How do you, as a meat-eater, justify the violence inherent in your food?

[Colon™]

People are too self-conscious for their own good.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by molly bloom





NEE NAH NEE NAH NEE NAH NEE NAH NEE NAH NEE NAH

" Doctor doctor- he has an ironic infarction and acute humour deprivation ! "

" Nurse- I recommend an immediate dose of the Marx Brothers, followed up by intravenous Dorothy Parker. Nothing else can save the patient from his own po-facedness! "

Youre just such a laugh riot, MB, you crack me up.

Have you considered doing stand-up?

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Arrian


I *love* eating lamb, though I eat it only rarely (holidays, basically). Far more than pork. But there is the matter of whether the way lamb is raised & killed is "humane" (SR's "merciful" is probably better). Meh.

-Arrian

You should really try goat - it's very similar to lamb, except without that one weird bit of taste that lamb sometimes has.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by aneeshm


No. That's because onions and garlic are supposed to lead people to tamas, or inertness, dullness, inertia, associated with the lower emotions and mental states. Nothing to do with the sanctity of the onions or garlic themselves.

You forgot to mention how they're also alleged to inflame people sexually.

Nothing to do with the sanctity of the onions or garlic themselves.

Alliumist!

All hail the Sacred Onion!

[Arrian]

No. That's because onions and garlic are supposed to lead people to tamas, or inertness, dullness, inertia, associated with the lower emotions and mental states.

Inert, dull... yep, that sure sounds like Italians. Oh, wait...

-Arrian

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Its the A. Intelligence as the only criterion and the B. Below a certain level of intelligence, eating meat being 100% morally neutral that gives me pause.

a) "Intelligence" in reference to animals is even more of an umbrella term than it is in humans. It does not simply refer to an animal's ability to run through a maze. It encompasses a number of different ideas, such as: self-awareness, awareness of its environment, level of communication and empathy with others of its species and with human beings etc.

b) The enjoyment that I get out of eating meat has a certain moral value. It does not rise to the level where eating monkey is a net gain, but it does rise to the level where eating pig is. Pretty simple, especially because I think there are a very few animals which are "intelligent" enough to merit much consideration at all.

If push came to shove and I was hungry I would eat monkey and dolphin. But when it's simply a matter of taste, I choose to leave them alone.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
no fruits and veggies, lost of cholesterol.

Shes clearly trying to kill you.

I always suspected that.

Still I'd rather call it collective suicide, as half of the eggs and one chicken half is for her.

[Flubber]

Defintely steak for lunch !!!

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
aneeshm - you might be interested in this

http://www.jewishveg.com/torah.html

folks who think religion is irrelevant to ethics - you will find nothing of interest there.

A very interesting perspective.

Even if we do not take everything literally, the core argument - arising out of the compassion of man and God for his creation - remains unchanged.

Thanks.

[Jon Miller]

I am a vegeterrian, and have been a vegan. I have never eaten meat on purpose.

However, my reasons relate to disgust or health, not out of concern for the intelligence of the animal. If I was ever to eat meat, it wouldn't likely be oysters... despite them having no intelligence at all.

Jon Miller

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


a) "Intelligence" in reference to animals is even more of an umbrella term than it is in humans. It does not simply refer to an animal's ability to run through a maze. It encompasses a number of different ideas, such as: self-awareness, awareness of its environment, level of communication and empathy with others of its species and with human beings etc.

b) The enjoyment that I get out of eating meat has a certain moral value. It does not rise to the level where eating monkey is a net gain, but it does rise to the level where eating pig is. Pretty simple, especially because I think there are a very few animals which are "intelligent" enough to merit much consideration at all.

If push came to shove and I was hungry I would eat monkey and dolphin. But when it's simply a matter of taste, I choose to leave them alone.

If you had a range of foods before you, and had no particular meat craving at all, would you eat vegetarian in preference to eating pig (health considerations aside)? It seems to me that the utilitarian calculus youve established above would lead to that result.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Arrian




Inert, dull... yep, that sure sounds like Italians. Oh, wait...

-Arrian

That's what was believed at that time these injunctions were written, Arrian.

[Wycoff]

Originally posted by lord of the mark If you had a range of foods before you, and had no particular meat craving at all, would you eat vegetarian in preference to eating pig (health considerations aside)? It seems to me that the utilitarian calculus youve established above would lead to that result.

Not trying to speak for KH, but I agree with his quoted post.

If it was for that night only, then yes. Last night I ate the vegetarian option at my cafeteria, because the meat options didn't look as good to me. The calculation came down to what tasted better and, for that night, the vegatarian preference looked as though it tasted better.

[KrazyHorse]

If you had a range of foods before you, and had no particular meat craving at all, would you eat vegetarian in preference to eating pig (health considerations aside)? It seems to me that the utilitarian calculus youve established above would lead to that result.

I would almost always rather eat a meat dish than a vegetarian dish.

But assuming that I had exactly 0 preference ( ) then yes, I would choose the veggie dish, unless I was looking to get large amounts of protein (which I almost always am)

It's a minimal consideration in my mind.

[Arrian]

Originally posted by aneeshm


That's what was believed at that time these injunctions were written, Arrian.

Yeah, and it's funny.

I *might* be able to live without meat. But onions and garlic too? Not a chance in hell.

-Arrian