Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

levite · 07-08-2009, 01:32 PM

I think there is nothing wrong with eating meat, provided that the animals are treated humanely while alive, slaughtered humanely, and that they are not reasoning creatures. For example, among other reasons, I see nothing wrong with eating sheep or cows, because I've spent time on a farm, and I know that both kinds of creatures are dumb as stumps, and while they may have rudimentary awareness of self and surroundings, there's nothing "there." Whereas, I would never eat a whale, because, having listened to whalesong, and read up on whale society, it seems pretty clear these things are as intelligent and aware as we are, even if their intelligence seems to express itself very differently.

I also agree that we were designed to be omnivorous, and that means there's nothing wrong with eating meat, so long as it's not to excess, or done with cruelty.

But I have said for a long time that if a person couldn't bring themselves to kill an animal, they probably shouldn't eat meat. I have a couple of friends who are shochetim (Jewish ritual slaughterers), and I've seen them do their work, and I have no problem eating meat.

If I didn't keep kosher, I would eat nothing but free range, organic meat; since I do keep kosher, I eat free-range, organic meat when I can, and if not, I try to allay my concerns by reminding myself that-- when the system works properly-- the laws of kashrut ought to prevent me from consuming animals that have been severely mistreated or killed improperly. Of course, as we saw two years ago with the scandal at Rubashkin's kosher meats in Iowa, sometimes those who are supposed to make the system work, instead corrupt the system for their own ends, which is always a worry. But I still think-- especially now that Rubashkin is almost out of business, and their plant is being overseen by the government-- that more kosher meat is ethical than non-kosher meat, at least in the United States.

As for cannibalism, it would depend. Cannibalism from necessity (your soccer team is stranded in the Andes, etc.) seems a no-brainer to me: you do what you have to do to survive. Cannibalism from choice ("Honey, you want lamb chops tonight?" "No, I really feel in the mood for a Nicaraguan. Something juicy, like a mechanic, or that guy who cuts the Sanchez's lawn.") is not okay, IMO. We are intelligent, aware, reasoning beings (and, I believe, created in the image of God), and as such, we may or may not have the right to deprive other humans of their lives for reasons of justice, but not for reasons of culinary appetite.

07-08-2009, 01:32 PM	#21 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	I think there is nothing wrong with eating meat, provided that the animals are treated humanely while alive, slaughtered humanely, and that they are not reasoning creatures. For example, among other reasons, I see nothing wrong with eating sheep or cows, because I've spent time on a farm, and I know that both kinds of creatures are dumb as stumps, and while they may have rudimentary awareness of self and surroundings, there's nothing "there." Whereas, I would never eat a whale, because, having listened to whalesong, and read up on whale society, it seems pretty clear these things are as intelligent and aware as we are, even if their intelligence seems to express itself very differently. I also agree that we were designed to be omnivorous, and that means there's nothing wrong with eating meat, so long as it's not to excess, or done with cruelty. But I have said for a long time that if a person couldn't bring themselves to kill an animal, they probably shouldn't eat meat. I have a couple of friends who are shochetim (Jewish ritual slaughterers), and I've seen them do their work, and I have no problem eating meat. If I didn't keep kosher, I would eat nothing but free range, organic meat; since I do keep kosher, I eat free-range, organic meat when I can, and if not, I try to allay my concerns by reminding myself that-- when the system works properly-- the laws of kashrut ought to prevent me from consuming animals that have been severely mistreated or killed improperly. Of course, as we saw two years ago with the scandal at Rubashkin's kosher meats in Iowa, sometimes those who are supposed to make the system work, instead corrupt the system for their own ends, which is always a worry. But I still think-- especially now that Rubashkin is almost out of business, and their plant is being overseen by the government-- that more kosher meat is ethical than non-kosher meat, at least in the United States. As for cannibalism, it would depend. Cannibalism from necessity (your soccer team is stranded in the Andes, etc.) seems a no-brainer to me: you do what you have to do to survive. Cannibalism from choice ("Honey, you want lamb chops tonight?" "No, I really feel in the mood for a Nicaraguan. Something juicy, like a mechanic, or that guy who cuts the Sanchez's lawn.") is not okay, IMO. We are intelligent, aware, reasoning beings (and, I believe, created in the image of God), and as such, we may or may not have the right to deprive other humans of their lives for reasons of justice, but not for reasons of culinary appetite. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)