kathryn
Cathlete
>I too thought about how animals have been eaten by Native
>Americans as a means to justify my own eating of meat. After
>awhile, that excuse stopped making sense to me. I wasn't going
>out hunting on my own where the animal has a chance. I was
>eating an animal that was raised to be slaughtered, and done
>so in a heartless, methodical, and cruel way.
As someone one said: "Man is not a rational animal, man is a rationalizing animal"! It took me a while after going vegan in diet to give up leather and wool. I rationalized still using them. Then one day, I just couldn't. So I gave my hand-made (by me) wool sweaters to my stepmother, donated my usable leather goods to Goodwill, and wore the few pairs of leather shoes I had left down to the soles! and never bought anymore.
I think the "X population had to eat meat to survive" was valid at a time when it was a necessity, or in situations where food is generally scarce. But in today's society, when we can easily acquire healthy plant-based proteins (soy products, seitan, etc.), the "survival" argument doesn't make sense.
If I were stranded on a deserted island, and the only food source was fish, would I eat it? Eventually. But I'm not in that situation (and wouldn't put myself in it for the sake of a game ;-) ).
To me, the fact that "food animals" are cruely raised is one point. But the fact that animals are even considered "food animals" rather than living beings, and their sole existence is to provide food, clothing, etc., for people, is almost barbaric. It certainly seems out-dated to me.
We need to recognize the link in all of nature, and not treat animals as mere "products" or sources of plesure for humans as food/entertainment/clothing.
Luckily, we are able to do that on an individual basis, and it's something that, by our day-to-day, minute-to-minute choices, we can reinforce constantly.
Unfortunately, while it's easy to criticise the practices of our ancestors, or of previous generations, it's very hard to distance ourselves from our engrained patterns of behavior, and paradigms (like seeing animals as food sources) that have existed since time immemorial, and to give up acquired tastes.
As a child I "loved animals," but I thought nothing of the link between a rabbit's foot charm I had and an actual rabbit!
As I've been out of the meat-eating game for quite a while, I don't even consider animals as food. They are living creatures. A dead animal is a cadavre, just as a dead person would be. Why in the world would I want to eat that?
>Americans as a means to justify my own eating of meat. After
>awhile, that excuse stopped making sense to me. I wasn't going
>out hunting on my own where the animal has a chance. I was
>eating an animal that was raised to be slaughtered, and done
>so in a heartless, methodical, and cruel way.
As someone one said: "Man is not a rational animal, man is a rationalizing animal"! It took me a while after going vegan in diet to give up leather and wool. I rationalized still using them. Then one day, I just couldn't. So I gave my hand-made (by me) wool sweaters to my stepmother, donated my usable leather goods to Goodwill, and wore the few pairs of leather shoes I had left down to the soles! and never bought anymore.
I think the "X population had to eat meat to survive" was valid at a time when it was a necessity, or in situations where food is generally scarce. But in today's society, when we can easily acquire healthy plant-based proteins (soy products, seitan, etc.), the "survival" argument doesn't make sense.
If I were stranded on a deserted island, and the only food source was fish, would I eat it? Eventually. But I'm not in that situation (and wouldn't put myself in it for the sake of a game ;-) ).
To me, the fact that "food animals" are cruely raised is one point. But the fact that animals are even considered "food animals" rather than living beings, and their sole existence is to provide food, clothing, etc., for people, is almost barbaric. It certainly seems out-dated to me.
We need to recognize the link in all of nature, and not treat animals as mere "products" or sources of plesure for humans as food/entertainment/clothing.
Luckily, we are able to do that on an individual basis, and it's something that, by our day-to-day, minute-to-minute choices, we can reinforce constantly.
Unfortunately, while it's easy to criticise the practices of our ancestors, or of previous generations, it's very hard to distance ourselves from our engrained patterns of behavior, and paradigms (like seeing animals as food sources) that have existed since time immemorial, and to give up acquired tastes.
As a child I "loved animals," but I thought nothing of the link between a rabbit's foot charm I had and an actual rabbit!
As I've been out of the meat-eating game for quite a while, I don't even consider animals as food. They are living creatures. A dead animal is a cadavre, just as a dead person would be. Why in the world would I want to eat that?
