffin, Family Guy
pldennison, very valid point and i appreciate it. so then my response would be, (first are you a vegatarian?) if we were out camping and I caught a squirrel and fried it up, would you partake?
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Manhattan…I’m sure you’ve heard the UL about the restaurant (in Schenectady, NY in the version I ran into) that had on its menu Cream of Vegetarian Soup.
