88 replies to this topic

[Wyllt]

Eating meat or not eating meat is not really a question of morality in my opinion, it is a question of survival. How we treat the animals before they reach are plate may be a question of morality, but quite frankly its not my problem and there are far greater issues that occupy my mind then how the cow/chicken/lamb was treated before it was slaughtered and reached my plate. Perhaps when everyone in the world has the luxury of considering the source of the food on thier plate before they eat it (ie no more world hunger), and humans treat each other with respect, then we can consider how we treat other species. And before someone gets up on thier soapbox, I am aware that how we treat other species is tied to how we treat our own, but I believe that reforming our treatment of each other is more important way to improve our over all "morallity" than to focus on minor issues first.

Now tho those who claim morallity is just an idea and as such does not exist, I say to you democracy is an idea, does it not exist? Money is an idea, does it not exist (and before you say anything paper and coin money is just an imprint of a value system we invent, it has no intrinsic(sp?) value of its own)? There are many things wich exist as ideas alone, this does not make them any less valuable. Morallity exists, that being said I do not believe that morallity is written in stone, in other words there is no way to say one thing is moral and one immoral. Humans are naturally amoral, morallity is passed on to us from society and our parents.

[grovealum]

Is eating anything morally correct? What about plants? They're alive. The only thing I believe is that any system of judging what should live & what should die is inherently flawed due to lack of data.

First of all nobodies really sure what even happens to humans when they die. If you truly believe you’ll go to Heaven or some kind of physical or spiritual afterlife/higher form of existence then wouldn’t being killed be not so bad? If you believe in the simple termination of self-awareness after death then it really won’t matter when you die. You could die today or 100 years from now & you wouldn’t really be upset about it, at least not after you die.

Secondly what criteria could you possibly use to explain your choices as to which living things should die & which ones should be protected? Who are you to say that puppy dogs & kittens should live while mice & mosquitoes are acceptable to kill. That’s not a moral system, that’s the human condition, a they’re cute so we keep them mentality. If killing anything alive goes against some greater moral standard, what would give you the right to discriminate against some life forms while not others. How can you say creatures with brains deserve to live while plants don’t? Shouldn’t they deserve the right to live because they’re alive, & not because they’re similar to humans? What about bacteria? Your body’s white blood cells kill everyday whether you want them to or not. Which brings up the question, is it okay to kill in-self defense?
(Preserve your own life by taking some one or something else’s) If it’s okay to do that then what does it matter whether you were attacked or not. If you have a right to kill to keep yourself alive then there are clearly exceptions to this almighty don’t kill anything moral.


Finally, everything dies. The cow I ate for lunch today would have died regardless of whether I paid for it to be killed or not. It would have had a few more years of life in the context of eternity. I for one always say I want to live as long as possible but that’s really only being avoidant of something that will happen. I can’t fathom death so I put it off as long as I can as if it’ll go away with time, when really every day just brings me closer.

[Shackman]

Good argument. I like this. Great to see people so passionately posting aobut their opinions. This forum feels lively.

Just my part of the arguement....no offence

Why do you think murder is a crime? If people will die one day, why bother to charge the killer in court for murder, and hanging him? My opinion on this is that it is wrong to end a concious life prematurely.

Plants do not have the ability to think, feel or touch. But animals do. They are aware about their surroundings, and feel afraid before they die, just like us. Although you may argue that they do not feel it as strong as us, but they do feel fear after all do they? Is it right to do that? They feel pain too.

Is it right to inflict pain, or cause fear to another living being in this world?

-Shin Kei

[moza]

yes, great, what not??

[spacemonkey]

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Is Eating Meat Morally Correct?

Yes.

[outlawspirit]

i suppose... when you look at it from way back when humans would eat like greens and thats it... it makes sense, but we are in the year 2005 now, meat is tasty and we can eat it without getting ill, without too much trouble...

i know its not fair on the animal, but is it fair on an animal when a lion catches it? or when another bird eats the smaller bird? a fox eats a rabbit?

i dont think it really matters, i dont think there is anything correct about it except humans eat both, meat and greens so be it...

im quite happy with eating meat, i dont feel quilty about it... like someone said... its survival of the fittest in the food chain and thats all that matters...

[spacemonkey]

Shackman, on Apr 9 2005, 02:24 AM, said:

Plants do not have the ability to think, feel or touch. But animals do. They are aware about their surroundings, and feel afraid before they die, just like us. Although you may argue that they do not feel it as strong as us, but they do feel fear after all do they? Is it right to do that? They feel pain too.

Is it right to inflict pain, or cause fear to another living being in this world?

-Shin Kei

This is a good argument, I have enjoyed reading some of the things here.

You argue that plants cannot think, feel, or touch. In studies, it has been proven that plants have very very basic levels of thought and instinct. A plant set next to a window but out of the light will, over time, move to be in the light. Technically this isn't "thinking" per se, it is merely surviving. But being able to survive is close enough.

Tests have also shown that plants "feel" in a sort of way. A plant's cell activity was monitored on a specific part of a leaf while a leaf on the opposite side of the plant was ripped or torn, and cell activity increased correlating with the destruction of the leaf. This suggests that, perhaps, plants are aware of a ahcnge in their structure, or possibly they feel pain.

Also, an animal is scared when it is cornered and if it feels threatened. Animals lack portions of a brain that humans have that justify and perceive. Animals want to survive, you can't really argue that they are afraid because they can't understand the significance of death.

[bureX]

Plants don't scream when they are chopped up and cooked... Is that the reason for eating plants instead of meat for some people?

I can understand people that are choosing to be vegetarians when they are forced to eat such garbage (meat) in the USA which contains a great deal of chemicals that are injected in the animals to gain their growth or egg production! I saw allot of PETA advertising movies, and I am stunned to see such a "culturally developed country" slaughter pigs like that (slit an animals throat open and let it suffer great pain for it’s last 2 minutes of life remaining)!

In my country, most farmers use some sort of a slaughtering gun. I used it once on my aunts farm to slaughter a pig (yes, it was the slaughtering season, and yes, she gave me permission), and the pig was dead in an instant! 100 milliseconds of pain, and that's it! I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't start feeling sorry for the pig either. But, I felt guilty because I didn't play fair! I won the "food chain game" by killing a pig that was trapped in a corner inside a barn, no fighting and no tactics whatsoever! Still, the guilt disappeared because I know that it was killed after a very good life! My aunt spent allot of time collecting food to feed that same pig that didn't have to lift a finger! That same pig wasn't kept in a barn 24/7 and was not abused or fed any sorts of growth hormones!

I ate the meat of that pig a few hours after I did the slaughter! And I really enjoyed it, it was the best meal I have ever had! (I think that meat looses it's quality after being frozen, so that's the reason for the meat being so tasty that time...)

My opinion: There is no difference between eating animals and plants! Both are alive, both breathe and both are a part of our planet!

Some people say (my classmate, for example) that eating fruits that grow on plants is OK because that doesn’t hurt the plant... WRONG! Try eating an apple, and when you are finished with it, dump it in the trash bin and think about what have you just done! Fruits are meant for animals to eat them and spread the seeds of that fruit around for several kilometers so it can increase the plant population. So, you see, every species that is a part of the food chain is hurting our planet, but is still helping it! Plants generate oxygen, animals carry on seeds of the plants and, by breathing, stop the planet from being overwhelmed with oxygen, and humans (even though it may not seem like it at the moment) will eventually protect all life on this planet! When the next comet (just an example ) comes knocking on our doorstep, humans will protect this small planet and help maintain it’s unique spark of life and the balance of nature that is required to keep it glowing!

[psychiccyberfreak]

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Edited by psychiccyberfreak, 29 March 2007 - 01:25 AM.

[icemarle]

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we need meat to survive. God(or whatever form of god) gave us this food, so let's eat it. It's simple. Sometimes what they do to it I dont believe, but that's why I am carfull about which brands I buy.

Yeah! If it's there, let's use it! What's the point of not doing so, it'll just be wasted. If we didn't need meat, then why is it here? If we don't need plants, then why are they here? If we didn't need water, why is it here?

So it's best to make use of all the resources.