Veganise Me

Taking the usual meat eater’s justification for continuing their practice, it’s easy to put things into perspective and see how others have justified their actions, however atrocious they seem to the ones who don’t agree with them.

Animals taste good and since I am more powerful I feel I have the right to eat them. Animals are inferior beings, they don’t have our level of intellect so I don’t see anything wrong with eating them. They were bred for this purpose so their suffering is non-important as long as I get meat on my plate. Our society has eaten animals for hundreds of years, it’s a part of our culture and I’m not the one who’ll change that.

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Slaves are useful and since I am more powerful I feel I have the right to own them. Blacks are inferior beings, they don’t have our level of intellect so I don’t see anything wrong with using them. They were bred for this purpose so their suffering is non-important as long as the job gets done. Our society has enslaved other races for hundreds of years, it’s a part of our culture and I’m not the one who’ll change that.

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Women bring me pleasure and since I am more powerful I feel I have the right to rape them. Women are inferior beings, they don’t have our level of intellect so I don’t see anything wrong with raping them. They were born for this purpose so their suffering is non-important as long as I get pleasure. Our society has raped women for hundreds of years, it’s a part of our culture and I’m not the one who’ll change that.

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Jews are not a pure race and since I am more powerful I feel I have the right to kill them. Jews are inferior beings, they don’t have our level of intellect so I don’t see anything wrong with killing them. They are bred for this purpose so their suffering is non-important as long as Germany is free from them. Our society has killed inferior tribes for hundreds of years, it’s a part of our culture and I’m not the one who’ll change that.

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If the above comparisons sound far fetched to you, it’s worth remembering that your current views would sound equally far fetched to those people. I think the time has come to extend our morals to respect all creatures capable of suffering, regardless of color, race, gender or species.

Yesterday I came across a beautiful letter of apology that was written to the thousands of nonhuman animals who had suffered and died to satisfy one man’s appetite for animal foods.

Dear thousands of cows, chickens, fish, shrimp, pigs and insects,

I paid someone to hold you captive in tight quarters. To remove your genitals, your beaks, your tails and to brand you, all while wide awake and without anesthesia. To forcibly impregnate you and keep you that way all your life. I paid them to remove you from your children and from your parents at birth. And finally to kill you. I paid them to treat you as a commodity, a slave, as an object that existed only for my benefit. As if you could not suffer, or as if it didn’t matter if you could or not. All of this when it was unnecessary to do so. I did this solely for my own pleasures. A tasty meal, a full belly. You gave me comfort, you gave me a way to fit in with others and with the crowd. You gave me a center piece around which I and my family could celebrate. You were there to fill an empty space when I had a longing that I didn’t know how to fix. You made me feel safe. I know you can’t answer me directly, but I want to make this right. I feel I do not yet understand how to do this fully. Until then I will do what I can.

I love you,
Eric

Original post by George Dvorsky on Sentient Developments http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2007/08/meat-eaters-are-bad-people.html

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That’s right — you heard me, bitch.

If you eat meat you’re a bad person.

And you’re probably deluded too, desperately clinging to quasi-sensical rationalizations that are supposed to justify your cruel and filthy habit.

Yup, you guessed it — I’m through being Mr. Nice Guy when it comes to dealing with meat eaters. I’ve passed a personal tipping point, so to speak, mostly on account of my having to suffer through far too many dinner conservations in which I’m exposed to ridiculous and unfounded arguments intended to support the practice of eating flesh.

Ultimately, when it comes right down to it there is no excuse for eating meat.

Let me repeat that.

There is no excuse for eating meat.

All justifications for doing so – including those rare arguments that actually manage to make sense – are weak to the core. There’s no possible excuse that outweighs the damage and suffering caused by consuming meat.

I would now like to take the time to debunk some of the more common fallacies I’m forced to listen to (and supposedly tolerate) on a regular basis:

Continue reading

Let’s pretend for a moment that meat was an absolute necessity for human survival. Shouldn’t we, as the superior beings that we are, uniquely capable of imagination, speech, art and ethics do our utmost to ensure that animals live a good and comfortable life and die in a nanosecond without any chance of feeling any pain?

Now, since we do not need meat to survive, and in fact are healthier without it, then shouldn’t treating animals with such disregard and killing them so callously be considered a doubly barbaric act?

Until we are collectively able to use our intelligence to care about the well-being of all others and stop thinking solely about ourselves and our superiority,  it doesn’t matter whether we’ve been to the moon, built pyramids or iPhones –  we’re still no better than beasts.

Here’s a very interesting slideshow showing the ideal diet of humans:

Ideal Diet.pdf

Below is an edited text from books by Peter Singer.

We don’t usually think of what we eat as a matter of ethics. Stealing, lying, hurting people – these acts are obviously relevant to our moral character. So too, most people would say, is our involvement in community activities, our generosity to others in need, and especially our sex life. But eating – an activity that is even more essential than sex, and in which everyone participates – is generally seen quite differently. Continue reading

Click to view it full size

WHAT’S AHEAD?

• I ask you questions that you might not have asked yourself before.
• I tell you about my own experience being a vegetarian.
• I lay out all the good AND all the bad things about it.
• I present you with a challenge.

I genuinely hope to see you on the green side! ;-) Continue reading