View Full Version : Vegetarianism: cases for and against


Chambers
12-01-2004, 12:37 AM
I'm still stumped on this one one. I'm a meat-eater (and boy do I love meat) yet I'm also into animal rights. I can't stand to think of an animal suffering, but I've been trained to be numb about all that when I eat chickens and cows. Oddly enough I don't give a crap about the feelings of fish or insects.

So, anthropological studies indicate that humans developed their large brains only because they were able to get plenty of protein from meat. Technically, we were designed to eat meat. And, ya know, everything in nature lives off of something. From mammals to bacteria - things die all the time to keep us alive.

But...what do I do about all the cute, delicious little animals that are dying and suffering in the meat industry?

robyrob
12-01-2004, 12:45 AM
just eat the ugly ones.

Hollow
12-01-2004, 12:46 AM
once they're dead, they're dead. might as well gain some nutrition from it.

Chambers
12-01-2004, 12:50 AM
Originally posted by safety pin
once they're dead, they're dead. might as well gain some nutrition from it.

Good point. I mean, it would take billions of people to stop the meat industry. So I might as well continue to support it.

Chambers
12-01-2004, 12:51 AM
Originally posted by robyrob
just eat the ugly ones.

Haha. I was just watching Futurama and Leila went on about how she only eats stupid animals.

Dutabi84
12-01-2004, 12:56 AM
Actually, the intestines of meat-eaters are significantly shorter than those of plant eaters, yet evolution can be attributed to eating meat. Our teeth/hands are also not your typical meat eater's teeth/hands.

I think it sucks how animals are treated and raised, but I give in to the temptations of meat too easily :o

HEY! We might as well enjoy the animal's fruitful meat. They would be proud to see us with smiles on our faces after gobbling them up, from up in little animal heaven.

Chambers
12-01-2004, 01:03 AM
Originally posted by Dutabi84
Actually, the intestines of meat-eaters are significantly shorter than those of plant eaters, yet evolution can be attributed to eating meat. Our teeth/hands are also not your typical meat eater's teeth/hands.

I think it sucks how animals are treated and raised, but I give in to the temptations of meat too easily :o

HEY! We might as well enjoy the animal's fruitful meat. They would be proud to see us with smiles on our faces after gobbling them up, from up in little animal heaven.

About your first comment - yes, we're not purely meat eaters. We're a mixture of carnivores and herbivores, like many apes are.

As for your last comment...does that mean that all animals we eat go to heaven...precisely because we eat them? I feel better already. ;)

Did any of you see those commercials on MTV showing cows and other animals being slaughtered? Those made me sick. I think PETA was the culprit. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Dutabi84
12-01-2004, 01:18 AM
Originally posted by Chambers
About your first comment - yes, we're not purely meat eaters. We're a mixture of carnivores and herbivores, like many apes are.

As for your last comment...does that mean that all animals we eat go to heaven...precisely because we eat them? I feel better already. ;)

Did any of you see those commercials on MTV showing cows and other animals being slaughtered? Those made me sick. I think PETA was the culprit. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

That is very true. I think it's hard to make an argument for or against it.

Well, don't you remember the movie "All Dogs go to Heaven"? I'm assuming the same is true for any other animal. Because if it's in the movies, it MUST be true! But I think the animals would be proud of themselves to see us so joyfully pouring salt, pepper, and A1 sauce all over their innards, and devouring it with an ear to ear grin. Dontcha think?

crystals
12-01-2004, 01:22 AM
I'm a lacto-ovo-pesco-pollo vegetarian. There are such terms for a person who eats milk products (lacto), eats eggs (ovo), fish (pesco) and poultrys: in my case chicken and turkey (pollo). You can look it up on the web: types of vegetarians.

I chose not to eat red meat because it is healthier and I like cows. Someday I plan to have pet cows. I think that would be so cool. :cool:

Cashodeen
12-01-2004, 01:56 AM
Originally posted by crystals
I'm a lacto-ovo-pesco-pollo vegetarian. There are such terms for a person who eats milk products (lacto), eats eggs (ovo), fish (pesco) and poultrys: in my case chicken and turkey (pollo). You can look it up on the web: types of vegetarians.

I chose not to eat red meat because it is healthier and I like cows. Someday I plan to have pet cows. I think that would be so cool. :cool: I hate to break it to you, but you're a phony vegatarian. As am I. But I try to not slip up and call myself one for the most part though. I still eat seafood. As long as you eat some kind of "meat" you're no vegetarian. ;)

A pesco-pollo vegetarian is an oxymoron really. Don't listen to sites that say otherwise.

ThirteenInchEscape
12-01-2004, 03:24 AM
Originally posted by Chambers
About your first comment - yes, we're not purely meat eaters. We're a mixture of carnivores and herbivores, like many apes are.


I believe the word you're searching for is "omnivore"



I really dont like most meat, I eat it occasionally though, I do quite like fish...I dont really have any moral feelings about it, but I figure since I dont really like it I may as well not eat it.


This is going to sound kind of stupid, but I will eat plant foods that I dont like very much, but I wont eat meats that I really dont like, even if I dislike them an equal amount, because though some meat is very healthy, if I'm not going to enjoy my food I'd just as well not kill an animal for it.

I dont think that I've just had steak in a long time...though venison, and I suppose there is a decent argument for eating that, in that the deer live their pleasant lives in the woods as they would naturally live, and humans hunt them, as they were meant to do...or something (I dont hunt but extended family members do, so we get the meat sometimes, very, very good)

Sterling Holobyte
12-01-2004, 10:58 AM
Originally posted by crystals


I chose not to eat red meat because it is healthier and I like cows. Someday I plan to have pet cows. I think that would be so cool. :cool:
I hope you have a big litterbox. ;)

dawsongirl
12-01-2004, 11:37 PM
Originally posted by Chambers
But...what do I do about all the cute, delicious little animals that are dying and suffering in the meat industry?

I don't think I've ever eaten an animal I thought was cute. Chickens...ugly. Turkeys...really ugly. Pigs...ugly. Cows...ugly. Hot Dogs...no one knows...so nope.

Anyway, I'm not a vegetarian. I don't think I could live just on fruits and veggies and whatever else. I also live in a huge farming state, so farmers kind of like you to eat meat. Helps them keep a job. That and corn. You have to eat corn here. It's a law. Besides...if it pisses off PETA...I'm all for it.

*Pleasant Tomorrow*
12-01-2004, 11:39 PM
Originally posted by safety pin
once they're dead, they're dead. might as well gain some nutrition from it. That's my take on it. I won't kill anything myself, in fact...I think cows are so ****ing cute. But what are you going to do?

dawsongirl
12-01-2004, 11:40 PM
Originally posted by Chambers
Haha. I was just watching Futurama and Leila went on about how she only eats stupid animals.

:lol: I remember that.

MaydayMalonesGirl
12-01-2004, 11:47 PM
I'm also very into animal rights, yet I continue to eat meat. But I'm still very against things like hunting because most hunters kill animals and consider their dead bodies some kind of trophy. Its understandable if they actually ate what they killed, but usually they just mount the animals head on the wall and try to act big because they killed an animal that was pretty much defenseless against them.

I grew up with my uncles and cousins shooting deer in my backyard and dragging their dead bodies into my driveway. I always hated it.

ThirteenInchEscape
12-01-2004, 11:49 PM
hunters do eat the animals...that's the idea....the reason that they keep the heads is because...well...what the **** else are you going to do with the heads?


In fact, every hunter I know (and I know alot), I get the impression that they quite hate it when people shoot deer and just leave it there, and it isnt common, given that you can be arrested.


People do however, just shoot coyotes for sport, which bothers me, but since coyotes are legally vermin you can kill them as you wish.

MaydayMalonesGirl
12-01-2004, 11:52 PM
Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
hunters do eat the animals...that's the idea....the reason that they keep the heads is because...well...what the **** else are you going to do with the heads?


In fact, every hunter I know (and I know alot), I get the impression that they quite hate it when people shoot deer and just leave it there, and it isnt common, given that you can be arrested.

Hm, I don't know. None of the people in my family ever ate the deer. I remember once my uncle shot a deer and threw it in the lake in my backyard. Then I went back there and it's dead body was floating on the lake.

dawsongirl
12-01-2004, 11:56 PM
Originally posted by MaydayMalonesGirl
Hm, I don't know. None of the people in my family ever ate the deer. I remember once my uncle shot a deer and threw it in the lake in my backyard. Then I went back there and it's dead body was floating on the lake.

OMG! That's enough to give people nightmares.

Rebel Queen 1980
12-02-2004, 12:08 AM
I don't really like meat all that well,fish nonetheless,however
I do like chicken,I even considered vegetarianism once,I love
vegetables,in fact when I eat a meal I fill my plate with more
sides than anything,my family just looks me weird...

Hollow
12-02-2004, 12:15 AM
Originally posted by crystals
I'm a lacto-ovo-pesco-pollo vegetarian. There are such terms for a person who eats milk products (lacto), eats eggs (ovo), fish (pesco) and poultrys: in my case chicken and turkey (pollo). You can look it up on the web: types of vegetarians.

I chose not to eat red meat because it is healthier and I like cows. Someday I plan to have pet cows. I think that would be so cool. :cool:
you eat meat, you're not a vegetarian.

Tonyd
12-02-2004, 12:16 AM
Originally posted by dawsongirl
OMG! That's enough to give people nightmares.

I agree! No hunters I know ever do anything like that. :(

crystals
12-02-2004, 02:40 AM
Originally posted by safety pin
you eat meat, you're not a vegetarian.

Total Vegetarians eat only plant food. They do not eat any animal foods, including fish, eggs, dairy products, and honey.

Vegans not only omit all animal products from their diets, but they also eliminate them from the rest of their life. Vegans use nothing from animals, such as leather, wool, and silk.

Lacto-Vegetarians will include dairy products into their diet of plant food.

Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarians eat both eggs and dairy products.

Pesco-Vegetarians include fish into their diets.

Pollo-Vegetarians eat poultry, such as chicken, turkey, and duck.

http://www.msu.edu/user/daenzerr/rd491/types.htm

*Pleasant Tomorrow*
12-02-2004, 03:39 PM
Originally posted by ThirteenInchEscape
People do however, just shoot coyotes for sport, which bothers me, but since coyotes are legally vermin you can kill them as you wish.

That's what pisses me off...along with the whole crow shooting thing a couple years ago. "Doyyyy jus cuz we dun dunt like dem, we dun gun kill em cuz we're big badass peepull with oposozable thums!11"

ThirteenInchEscape
12-02-2004, 04:24 PM
"Being a vegetarian is about making choices, and sometimes I choose to eat meat!"

"...no, no it isn't"

"I'm a bi-vegatarian, I only eat meat sometimes"





I guess none of you watch Coupling so you dont get any of that...but, we found out 3 seasons later that Jane's therapist had to quit therapy because how crazy Jane was when she tried to explain that she was a vegetarian sometimes made her give up on helping people pyschologically