[net.misc] vegetarianism

neutron@hpfcla.UUCP (01/09/86)

mordred!avr says:
> 	Rubbish. Just because some great people are *queasy* about
> eating meat doesn't mean that it's wrong.

I am *not* queasy about eating meat.  I have a cast-iron stomach and the inner
strength to do what I think is right.  I believe that eating meat is WRONG.
This is like confusing a pacifist and a quadrapelegic because neither
will fight a war.  They do the same thing, but for very different reasons.

> What about the vast number of carnivorous animals out there ?  Are they
> all amoral, too, or do these ethical considerations apply to humans only ?
> Face it, it's a fact that animals kill for food.  Why should humans
> have to feel guilty about it ?

Shall we hold up the wild animals as models to follow?  As examples? 
Yes, carnivorous animals (I use "animals" here as excluding man) *are* amoral.
So are herbivorous animals.  They are dumb animals, and hence the question of
morals does not apply to them.  Man, however, has the intelligence to rise up
above the behavior of the beasts.  To use his mind.

Imagine that you had a friend who slept outside in the dirt.  You would say
to him, "Come inside, and sleep in a nice soft bed."  He would reply,
"Face it, it's a fact that animals sleep in the dirt.  Why should humans
have to feel guilty about it?"  You'd think he was crazy, imitating the
animals like that, wouldn't you?


Jack Applin
hplabs!hpfcdc!jack

(note: due to braindamaged HP notes software/administration,
 the return address in the headers may be incorrect)

tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (01/16/86)

In article <75900003@hpfclg.UUCP> neutron@hpfcla.UUCP writes:
>
>> What about the vast number of carnivorous animals out there ?  Are they
>> all amoral, too, or do these ethical considerations apply to humans only ?
>> Face it, it's a fact that animals kill for food.  Why should humans
>> have to feel guilty about it ?
>
> Shall we hold up the wild animals as models to follow?  As
> examples?  Yes, carnivorous animals (I use "animals" here as
> excluding man) *are* amoral.  So are herbivorous animals.  They
> are dumb animals, and hence the question of morals does not apply
> to them.  Man, however, has the intelligence to rise up above the
> behavior of the beasts.  To use his mind.

What do you eat, then?  Why is it not moral to eat animals but ok to eat
plants?

[ This is not being put in net.veg because to have an interesting debate
  on this topic, one must have carnivores represented, and I would
  assume that net.veg is mostly full of weed eaters (:-)) ]
-- 
Tim Smith       sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim