Should you feel guilty for eating meat?
- Thread starter s28
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Short Answer: No
Long Answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Thank you, Yahtzee, for you endless words of wisdom.
Not serious enough? Fine.
No, you shouldn't. Man would not be man without the comsuption of meat. Protein from meat was what allowed our distant ancestors to evolve from upright apes into more intelligent beings. To put it another way, without meat, you would not be here to question whtehr or not you should eat meat.
Long Answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Thank you, Yahtzee, for you endless words of wisdom.
Not serious enough? Fine.
No, you shouldn't. Man would not be man without the comsuption of meat. Protein from meat was what allowed our distant ancestors to evolve from upright apes into more intelligent beings. To put it another way, without meat, you would not be here to question whtehr or not you should eat meat.
I think first of all you need to ask yourself why you need to justify the decision, and to whom. No, we don't really need meat and we can probably live a perfectly healthy life without it. Does that matter to you, though?s28 said:
For me, the amount of effort required to have a healthy diet on a vegetarian diet is far too much for the sake of animals that I am theoretically saving: my decisions are not going to affect how the rest of the world views their animals, so me not eating meat may not save any animals whatsoever.
In the end, I want to be bigger and stronger and I exercise often: having chicken and fish helps me in this pursuit. That's all the justification I need.
Adapting meat into our regular diets is what gave us the excess nutrition needed to develop our brains and become the dominant species. Plus, it isn't like the livestock know what's happening.
I guess this where being a farmer comes in for me. All my life I've been raised to respect animals. I've never actually killed an animal before, but I've been raised with the knowledge that when they kill an animal it's as quick and painless as possible. Please note this is certainly not always the case, but it's how a good farmer is raised. I try not to look poorly upon vegetarians but if you like meat, you really shouldn't feel bad about eating it, on the other hand I know someone who's in training to be a vet and she's a vegetarian because she feels that it's wrong for her to be saving animal life and then eating them... I explained that horribly, but anyway I've always respected her for that choice. Anyway if I keep going I'm gonna enter controversial ground so I'll stop while I'm somewhat aheadIn Search of Username said:
I would say it's okay if that's what you want to do. We as a species are living in an interesting time where we have total choice in what we eat. Some Vegetarians stand behind the "meat is murder" argument but that's just someone's opinions. The fact is, you don't "need" to eat meat as long as you replace the benefits that meat offers with an alternative. You should already know this though from the back story you have us.
well, your very existence pretty much relies on the destruction of the environment around you, no matter how you turn it, so...
yes, you should feel guilty, by all logic.
Your alternative, though, is to understand that you are a living being,
which also means that you're never "pure" by human standards, and you need to live with that.
yes, you should feel guilty, by all logic.
Your alternative, though, is to understand that you are a living being,
which also means that you're never "pure" by human standards, and you need to live with that.
if you are a devout follower of your religion, and don't feel comfortable eating meat because of it, don't....
otherwise, pick that fork up, stick it in the nearest steak, and old it up with pride, followed by a big bite of it
otherwise, pick that fork up, stick it in the nearest steak, and old it up with pride, followed by a big bite of it
I don't think I'd really have much problem with eating meat if it was always done humanely, but it just seems like there are far too many cases where it isn't so I don't want to be a part of that. I know a lot of farmers treat the animals with respect and sympathy, don't worry, I don't think you're all bloodthirsty psychopaths. ;PAndrew Bascom said:I guess this where being a farmer comes in for me. All my life I've been raised to respect animals. I've never actually killed an animal before, but I've been raised with the knowledge that when they kill an animal it's as quick and painless as possible. Please note this is certainly not always the case, but it's how a good farmer is raised. I try not to look poorly upon vegetarians but if you like meat, you really shouldn't feel bad about eating it, on the other hand I know someone who's in training to be a vet and she's a vegetarian because she feels that it's wrong for her to be saving animal life and then eating them... I explained that horribly, but anyway I've always respected her for that choice. Anyway if I keep going I'm gonna enter controversial ground so I'll stop while I'm somewhat aheadIn Search of Username said:
If you want to be good to the environment, then I suggest you do things like recycle, use renewable energies and have an energy efficient house. Have a neutral carbon footprint in other words. The world would be in a much better shape if people were more conscious of this.
Quite frankly, being a vegetarian is only to make yourself feel good. It's the equivalent of posting about horrible things on facebook.
Quite frankly, being a vegetarian is only to make yourself feel good. It's the equivalent of posting about horrible things on facebook.
If you feel guilty, then don't eat meat. Feeling guilty is an indication that some portion of yourself is against that particular action. If you want to find out why, go to to a psychologist, although you probably already know why. Don't eat meat and suffer from guilt, that's not healthy. Deal with it either by not eating meat or addressing why it bothers you. Also, humans don't need to eat meat, but seeing as how vegetarians have to carefully watch their diet, as opposed to omnivores who don't, and (from what I've heard) tend to be less healthy then non-vegitarians, I'm guessing that eating meat is good for humans.
Thanks for remembering that, I didn't necessarily think you thought that anyway. I do agree there is still a lot of wrongdoing done in the meat industry, so the only suggestion I can make to those who want to eat meat but don't want to harm animals is do the research find the companies that have good practices. Anyway at this point we'll just go on repeating ourselves and it's not like I'm trying to change your mind, so I'm gonna respectfully bow out of the conversation. It was a good one though, thanks.In Search of Username said:I don't think I'd really have much problem with eating meat if it was always done humanely, but it just seems like there are far too many cases where it isn't so I don't want to be a part of that. I know a lot of farmers treat the animals with respect and sympathy, don't worry, I don't think you're all bloodthirsty psychopaths. ;PAndrew Bascom said:I guess this where being a farmer comes in for me. All my life I've been raised to respect animals. I've never actually killed an animal before, but I've been raised with the knowledge that when they kill an animal it's as quick and painless as possible. Please note this is certainly not always the case, but it's how a good farmer is raised. I try not to look poorly upon vegetarians but if you like meat, you really shouldn't feel bad about eating it, on the other hand I know someone who's in training to be a vet and she's a vegetarian because she feels that it's wrong for her to be saving animal life and then eating them... I explained that horribly, but anyway I've always respected her for that choice. Anyway if I keep going I'm gonna enter controversial ground so I'll stop while I'm somewhat aheadIn Search of Username said:
Plants are alive too. Nuts, berries, grains, and beans would be right out since that's eating babies. Also eating root vegetables since you have to destroy the entire plant to get them.s28 said:
To avoid killing entirely you would have to eat only fruit (which can be eaten without killing the tree) and then make sure you plant all the seeds. I guess leafy vegetables might be okay too since you're just ripping its arms off but leaving it alive, so that's fine if you're against murder but cool with mutilation.
You can't get enough protein to survive that way. Eat whatever you want.
There are good arguments against eating meat. Ecologically speaking, it's wasteful since it takes so much more land to graze cattle than to raise soy beans. A lot of meats, especially red meats, are way unhealthy compared to alternatives. It's expensive. It's a little bit gross when you really think about it. But morally, it's no different. Just by existing, you are killing. Make peace with it.
Speaking as a vegetarian (eleven years and counting!), I don't think people should feel guilty for eating meat. We are omnivores by default; we need the protein that comes from meat and other byproducts (eggs, dairy, etc.). There's nothing inherently wrong with choosing to be a vegetarian, but neither is there anything inherently wrong with eating meat. Now, the way some of the meat industries handle things, on the other hand...
Only if we should feel bad for using, say, electronics.
I don't feel bad for eating meat - my lifestyle all but requires it, actually. You SHOULD feel bad for overeating meat, but then, you should feel bad for overeating anything.
I don't feel bad for eating meat - my lifestyle all but requires it, actually. You SHOULD feel bad for overeating meat, but then, you should feel bad for overeating anything.
Extremist Vegetarians always manage do their wurstwhen trying to convince me to stop eating meat,but their arguments will have to be a lot more juicy.The anti-meat do have some good arguments, but they come about rare,and their research can be a bit undercooked.
I don't feel guilty when eating meat, I feel a sense of success, I think ''I'm eating a beast that weighs 5 times more than me, and can gore me with their almighty horns.I am a god beast.''
I don't feel guilty when eating meat, I feel a sense of success, I think ''I'm eating a beast that weighs 5 times more than me, and can gore me with their almighty horns.I am a god beast.''
Meat is tasty. I'm not going to feel sorry for an animal just because I think it tastes good on my dinner plate. Pets deserve our sympathy, not our food.
Sorry pigs I like bacon. Sorry cows I like burgers.
Sorry pigs I like bacon. Sorry cows I like burgers.