Blundering_Novice said:
Let's look at it another way too. How long does it take an animal to reach maturity? A few years. How long does it take a stalk of beans to reach maturity? A few months. Does getting 'food' from the animal destroy the host? yes. Does picking soybeans/hemp seeds/corn destroy the host? no.
Yes, it does destory the host, and prevents reproduction. What happens to a corn stalk once all the ears have been picked? It dies. What happens to the bean stalk? It dies. Not only does it die, but you have prevented it from reproducing. It is in effect no different than the husbandry of animals.
Cows are considered to be a good food source because they bear lots of meat as well as milk. What do cows eat? Grass. Do cows magically convert material at the atomic level? No. All the proteins, minerals, and vitamins available in a cow come from it absorbing or synthesizing nutrients from GREEN vegetative matter.
The cow does convert cellulose into protiens, fats, etc. This is a more concentrated level of nutrients than you get from plant material. It eats something that we cannot, and converts it into something we can. What is the caloric value of a kilo of beef? How many kilos of lettuce would you need to eat in order to achieve the same amount of energy?
Again, I REALLY DO respect your desire to at least have a spiritual connection to your food. I do. To me, its much more noble than going to McDonalds. But don't delude yourself. You are killing an animal that values its own existence as much as you do, though perhaps in different ways. It has a brain, a heart, and a consciousness. Make no mistake of that.
I am not deluded in the slightest. I understand what is going on. I honestly try to consciously restrict my intake of animal products, but run into a couple problems. I like the taste, it stimulates the chemicals in my brain in such a way as it makes me feel content and saitiated. It fits with my metabolic needs very nicely, and strictly vegertarian diets are unappetising to me. To me, whether you kill and animal or a plant, I am using something that values its own existence as much as I do.
Do you honestly believe that
ANY life form, on the most intrinsic level imaginable, does not value its existence?
I ask that you commune with whatever spirits you follow once again. Ask them. Is it logical or ethical to slay another living being for a type of food that you DO NOT REQUIRE in order to be healthy? In fact, our digestive systems far more resemble that of a herbivore than a carnivore. Cats (true carnivores) have very short intestinal tracts. We have very long ones. Cats eat raw meat. We have to perform a controlled burn on flesh before we consume it or we likely become ill. Eating meat is natural? I don't think so.
I commune with the spirits every day, before every meal, giving thanks for the energy being provided to me which I need in order to survive. I thank them all, plants, animals, nuts, grains for their sacrifice so that I may live. I eat raw meat occasionally and never get sick, does that mean that eating meat is natural for me?
Bottom line, you don't need to eat meat. You're killing another mammal to survive when you don't need to. If you're ok with that, then fine. But don't delude yourself into thinking that this is the way it was 'meant to be.' or that the animal spirits appreciate this treatment and betrayal.
I respect vegetarians immensely. I wish I could do it, I have tried, and it didn't work for me for the reasons I mentioned above. I am okay with eating animal flesh when I know I do not have to. I try to restrict it, to find alternative when I can. I have no guilt, just as you do not have any guilt for eating the lifeforce of plants, and in your own way betraying them.