Beliefs and reasons
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| Fri, 08-19-2005 - 12:49am |
What beliefs, whether based in religion, science, philosophy, or whatever, are part of your choice to not eat meat?
I am Christian. I understand that Genesis says that God gave us a higher position than animals, and dominion over them. But I also believe that God created animals and gave them the ability to feel pain as well as minds that interpret pain and lead them to avoid danger. They were given legs to wander, noses that smell and must react to the same smells as we do- the ones in waste and rot that tell you to instictivelly avoid contaminated places. Where I am in Iowa there are huge pig farms whose stench travels far and wide, and whose waste has been shown to get where it shouldn't. Did any of you see Marylin Vos Savant (sp?) in last week's Parade? Reader asked her to comment on a vegan who has broken off contact with those who eat meat and posited that we can give animals a good life before we eat them (she answered that while she isn't a vegetarian his logic doesn't make sense and we should at least face that fact if we're going to eat animals). Obviously the reader has had his head in the sand... I haven't had an opprotunity to point out to someone who quotes the Bible at me in terms of being a vegetarian that animals can be treated so well that we accept it when we are compared to sheep and after the Easter service we go eat one (we in a societal sense, of course- no way I was going to eat a baby lamb even before I went veggie)! (I also heard someone say that we should eat meat because Jesus did- I only have found references to His eating fish). I believe that we are stewards of the world, not it's owners, and we are meant to protect the creatures who cannot protect themselves- from the abused pet to the domesticated animals who can no longer manage without human help to the wild creatures whose territories we have taken over.
On the other hand, if we evolved (without Divine assistance, that is)- then we are really no better than the animals, and if we want to claim one it's our intelligence. And if we don't use our brains to learn empathy and use the knowledge we have to keep ourselves fed- we have the ability to store or ship food so that we don't need to kill animals to get through the winter, or use animal fat to give us energy to survive the cold.
The only valid reason for taking an animal's life is if your own depends on it, I believe. A person who has one of the medical conditions that requires the concentrated protien, fat, and minerals in meat (or has a similar issue, such as diabetes was before synthetic insulins), is attacked by an animal, or is lost in the wilderness (all rare situations) has the right. But I believe that we have brains and hearts and are supposed to use them.
What ideas motivate you?
Jaseann
co-cl: Celiac Disease
co-cl: Vegetarian Living
People saying you look healthy doesn't men your symptoms aren't valid. Just because some physician didn't listen doesn't mean it's all in your head. Just because there is no definitive test yet doesn't mean the disease doesn't exist. You know you body- trust yourself!

I too am Christian, but my desire to eat a vegetarian diet doesn't come from my moral beliefs, aside form the one that a person should take the best possible care of the body they are given. While I believe that animals should be treated humanely I don't feel that if a person chooses to eat meat they are wrong. My choice is based on the numerous stories and studies I've seen about the health benefits of vegetarianism. Also, I love fruits and vegetables and love eating a good, healthy diet based on veggies and whole grains. I feel so much better when I do.
I've just had my 2nd baby in less than 2 years and I haven't eated a totally meat-free diet since veggies made me green with nausea at the beginning of the first of these two pregnancies. Now I'm almost 10 weeks postpartum and trying desperately to resume a totally vegetarian diet. Not only will it help me lose these 25 stubborn pounds, but I know I will feel better over-all.
Reece
I don't really have a specific reason as to why i became vegetarian. it was for the animals sake though, and not my own. i think i am more healthy actually when i eat meat. it is just going to take me a bit more time to develop a good vegetarian diet.
I am not really sure what i believe in at the moment. i just know that i don't want something to suffer to make my life easier. I'm not really a Christian, although i do pray at times...i'm not sure if i believe in God or not. I don;t think that animals were put on this earth for us to eat, and i find myself in no way superior than any animal. i think humans are over-evolved monkeys, and are too evolved for their own good. and instead of using our knowledge for good things....to help out the world for example, all we want to do is make or life easier, and not worry about anything else. anyway, this is turning into a depressing post so thats all i will say for now
Several reasons .. I don't like meat, never have, (this is so gross but true) When I was little I used to hide whatever meat my mom had cooked in my cheek and then hide it in my clothes drawer to throw it away later ... funny but gross. Man was I in trouble when she caught me!
And because of all the terrible things they feed and inject in animals ... growth hormones, and we wonder why kids are developing so fast, feeding chickens and cows chicken dung. Injecting them with mass antibiotics until we develop strains of bacteria that are resistant to medicines. It's scary!
I live in a real rural area and there are tons of hunters around here. Every year I see all these guys that pour through the woods, disturbing everything, right before and even into winter, shooting everything. All these animals are trying to just survive winter. I hate to see it. And I don't think there is a reason in the world to hunt anything if you aren't going to eat it and use it all. Some guys cut off the antlers and leave the deer lay. Some guys shoot a bear for a rug and don't want the meat. The needless killing gets to me. And one guy I knew shot a bird because he didn't know what it was. Grrr! Shot it, took it to a taxidermist to see what it was, asked him to stuff it, found out it was protected so he threw it down over a bank somewhere in the mountains. Get a bird book for pity sake!! The arrogance of mankind to be so cavalier and wasteful pushes me away from consuming meat.
hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. - Erma Bombeck
That's a good question!
As for religion, I was raised Christian, sent to a Christian school and so on.
While I discussed how my beliefs- which are basically Christian with a few overtones of Buddhism and the effects of being raised by a Christian who was getting a Master's degree in Biochemistry at the time of my birth (after 8 years in the Air Force, having enlisted when he realized he'd be drafted and in 'Nam if he didn't) and, after a return to the Air Force that had more to do with prudency than desire, got his Ph.D when I was 8-12)- fed into my desire to become vegetarian.
But I can't say that I am vegetarian because of them. Mom says she never had trouble getting me to eat veggies (I enjoy broccoli and lima beans)- it was getting me to finish my meat and drink my milk (which may have had something to do with the fact that I was lactose intolerant most of my childhood due to damage to my intestines from celiac disease, but that's another story...) With all my trouble digesting throughout my life, especially the last few years before my diagnosis when I was a vegetarian, I can't imagine that trying to digest meat would have helped...
I believe in evolution. There is scientific evidence for it, and not for any other idea. Scientifically, it can't even be called a "theory" if there is no scientific evidence behind it. I do believe in God, that all creatures came from Him. But I cannot believe that we were given free reign to destroy the earth- saying that there is no reason to take measures to stop the destruction of the Earth because complete proof of what's happening will take decades, in which we will apparently be worsening everything, is stupidity and, in my opinion, child abuse of the unborn... We live in a world where some treat pets as children and then eat veal, pit bulls are taught to try to kill each other for kid's amusement, and so many only decry the killing of pets because they've proven it is often a precursure to killing people. It doesn't make sense. Americans use what, a quarter of the worldwide resources each year? Can only comprehend drilling for our own oil rather than cutting down? Have created Atkins when the rest of the world eats meat as a side dish or condiment?
Yet even that is only a part of why I don't eat meat.
I always felt it was not right for me (I believe others have the right to chose for themselves, though I wish that it was presented as a choice, not as a custum that some few have violated) and was aware that some creature had died for a meal that would be gone in fifteen minutes... I believe that with a reasonable amount of thought a veggie diet is healthier than a meateaters is with considerable planning. When people ask me casually why I don't eat meat, I answer that they've heard the general ideas- health, animal rights, environment, etc (you all know them)- and that it's the combination of all of them.
People saying you look healthy doesn't men your symptoms aren't valid. Just because some physician didn't listen doesn't mean it's all in your head. Just because there is no definitive test yet doesn't mean the disease doesn't exist. You know you body- trust yourself!
well, i'm buddhist, so going vegan was a great way to help solidify my beliefs that all life has value, and to practice what i "preach". i also do it for animal rights. i also can't eat a lot of meat or animal products *anyway* so it wasn't all that hard for me LOL. i'm lactose intolerant, i'm allergic to seafood, i don't really like pork products, red meat ...while i enjoy eating it, makes me a little bit uneasy in the tummy...so the only thing i really gave up was chicken and eggs. *shrug*
i've found that i have far much more energy...so i think that its probably a healthier lifestyle for me personally.
actually, when i was pregnant i wanted nothing to do with meat, and i had a great pregnancy, so i just sort of stuck with it...although i ate a little bit here and there afterward....i decided to take the plunge and do it in earnest. my DH went vegan on me first though, i was planning on making a slower change...but it was fairly easy once i got the hang of it.