Wednesday, February 6, 2008
My Struggles with Vegetarianism, Part II
I had mentioned in my previous blog that after struggling internally with justifying eating meat that i was finally able to develop a new personal philosophy on the matter. In this unimportant blog i will expand--as if anyone cares. The impetus that spurred my second guessing was the great feeling of discomfort i was feeling. I realized that if Heavenly Father wanted me to give up this heinous practice of eating meat the personal revelation telling me to do so would be a peaceful confirming feeling--the exact opposite of what i was feeling. Also, if eating meat was such a bad thing then the prophets would be more vocal about it. It is probably a higher law, like the law of consecration, that someday we will have to live by, but not now--the lamb and the lion are not going to be lying down together when we are chasing them with our shotguns! So i knew it was not wrong, per se, to kill animals quickly and painlessly for meat, but i needed to reconcile how i could ethically eat meat which supports the industry that is soooo cruel to the animals, and I KNOW that that is morally wrong. But then my meager economics training kicked in; the benefit i would lose from not eating meat would be greater than the benefit to the cause of better treatment of animals, so it would be wrong for me to make this radical decision. If there ever was a big vegetarian movement that could impact the industry then it would be the moral thing for me to join, but there is not. If i ever get elected to office i will be an animal rights activist. I felt good about this conclusion; i wasn't capitulating my morals, but rather trying to receive guidance in the task of reconciling my logos and pathos with the proper authority's ethos. To see an eye opening video on the depravity of the industry go to, but be warned that it is pretty graphic. http://www.meat.org/.
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6 comments:
Yet another good reason to move to central Montana and live as a hermit in a log cabin you made yourself. That way, you know all the meat you eat is okay, because you shot, plucked, cleaned and cooked it yourself. Problem solved.
I lived in Poland a few years ago and while there, I developed an aversion to meat. At the time it was not because I was concerned with the treatment of the animals, but more because of the low quality of the meat. Though I am not a vegetarian, I don't eat a lot of meat. I am now an animal activist, though not an extremist, and believe that animals should be treated fairly even if they will end up as someones dinner.
I love animals. I really do. I have grown up with multiple pets in my house my whole life, and I love being in the outdoors. There is notheing more fascinating to me than see animals in the wild. My mom is crazy about them too. I even wanted to be a vet when was little, but I also love to eat meat. It has never been a big deal or issue to me. Perhaps it should, but I am kinda glad it isn't.
Of course in a perfect world every animal would die without having to suffer. But dogs get hit by cars every day on main roads. It happened to my dog, Willow. It wasn't a fun thing to hear my dad tell me my second month of college 2000 miles away that my dog got run over. But it happens. Bad, cruel, and terrible things happen and we sometimes have to accept that we have no control over it. If you stop eating meat, a chicken facing a brutal butchering will not live. And I understand it's a tricky issue, and a big part of me sometimes thinks I should speak out against it too...it's just that when I think of how heavenly father created some animals for us to eat them, and that they are all happy now on the other side, I figure it's ok.
So what you're saying is that if there is ever a big movement, you will change your moral views. Is this swing in conscious based on economic convenience? If something is wrong, it is wrong. Time will not change that fact, it may highlight the fact, but the cold hard truth remains unchanged. Don't be a band-wagoner. It is not a sacrifice or hard to be a vegetarian. If you really like meat, then eat it. But don't preach one doctrine and practice another.
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