Going vegan doesn't make you a pussy, Nimai Delgado, and world record holding vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian
It is cruel to kill an animal that doesn't want to die. It is unnecessary cruelty. Vegan diets are nutritionally adequate
Going vegan doesn't make you a pussy, Nimai Delgado, and world record holding vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian
It is cruel to kill an animal that doesn't want to die. It is unnecessary cruelty. Vegan diets are nutritionally adequate
Let me ask you, if you had absolutely no need to kill an animal, do you think it would be wrong to kill the animal?
First tell me how that's related.
I'm happy to have an exchange of ideas, but I'm not going to play games.
We have no need to be killing these animals.
cows ... serve no purpose but food
Do you have a source for that claim or are you making it because we've domesticated them instead of, say, a lion? Where do you draw that line? What makes eating a horse any more right or wrong, morally, than eating a pig or Fluffy sleeping in the corner?
It is so complicated
No it's not. It's very simple: In our age with our current resources, there is no reason that we must kill an animal for food.
Therefore, if you want to avoid products which involved the killing of an animal, feel free to do so. If you want to let others know that there is an option, feel free. But to tell someone they are wrong for eating an animal is itself wrong. And, in reverse, telling someone who suggests the same is wrong is itself wrong.
It's very simple:
You've ignored many questions when you make that statement. It is demonstrably false, just look at some of the comments here for proof its not simple.
Do you have a source for that claim
Really? Do you think there are 'wild' cows? Do you think cows were naturally created?
I don't need a source for common knowledge, but use google if you need.
tell someone they are wrong for eating an animal is itself wrong. And, in reverse, telling someone who suggests the same is wrong is itself wrong
Having an opinion, and being open to discussion is wrong?
I disagree.
there is no reason that we must kill an animal for food.
There is not reason you must do anything. That's an empty argument.
There are plenty of reasons to though. Health of humans, and health/welfare of the animals are two big ones.
I'm not going into detail and repeating myself, you can read the other comments where I've already covered this.
Since you're not going to provide any evidence for your claims, I'm going to dismiss them without any evidence.
But if you want to continue to insist that "common sense" is all the evidence you need, I suggest you perhaps read this: https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/197/Appeal-to-Common-Sense
You are, of course, welcome to believe anything you choose. But when you stand forth and provide your point of view as fact and claim that anyone challenging that point of view as wrong but provide nothing to support yourself, you're only arguing to hear your own voice and pontificate for your own pride. I will not feed a self-damaging ego. This discussion ends here as to do anything else would be self-abuse and abuse of you.
I do hope you consider learning how to discuss instead of argue. It will help you in your interpersonal relationships, particularly with family.
I have considered it. Then I've considered what would happen if everyone went vegan.
I have my doubts that an entire population of 7 (nearly 8) billion people can do that. We'd have to eat a much more diverse range of produce to make up for the nutrition lost from meat, and that would likely drive up the price more than it would production. There's only so much arable land on Earth, and the only land available would likely be the bankrupt former ranches, which aren't always necessarily suitable places to grow corn or anything.
I don't have anything against the people who do live this way and can afford it, but I don't think it's worth my time/money/energy. I'd rather focus that more on reducing the suffering of human beings, and just wait until lab-grown meat becomes profitable.
But it is very noble of you to do your part in reducing the suffering of life in general.
I would counter a part of this by saying that ceasing to eat meat does not necessarily mean we would be unable to feed the population. Land use, for example, may not be higher in a society that does not eat meat, because animals use up resources/land before we kill them.
I would also use the Netherlands as an example of a country that can produce a massive amount of food whilst only having a very small landmass in comparison to other countries. They are, or at least were, the second largest food exporter in the world. They use indoor growing facilities to achieve this.
Or y'know, if you're bothered by animal cruelty you can make an effort to buy meat from sources that make sure the animal has a decent quality of life before they die.
I do not think there is anything cruel about killing an animal for food, it is completely natural.
Edit: I would also add that you may not be going about this in the right way. One parallel I would draw is Richard Dawkins. I am an atheist and I think he is trying to do some good, he certainly thinks he's doing some good. But the way in which he approaches the things he talks about is not effective. He is too confrontational and unwilling to compromise/engage in any meaningful way.
Well, for me personally it's not feasible. Potatoes give me painful boils. Wheat makes me retain water, which raises my blood pressure and makes my joints hurt. These are the two primary products that vegetarianism/veganism would rely on. Removing those 2 foods basically leaves a lot of empty vegetables, basically water balloons with trace nutrients. My body doesn't run efficiently on those, it runs well on animal fats.
I fully understand that exclusively plant-based diets would be better for the environment and easier to maintain, cow farts and all that. I believe that farming is the key to "solving world hunger" if the politics of it could ever work. I believe this is what caused the "war on fat" when the US came up with the heavily wheat-based food pyramid in the 70's and began condemning fats. I also believe that is what led to the obesity epidemic. This is a whole different conversation, though.
I have a theory that some people descend from more of a farmer lineage where they process plant diets well, but other people descend from a hunter/gatherer lineage where they process animal-based diets better. My family falls under the latter, my wife's falls under the former, and their combined diets show that pattern pretty well. That said, I'm no scientist and I don't want to be, so I'll never pursue data about this conclusion.
I understand the moral side of it, which is what separates veganism from vegetarianism, but I don't agree. I also identify as a Christian, which subjects me to the bible. The prime passage, as far as I'm aware at this time, is Genesis 1:26:
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Also see your lengthy argument with @InnocentBystander, I would mostly agree with him on this.
I'm more concerned about cruelty to animals throughout their lifetimes - I don't think killing an animal in a professional manner is overly cruel.
Even considering some of the horrible living conditions we subject factory farmed animals to, I am so much more concerned with cruelty to humans, species extinctions, and environmental degradation; that animal cruelty is hardly on my radar at all. I do make an effort to reduce my intake of some animal products for environmental reasons.
Harming an animal while it's alive is cruel, but when it's needlessly killed, that isn't cruel?
Check out the animal ag industry's impact on the environment: http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts
To kill an animal is to harm it once, rather than harm it repeatedly over several years - different orders of magnitude in my books.
I'm not saying it's not cruel, just that other problems in the world are so, so much more important in my eyes.
Animals are abused their entire lives in the animal ag industry. Check out Earthlings.
And if the animals themselves aren't a top priority, the industry is destroying our environments, and animal products are destroying our health.
I think I have to disagree with your premise here. Chickens and cows for example are bread by humans to be food they would otherwise not exist, is it more cruel to take away somethings chance at existence than it is to kill it, I would say yes isn’t some life better than no life? I don’t think there is an objective answer but I would say I lean towards some life being better than no life.
Going vegan doesn't make you a pussy
Eating meat make you cruel.
You're asserting that as a fact, when it is a subjective opinion.
Life feeds on life, that is the 'natural' order. Do you think a lion is evil? Should we put animals on vegan diets?
I don't blame you if you feel bad about eating animals, and choose not to.
But please don't imply a bunch of self righteous crap about morality. Even the most basic look at it will show things are far more complex than your post makes it sound.
Should cows be given a genocidal euthanization since they serve no purpose but food, and will go extinct without cultivation?
What did the cows do to you?
Do you think cows and other animals on small farms, have it worse, or better than the wild? Or do you understand that in captivity they can have a better life. And hunting wild animals can improve life for the entire region.
It is so complicated, that trying to oversimplify it like that doesn't seem like a genuine attempt.