Vegetarians - why?

[The Funslinger]

Well some people don't like the taste of a lot of meat.

Some people can't get past the fact it's another living thing. Might not seem a big thing to most of us, but it's like how some people (let's say we all went to war) would be haunted by the deaths they had seen or caused, other people shrug it off. (On a different scale, obviously.)

Me? I love meat. Hell, if I have to have a last meal, it's assorted beef and chicken on a plate made from steak!

 

[Nazz3]

They think that its cruel to kill animals or just dont like meat.

 

[Lord Of Cyberia]

For reasons of Taste, Ethics, or Efficiency. (Meat costs more to produce than crops.)

 

[JasonKaotic]

I hate the whole human superiority thing. What we do isn't natural.
If a human kills an animal it's acceptable, but if an animal kills a human IT'S EVIL AND DESERVES TO DIE!
We hoard animals up in fields and never allow them to live their whole lives, taking them out and slaughtering them before they get the chance to. And this is perfectly fine. Yet if an alien race came to Earth and started doing this or if an animal reached human intelligence and started doing it or something, THEY'RE EVIL AND HAVE TO BE DESTROYED!
To those people who always use the "WELL, ANIMALS WHO KILL OTHER ANIMALS IN THE WILD DO IT MUCH WORSE THAN WE DO" crap, think about it. Would you rather have every single human in the world hoarded into small areas their entire lives, and before any of them reach anywhere near the end of their lives, they're taken and slaughtered, or for humans to carry on living out their lives, passing away as normal, but every now and then a human's picked off?
Animals are living things too. I know for a lot of people it's near impossible for them to understand that, but they are. And they have every right to live as fully as we do. Nothing gives humans more right to live than them.

 

[Treblaine]

Discrimination is telling the difference between a dumb animal that has been bred for meat and a human being who was born to live and be a loved member of society. Also you don't eat humans regardless of that because of prion diseases, insects practice cannibalism because they are immune to such conditions. Most animals and especially mammals are very vulnerable.

Being bred to die doesn't make it anymore okay kill something, it wouldn't be ethical to kill a human that is bred to die (think some strange hereditary gladiator situation or something). You have not actually provided a reason as to why a cow's life is less valuable than a human's.

No. I refuse to let you equate humans with mere farm animals, there is no equivalence.

It is insulting to all the humans in history who HAVE been treated like animals to be enslaved and murdered en-mass, and no just in history but continuing.

Just because a chicken has some semblance of a consciousness (unlike a plant) doesn't make their consciousness as valuable as a person. Animals don't just have a simple consciousness they have an alien consciousness, with virtually no common concepts or thought processes.

Yes, it's species-ism, just like eating plants is species-ism because we have yet to find a species with even a fraction of the cognitive worth of a human. Don't get me started on dolphins, they're playful and clever but they can't even talk, and chips, horrible creatures with an unbreakable instinct for violence and harming their loved ones.

And before you go as low as "but what about babies and brain injured people", babies grow up, people can recover from brain injuries.

It's worth spending millions of dollars sustaining a brain injured person if there is just the remotest chance they will recover some of their consciousness from brain-plasticity as even then it's more valuable than a chimpanzee.

I would only object to killing an animal for food it it was indicated it may have some consciousness of worth or may come to something.

 

[Blaster395]

The whole carbon footprint idea is rather silly IMO. Its like they are trying to say "Because I do this I am a better person than you". In fact, the whole going green thing seems to be based on that.
The preventing cruelty to animals thing is a bit of a pointless statement too. Combine harvesters blenderize millions of small animals every year harvesting non-meat foods.

The other ideas I understand though.

 

[sdafdfhrye3245]

Bears, sharks, and many more animals can easily kill and eat humans. I don't think we're at the top of the food chain

And we can/do kill and eat them more easily I don't see your point.

OT: I have no idea. I love bacon and I don't think I could ever give it up for any reason.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I really love animals and hate to see them hurt but I can't be a vegetarian due to illness. I have alot of respect those that are though for that reason. I try not to eat any meat outside of farm meats at least. But it's not enough really

There is alot of people who think it's more healthy to be a vegetarian. I think they are wrong becuase humans are essentially omnivores. Unfortunately meat suffers alot more from being cheap or processing than veggies do. I think that's why it come out as more unhealthy on a working class /blue collar wage.

 

[Homo Carnivorous]

You made a profile for this? Really?

Long time lurker. I dont add to a debate if I have nothing to add. There is enough "ZOMG this is "insert x" !!!oneone" to go around.

Anyway... I'll go with the data from here:

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/features/high-cholesterol-risks-top-2-dangers

Why? Because they have a nicer web page? because they are a million dollar company that relies on advertisement income from companies that makes drugs such as statins? I see their claims, but I see no data or reference to back them up. What gives? Since "that guy" have no problems providing these things and his webpage doesnt look as good?

Atkins and he will be debunked. Atkins is dead already... isn't he?

The newer studies are comming out in Atkins favour. So I wouldnt be holding my breath if I were you. (http://www.ajcn.org/content/91/3/502.abstract) Qi Sun, has been involved with a lot of interresting studies on sat.fat and diet, one of the largests of its kind and there was no link found. Yes Atkins is dead, you can read more about it here;

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/atkinsdiet/a/dratkinsdeath.htm

(protip: it wasnt his diet)

Good?

very!

And we need all this protein why?

Its not just the protein.

Cellulose provides bulk to stool; cellulose and fiber make up a portion of plant foods, yes. Adding bulk to stool in the form of plant material is a good thing, it means you don't need to go out and use laxatives or drink Metamucil in your water in order to use the toilet. All advantages there, methinks.

LOL, didnt I say it? better shits! Why would I need laxitives if I dont eat stuff my body cannot digest. I am interrested to learn about the mechanics you think is present.

humans have no problems digesting plants or living on plants.

If this was true. I would like to hear about any vegan tribe found. We know virtually no 3rd generation vegans. We can live on plants for a while. The large drop out from veganism isnt because people "want doing it right" or "did it wrong",. its because for most of us it is impossible to live on plants alone. For a lot its not even possible with a wash of different supplements.

One last word on cholesterol:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/chol_heartdisease.html

PCRM is a notoriously misleading bunch of vegan cooks. I wont take their word for anything, because I have seen enough times how they torture data and make studies nobody can seem to duplicate to know better than doing so.

And remind me... what is it that's the #1 cause of death in the US again? I can't seem to recall... I think it has something to do with the heart...

So what does America eat a lot of besides meat. wheat flour, sugar, Soy, acesulfam K, uppers, downers, high fructose corn sirup, Monosodium glutamte...hmm. i think there is a character limit on posts here, because I can go on for hours like that before meat or fat becomes even slightly relevant in the overall health calculation.

and ok...I admit. I work for the meat industry. We spend millions on going on gamers forum to spread propaganda to people who are allready majority fanboys of us. Got me.

 

[Chased]

Yes, but a lot of what humans can eat is simply due to the fact that we take time to cook our food. We really couldn't eat many greens otherwise. Our bodies aren't built for it as a main/only source of nutrition (raw of course).

It's really only detrimental nowadays though, because we have to mass produce it, and that is costly and dirty. Seeing it from say, an old fashioned hunter-gatherer society, and things change quite a bit there.

Human's aren't biologically designed to eat meat. Our saliva has been evolving over time to become more acidic to break down meat but it is nowhere nearly as effective as the saliva that carnivore's have. Our intestines are also the same as herbivores and considerably much larger than a normal carnivores. Also our so called "canine teeth" are also the same teeth shared by plant eaters such as primates. We do not have the same sharp teeth that a carnivore would have, such as the frontal teeth of a lion or wolf.

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html

Well that's partially true. All modern carnivores evolved from herbivores, and their teeth didn't just drop and get replaced with sharp ones they evolved to eat meat over time by eating meat. So, no creature has any more rights to meat then us. And besides if humans didnt start eating meat then we wouldn't have had enough protien to evolve complex brains over the millenia.

We can intake more than enough protein from grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits. Meat isn't a necessity to live but it sure is delicious.

 

[R4ptur3]

It's really quite simple. People just have their own reasons for it. Some people just don't like the fact that their eating something that was once living and breathing. Other people will do it for relgious reasons, while others will do it because they don't like the taste.

In a way i do respect certain vegetarians for not eating meat, but i just couldn't do it, being a predator is in our nature after all, and it's the healthiest thing to be in my opinion (also my life would be pointless without ever of trying a bacon sandwich, or a chicken sandwich, or actually any meat sandwich).

Now if your thread was vegans - why? it would probably be a better question, but even they will have valid reasons.

 

[Jenova65]

Can I be bothered to get involved in this? *Ponders*
No, not really because it is inevitable when someone asks why are you vegetarian and you answer because you've been asked it becomes a protracted debate which becomes not 'why are you?', but 'justify yourself, Oh, freak of nature' and then devolves into... 'Those f*cking vegetarians are trying to force their views on me again..' and endless quote pyramids as to why we are wrong and meat eaters are right. Majority rules, right?
Anyway, FWIW, since I am now involved..... *is annoyed with self for being dragged in*
I am vegetarian because I prefer animals to meat. It is just as simple as that... I like them alive *shrugs* anything beyond that and you might as well ask me why I don't smack my kids, why I like brown eyed men, and why I play RPGs and not FPSs. It is simply the way I am wired up. It is my choice for me and your choices for you are yours and yours alone

 

[psyks]

I hate the whole human superiority thing. What we do isn't natural.
If a human kills an animal it's acceptable, but if an animal kills a human IT'S EVIL AND DESERVES TO DIE!
We hoard animals up in fields and never allow them to live their whole lives, taking them out and slaughtering them before they get the chance to. And this is perfectly fine. Yet if an alien race came to Earth and started doing this or if an animal reached human intelligence and started doing it or something, THEY'RE EVIL AND HAVE TO BE DESTROYED!
To those people who always use the "WELL, ANIMALS WHO KILL OTHER ANIMALS IN THE WILD DO IT MUCH WORSE THAN WE DO" crap, think about it. Would you rather have every single human in the world hoarded into small areas their entire lives, and before any of them reach anywhere near the end of their lives, they're taken and slaughtered, or for humans to carry on living out their lives, passing away as normal, but every now and then a human's picked off?
Animals are living things too. I know for a lot of people it's near impossible for them to understand that, but they are. And they have every right to live as fully as we do. Nothing gives humans more right to live than them.

Right on dude! A lot of the more cognitively dissonant people in this thread probably read your post and muttered something about bleeding heart liberals, but I agree with you all the way. Fuck those selfish assholes that would torture and end lives for a sandwich.

 

[Blaster395]

I hate the whole human superiority thing. What we do isn't natural.
If a human kills an animal it's acceptable, but if an animal kills a human IT'S EVIL AND DESERVES TO DIE!
We hoard animals up in fields and never allow them to live their whole lives, taking them out and slaughtering them before they get the chance to. And this is perfectly fine. Yet if an alien race came to Earth and started doing this or if an animal reached human intelligence and started doing it or something, THEY'RE EVIL AND HAVE TO BE DESTROYED!
To those people who always use the "WELL, ANIMALS WHO KILL OTHER ANIMALS IN THE WILD DO IT MUCH WORSE THAN WE DO" crap, think about it. Would you rather have every single human in the world hoarded into small areas their entire lives, and before any of them reach anywhere near the end of their lives, they're taken and slaughtered, or for humans to carry on living out their lives, passing away as normal, but every now and then a human's picked off?
Animals are living things too. I know for a lot of people it's near impossible for them to understand that, but they are. And they have every right to live as fully as we do. Nothing gives humans more right to live than them.

Right on dude! A lot of the more cognitively dissonant people in this thread probably read your post and muttered something about bleeding heart liberals, but I agree with you all the way. Fuck those selfish assholes that would torture and end lives for a sandwich.

The reason most people believe themselves to be superior to animals is simple. If natural selection said we were not superior, we would just let animals eat us.
So yes, I consider the survival of my own species to be more important than the survival of other species.

 

[Lunar Templar]

no idea, but i didnt climb the top of the food chain to eat rabbit food

**quoted for truth and given a double bacon cheese burger**

You do relies that while you were climbing the food chain you were eating rabbit food?

yes, but beef is better tasting then lettuce

 

[CarlMin]

There are several reasons, some of which I will mention below:

Animal suffering , obviously. If you, like me, acknowledge the fact that in suffering animals are our equals, knowing that millions of animals are slaughtered simply because we want to enjoy the luxury of eating meat is quite terrible.

The environment. That's right, the meat industry is extremely, preposterously bad for the environment. Pullulating, destruction of nature, the waste of huge masses of water and so forth.

And lastly, the industry itself is obsolete. This subject has been debated over the years. But in the end, there is plenty of evidence to support that a vegetarian lifestyle can be just as healthy, in many cases more healthy, than meat eating. And you can get by perfectly well on it. Really, people who still claim that vegans or vegetarians can't get enough protein only prove how out of touch with the scientific community they have become.

No, a more relevant question would be: Why are vegetarians met with so much criticism from society?

Some of the comments on this thread are just shocking. I wouldn't dream of forcing people to be vegetarians, or value the life of animals simply because there are scientific evidence to prove that the mammal brain is very similar when it comes to physical and psychological suffering. But at least have the decency in you not to joke about this subject.

 

[CarlMin]

The reason most people believe themselves to be superior to animals is simple. If natural selection said we were not superior, we would just let animals eat us.
So yes, I consider the survival of my own species to be more important than the survival of other species.

That's a pretty weak argument. Our cultural and moral progress as a civilization can me measured by how we treat animals. In fact, I think it was Gandhi who said that "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated."

Besides, the very reasoning is very primitive. The same kind of "we are superior and therefore are meant to be superior" reason that you find behind fascism and social darwinism. I'd like to think that we as a society as developed beyond that, and release that the well-being of all animals in this ecosystem that we all depend on should be valued.

 

[elcamino41383]

Some people dislike the taste of meat, and some find the thought of eating what was once a living creature abhorrent.

I'm a proud eater of meat, but I can kind of see where they're coming from. Or I could, if meat wasn't so bloody delicious

Because animals.

Or because they dislike the taste.

Not one, myself, but totally understand the most popular reasoning.

I mean, I'm apparently in the minority in that I find chocolate ice cream absolutely disgusting and terrible.

Don't worry, you're not alone

Agreed on both accounts! Well, I don't quite hold feelings THAT strong for chocolate ice cream, but I prefer not to eat it. Bananas on the other hand...

 

[AMMO Kid]

My sister is a veggie because she needs to get her teeth fixed but it's to late to fix then, so as a result chewing meal makes her gums hurt. She ended up just going all out veggie.

Another reason why you might not eat meat is because you are a member of PETA, just to mention that one.