Vegetarianism! A new vogue or something that could liberate you?
Over the years this topic has been beaten to death and there have in fact been so many people who have argued for and against it. I am not an animal rights activist and the point that I intend making here is perhaps a little different from most other sites that you might have come across.
Firstly to put something in perspective requires that you see both sides of the coin and not only evaluate it but also value it. I have spoken to many people who eat non veg food and the points they furnished were these. I did listen with a dispassionate mindset. The argument in favor of non vegetarianism goes something like this:-
a) If we do not kill them they would die anyway.
b) The animals are actually put forth for our enjoyment by the creator.
c) The taste that it gives is unparalleled and no vegetarian dish equals it.
d) Do animals think of us when they kill us, if that’s not the case why do we have to think twice about
slaughtering them.
e) The Eskimos for e.g. eat only non veg food, so why this constant bickering about all this? Why don’t
you just let us be without trying to force your opinion?
f) The animals actually never face a painful death. One swish of the knife and they are gone, so aren’t
we actually doing a favor to them by ending their misery sooner?
g) We need enough protein so that we can build muscle and build great bodies.
I am sure there would be a few more who suggest that we are in fact built to eat meat and give evidence of the same. Strangely enough I don’t intend going into the logistics of meat eating but to put forth a couple of overriding points that drive home what it is that I mean. So for now lets address each of these questions.
a) If we do not kill them they would die anyway.
Chickens for eg who are among the most abused of all animals undergo excruciating pain and trauma before they die. They are injected with growth hormones which cause their bodies to grow faster than normal and a time comes when their legs aren’t able to take the weight anymore. Their bones become brittle and they develop osteoporosis. In addition to this they undergo a process called debeaking wherein their small cute innocent beaks are put into a cutting machine without any numbing anesthetic. This is done because the chicks have a habit of pecking each other and this is done to prevent the same. There is so much more to say but I guess you get the point.
When this is the scenario it is hard to imagine how we are doing them a favor by first bringing them into the world in the first place. Forcibly bring them into existence and then torture them? And then say they would die anyway? A pretty piece of logic . Its like being told to a 20 year old youth, you would die of old age anyway, let me kill you right away. What difference does it make? ( Keep in mind I am talking only about the logic part here)
b) The animals are actually put forth for our enjoyment by the creator.
This is an interesting one. I actually counter this on the premise that every creature big or small has the right to live and enjoy in its own small way. The exception to this could perhaps be when something is causing us so much harm that our very own survival is at stake. Mosquitoes being a prime example.
Did you know that scientists have observed that many animals have the very same feelings as we do, Pigs for example have moments of great joy. In the same vein they also experience sadness, fear and pain. Let me take a hypothetical example to tell you what I feel.
If the earth were suddenly inhabited by aliens from another planet and who are far more developed than we are and they slaughter us indiscriminately giving us a similar explanation saying we were made to satisfy their palate!! Can we accept it ever? Likewise even creatures who are lower than us watch in DUMB ANGUISH as we slaughter them.
c) The taste that it gives is unparalleled and no vegetarian dish equals it.
Yes, I think this point is valid. Being a hard core non vegetarian once myself I can understand exactly what you folks feel. But let me also tell that there are a huge number of vegetarian dishes that are not tasted and they taste just phenomenal. So many south and north Indian dishes that abound and which are lip smacking. I shall keep you posted about the links to the same shortly. In my case the predominant feeling was “anything to prevent suffering”
d) Do animals think of us when they kill us, if that’s not the case why do we have to think twice about slaughtering them?
We humans have a mind that is far more highly developed than theirs is. Our ability to think and reason, the veritable choices of food available to us, the very environment in which we live in all serve to remind us of the fact that tit for tat mentality is not really valid. The cases wherein animals attack humans are few and far between. And by the way, most of the animals that we kill , chickens, fish, pigs, prawns! Never heard of them attacking humans.
e) The Eskimos for e.g. eat only non veg food, so why this constant bickering about all this? Why don’t you just let us be without trying to force your opinion?
The Eskimos are an extreme example of people who live in extremely trying conditions. Meat is the only available option for them. Comparisons to them are not correct. Killing out of absolute compulsion and killing just for taste when there are infinite options available! Are they the same? I am not trying to force any opinion, people who love non veg food are most welcome to eat them, The point I am trying to make is believing something and actually doing it are two different things. You may believe that the role of a woman is only in the kitchen or that there is nothing wrong with slavery. Doesn’t give you the freedom to go out and implement those things.
f)The animals actually never face a painful death. One swish of the knife and they are gone, so aren’t we actually doing a favor to them by ending their misery sooner?
People who say this seem to be blissfully unaware of stark reality. Pigs for example are kept in tight containers and so tightly packed that they never get to turn their entire lives, Because of this they GO INSANE. How many of us can even begin to understand such trauma? Chickens are so abused that in just a couple of years time, they are totally spent after which they are decapitated. Fish undergo decompression so intense when they are pulled out of the sea that their eye lids begin to pop out and many are slit when they are still alive and undergoing agony in their last stages.
Let me make myself clear. I am not adopting an accusatory attitude whatsoever. I feel we all need to get the complete picture of whats going on behind the scenes. Companies spend a lot of money trying to convince us that the animals are well cared for and stuff like that. Its high time we wake up to the truth.
g) We need enough protein so that we can build muscle and build great bodies.
I guess a very very miniscule portion of us are actually bodybuilders. So to take refuge behind this doesn’t seem all that accurate. The normal recommendations for a person can easily be met with a vegetarian diet. There are a lot of vegan bodybuilders too. I could also tell you of fitness models who are vegetarians. But well it’s a personal choice that we all have to make; It all boils down to only that isn’t it?
