"You can't love animal's if you're not a vegetarian"

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

You can't love horticulture if you eat vegetables so there. Take that MR SCIENCE.
I personally love dogs. I would not eat a dog. Cows however, well they were getting too big for there cow boots anyway. They're telling me I can't love animals. Well then I guess I'll go tell my emotions to cut it out and to listen to the nice vegetarian on his high horse (which at least he won't eat I guess)

 

[Daverson]

Counterpoint -
IF: You can't love animals if you're not a vegetarian.
THIS IMPLIES: If you eat something, you must not love it.
IF: Vegetarians eat plants.
THEN: Vegetarians don't love plants.

IF: Plants provide everything necessary for human survival.
AND: Plants expect only waste air, sunlight and dirt (the 3 cheapest resources around) in return.
THEN: Plants would be very nice people.

IF: You don't love very nice people.
THEN: You're a complete arsehole.

THEREFORE
IF: You can't love animals if you're not a vegetarian.
THEN: Vegetarians are complete arseholes.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

I love SOME Animals, not all. I like Dogs, Pandas, Monkeys, Wolves, Owls etc. and I wouldn't eat one but I can't say I like Cows, Chickens etc. and I'd eat them.

 

[Lucane]

So Soilders and Excustioners can't love their familys or other people becuase their jobs have a high probability of killinng other humans?

Cannibals are a different story. >.>

 

[AngloDoom]

Counterpoint -
IF: You can't love animals if you're not a vegetarian.
THIS IMPLIES: If you eat something, you must not love it.
IF: Vegetarians eat plants.
THEN: Vegetarians don't love plants.

IF: Plants provide everything necessary for human survival.
AND: Plants expect only waste air, sunlight and dirt (the 3 cheapest resources around) in return.
THEN: Plants would be very nice people.

IF: You don't love very nice people.
THEN: You're a complete arsehole.

THEREFORE
IF: You can't love animals if you're not a vegetarian.
THEN: Vegetarians are complete arseholes.

Have you ever considered being ambassador for all things everywhere? I like the way you think.

OT: My friend used to play with a lamb her friend owned when she was a little girl. She'd spend hours rolling around with Pamela the lamb, petting her, and pretending to be a lamb herself. When said lamb was later slaughtered for meat, she ate some of it and declared that "Pam is tasty".

Admittedly, this made me recoil when I first heard she'd eaten her sheepy friend, but I'd argue she loved that lamb so, clearly, some people are capable of it.

 

[lacktheknack]

Well, on the other hand you can't love nature if you've ever eaten plants.
So this makes for an absolutely reasonable argument.

DING DING DING DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Seriously, what kind of argument is that? I assume that my constant concern and affection for my various pets has all been a lie? As has my fascination with the animal kingdom and efforts to go green?

 

[Jason Rayes]

Jesus, why's there always so much hate for the Vegetarian? I'm one and it's not because I think animals are some super case of lovely happiness we all must protect and love and all must do the same. I'm a veggie because I know I wouldn't be able to slit somethings throat so why should I enjoy the spoils if I wouldn't be willing to do the grizzly part?

I've never, ever, ever told someone they should be a vegetarian as well, the only time arguments about diet comes up is when I meet someone new, mention I am one for whatever reason and suddenly their pressed up against my face going 'WHY? WHY DONT YOU EAT MEAT? MEAT IS GOOD, ID DIE IF I COULDN'T EAT MEAT? DON'T YOU EAT CHICKEN? OR BACON? WHAT ABOUT STEAK!!!!!!!?' I swear meat must function like crack or something....

I've also never met a holier-than-thou vegetarian either. Now don't get me started on those damn vegans!!!!!

They aren't hating on you, the comment at the start was the kind of radical who treats not eating meat as a kind of religion that forces them to condemn anyone who does not conform. Ive known plenty of perfectly normal people who chose to eat a vegetarian diet. If you have friends who are doing this "WHY? WHY DONT YOU EAT MEAT? MEAT IS GOOD, ID DIE IF I COULDN'T EAT MEAT? DON'T YOU EAT CHICKEN? OR BACON? WHAT ABOUT STEAK!!!!!!!?", you need new friends, that's as bad as a raving vegan.

 

[Starbird]

As someone living in a country where *anything* is fair game for food, I just had to weigh in on this.

When I first arrived here, I had my first chance to try Dog and Horse, and it bugged me. Now it doesn't.

Reason?

It's not *my* dog or horse. If I had a pet cow or pig, I wouldn't want to eat it. If not, no problem. I'd go as far as saying "if you can eat one animal, you should be okay with eating any animal "

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I have a pet rabbit... it's a very nice rabbit... it's white with red eyes and a tuft of black hair that makes it look hilariously emo... The rabbit is ace and I like it a lot!
I have also, whilst owning this rabbit, caught another in a snare, skinned it and eaten it... But I eouldnt do that to Peter... hell noes!
So yes... both is possible... even to the same animal type...!

And guess what? At work I used to be part of the decision cycle on striking targets... and I am trained to defend myself by taking another's life... doesn't mean I hate people... :/

 

[Beliyal]

This is something very interesting to me, really. I am a vegetarian, and I'll just say from the start that I don't think that you can't love animals if you eat meat. I wasn't born as a vegetarian and I ate meat for the majority of my life and I've always loved animals.

However, there is a certain type of a problem here. The problem is that we don't seem to develop the same connection between animals that we eat and animals that we like. Meaning, a dog is a friend, but a cow is not, despite the fact that they are both animals. Most people would be horrified is someone served them a dog, but are not horrified if someone serves them a cow. That's where this argument is coming from (although, that argument is kinda flawed in my opinion). Once you begin perceiving all animals as equals, eating a cow somehow becomes similar to eating a dog. I can't really explain this, and I've never really hated cows, but while I was eating them, my brain didn't quite make the connection between the living being and the food on my plate. A living cow is a living cow and it's cute, but once it's in my plate, that's no longer a cow. I find that interesting because once I stopped eating meat, that somewhat changed. I don't have any problems with people who eat meat, though. And I don't think that eating meat makes you an animal hater. You simply have this disconnection between an animal and your dinner. This is actually quite useful because if we all had a problem with eating animals, humanity wouldn't really come as far as it did.

I don't hate animals. I am an omnivore designed to consume the ones of far lesser intelligence. So I do.

I just want to say that pigs are one of the most intelligent animals in the animal kingdom, and some researches put them as more intelligent than dogs. And yet, eating pigs is very common. Even certain spiders [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_(spider)] are remarkably intelligent. So, it's not really about intelligence, and those vegetarians that tell you that they are comfortable with killing insects and spiders because they are less intelligent are... kinda hypocritical in my opinion. I myself am a kind of a hypocritical vegetarian who doesn't eat meat, refrains from killing insects and spiders and worms and everything, but I occasionally eat fish. And I admit that. The world is simply not black and white and all these arguments between vegetarians and vegans and people who eat meat are bothersome.

 

[Lionsfan]

Oh. A vegetarianism thread. These are always good.

Hey at least it's not a Feminism thread?


OT: I once decided to be a vegetarian, not because I felt bad for animals, but because I hated plants

 

[Starbird]

This is something very interesting to me, really. I am a vegetarian, and I'll just say from the start that I don't think that you can't love animals if you eat meat. I wasn't born as a vegetarian and I ate meat for the majority of my life and I've always loved animals.

However, there is a certain type of a problem here. The problem is that we don't seem to develop the same connection between animals that we eat and animals that we like. Meaning, a dog is a friend, but a cow is not, despite the fact that they are both animals. Most people would be horrified is someone served them a dog, but are not horrified if someone serves them a cow. That's where this argument is coming from (although, that argument is kinda flawed in my opinion). Once you begin perceiving all animals as equals, eating a cow somehow becomes similar to eating a dog. I can't really explain this, and I've never really hated cows, but while I was eating them, my brain didn't quite make the connection between the living being and the food on my plate. A living cow is a living cow and it's cute, but once it's in my plate, that's no longer a cow. I find that interesting because once I stopped eating meat, that somewhat changed. I don't have any problems with people who eat meat, though. And I don't think that eating meat makes you an animal hater. You simply have this disconnection between an animal and your dinner. This is actually quite useful because if we all had a problem with eating animals, humanity wouldn't really come as far as it did.

I don't hate animals. I am an omnivore designed to consume the ones of far lesser intelligence. So I do.

I just want to say that pigs are one of the most intelligent animals in the animal kingdom, and some researches put them as more intelligent than dogs. And yet, eating pigs is very common. Even certain spiders [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_(spider)] are remarkably intelligent. So, it's not really about intelligence, and those vegetarians that tell you that they are comfortable with killing insects and spiders because they are less intelligent are... kinda hypocritical in my opinion. I myself am a kind of a hypocritical vegetarian who doesn't eat meat, refrains from killing insects and spiders and worms and everything, but I occasionally eat fish. And I admit that. The world is simply not black and white and all these arguments between vegetarians and vegans and people who eat meat are bothersome.

A few thoughts:

I know many people that had pet pigs, cows, chickens etc. and most of them would never eat their pet. All eat meat though.

To me, the only really difficult question in this whole issue is: "What about borderline endangered animals?".

I live in Japan. Here, Whale is regarded as a cultural food that is basically eaten because people have always eaten it (lots of those over here). It tastes bad. But every conversation I've had with people here is remarkably similar - the Japanese are for it, the westerners are either ambivalent or against it.

 

[Denamic]

What do I think?
I eat meat and I love my dogs.
Therefore, it's bullshit.
Wow, that was easy.

 

[Beliyal]

I know many people that had pet pigs, cows, chickens etc. and most of them would never eat their pet. All eat meat though.

To me, the only really difficult question in this whole issue is: "What about borderline endangered animals?".

I live in Japan. Here, Whale is regarded as a cultural food that is basically eaten because people have always eaten it (lots of those over here). It tastes bad. But every conversation I've had with people here is remarkably similar - the Japanese are for it, the westerners are either ambivalent or against it.

Yeah, it seems like there has to be some sort of a bond between you and the animal. Maybe even cultural bond (even if you don't have a dog, you wouldn't eat a stray dog; not where I live at least. Most people here think it's "barbaric" to eat dogs). When it comes to animals like pigs, it's a personal bond; you won't eat your pig, but it's okay to eat any other pig because it's just a food animal. Basically, it's about how you perceive the animal and what connection you have with it (personal or cultural). It simply doesn't mean that you hate animals if you eat some of them, it's much more complicated than that.

And yeah, about whales, I personally wouldn't be able to justify that. And I believe that, when it comes to endangered animals, we should draw the line where the preservation of nature comes before satisfying human wishes and traditions.

 

[Starbird]

I know many people that had pet pigs, cows, chickens etc. and most of them would never eat their pet. All eat meat though.

To me, the only really difficult question in this whole issue is: "What about borderline endangered animals?".

I live in Japan. Here, Whale is regarded as a cultural food that is basically eaten because people have always eaten it (lots of those over here). It tastes bad. But every conversation I've had with people here is remarkably similar - the Japanese are for it, the westerners are either ambivalent or against it.

Yeah, it seems like there has to be some sort of a bond between you and the animal. Maybe even cultural bond (even if you don't have a dog, you wouldn't eat a stray dog; not where I live at least. Most people here think it's "barbaric" to eat dogs). When it comes to animals like pigs, it's a personal bond; you won't eat your pig, but it's okay to eat any other pig because it's just a food animal. Basically, it's about how you perceive the animal and what connection you have with it (personal or cultural). It simply doesn't mean that you hate animals if you eat some of them, it's much more complicated than that.

And yeah, about whales, I personally wouldn't be able to justify that. And I believe that, when it comes to endangered animals, we should draw the line where the preservation of nature comes before satisfying human wishes and traditions.

Then an interesting question becomes "Would you eat *your* pet dog/pig/cow/chicken if you were starving" .

 

[Shock and Awe]

I like animals, I just also accept that as far as survival goes I have little problem eating any one of them to live. My pets included. Are there some animals I believe should be avoided when concerning food? Yeah, but thats pretty much just primates because they are our closest relatives. Even then if I was starving I would be fine eating a chimp.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Something that hasn't been mentioned - You can eat meat without being aware that you're eating something that was once a living, breathing animal that you see in the zoo and can own as a pet. It is quite easy to ignore any distinction between animals and plants when they are on your plate.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

It's always the "if you're not x, you're y." And it's bullshit. Ultra-feminists pull the same thing.

"I saw someone spouting BS on facebook I should tell Escapist."

I love animals.. down to the bone.

Hey be nice, some people need to vent.

 

[peruvianskys]

It's not *my* dog or horse. If I had a pet cow or pig, I wouldn't want to eat it. If not, no problem. I'd go as far as saying "if you can eat one animal, you should be okay with eating any animal "

So go visit a prostitute and then if you start feeling bad about abusing another human being for your own enjoyment, just remember, it's not *your* daughter.

I'm a vegetarian and I do think that it requires an insane amount of cognitive dissonance to say you love animals in one breath and then say that it's okay to kill them and eat their dead bodies. Could I say I loved women if I was a rapist, or that I loved black people if I was a member of the KKK?

 

[Johnson McGee]

I love my family, but there are still some other people that I would kill and eat given the chance.