subject: Is It Wrong To Eat Meat [print this page] Is our well-being really contingent upon what we eat? Or might it be what we're thinking and all the worrying about the choices of others that keeps us in a state of mental and physical discord? We are all drawn to the food that is best for us individually therefore, our personal preferences are not and will never be identical. After all, it is highly improbable that there will ever be a "one size fits all" food choice, behavior or any other preference.
This is an extremely controversial subject. Interestingly enough both meat-eaters and vegetarians assert that their arguments for and against eating meat come from a place of love. The meat-eaters assert that their consumption of meat does not in any way negate their love for animals. Meanwhile, the vegetarians maintain a refusal to kill and consume the very thing that they so love. Both sides believe as strongly in the validity of their position as in the correctness of it and herein lies the source of the discord. To illustrate this, here are some of the major points made by both sides.
Meat-Eaters say:
* If it's okay to eat plants then it's okay to eat meat because plants are living things too.
* Our ancestors ate meat.
* Mankind is a part of the food chain that all animals are a part of so eating meat is part of survival.
* If meat were banned governments would collapse and millions of jobs would be lost.
* If it's ok to kill people in wars its okay to kill a cow.
* Taking away meat takes away individual freedom.
* There is no scientific basis to support the premise that animals fear death and would prefer not being consumed.
Vegetarians say:
* Plants are not sentient beings. They don't have a brain or central nervous system so they don't experience pain or have emotions.
* Humans are and always have been omnivores so eating meat is a choice not a requirement to survive.
* Meat is a second-level nutrient so why not go straight to the source.
* Research has shown that meat contributes to heart disease, hypertension, some cancer and Type 2 Diabetes.
* The human body is meat so if its not okay to eat humans, its not okay to eat any other meat.
* Factory farms pump livestock with tons of hormones and antibiotics.
* A plant-based diet is better for the environment and the food that it takes to feed livestock deprives billions of starving people of food.
Though I have chosen a plant-based diet, my perspective on this is that food is necessary for survival. The choice of food is an individual choice so the discord that we feel towards eating meat or not is our own. Is our well-being really contingent upon what we eat? Or might it be what we're thinking and all the worrying about the choices of others that keeps us in a state of mental and physical discord? We are all drawn to the food that is best for us individually therefore, our personal preferences are not and will never be identical. After all, it is highly improbable that there will ever be a "one size fits all" food choice, behavior or any other preference.
That said, would it not be more satisfying to just enjoy life rather than spending so much of it worrying about death and suffering or the life choices of others? What I love and respect most about animals is that they come forth into this existence with adoration and an observable intention to enjoy life in the moment without a care in the world as to when it will end. That's a human thing. Animals don't appear to sulk or blame anyone for the circumstances of their existence. The way I see it animals are more in alignment with a harmonious existence than humans. As such, would not the optimal choice be to aspire to cultivate more of their traits in allowing ourselves to experience a joyous, wonderful life rather than maintaining a state of resistance towards it?
