Why can't folks make the connection between loving animals and thus not eating them?

Question

I've read in some answers how people say that they love and respect animals so much, yet, they'll eat a hamburger at the drop of a pin. Or how they'll never cause suffering to any human or animal, (as they eat their whoppers). Don't people know that by eating meat, they're supporting these horrific slaughter houses that cause immense suffering and fear and pain to millions of animals..just to satisfy our taste buds? Where's the respect and compassion? Or do we just pick and choose what to respect and what to feel compassion for? To satisfy our own sense desires? Any thoughts on these things?

Answer 1

Most of us would never consider eating our pets because we have developed an emotional bond with them, but it's far easier to eat the flesh of an animal we've never seen and with which we've developed no such bond.

The inhumanity we heap upon our non-human neighbors kept in factory farms is absolutely unconscionable.

Answer 2

The American Indians ate meat and they thanked the animal for giving its life to provide their body with sustenance.

While most people eat far too much meat, it is still difficult to provide our bodies with all the necessary proteins without some meat in the diet.

I agree that most people are too insensitve to the suffering of animals. In fact, most people are very insensitive to the suffering of other human beings. I would recommend that everyone spend at least one week as a vegetarian just so they can increase their compassion for other living things.

Mankind lives in a world invented by his own mind. A man who eats meat will rationalize his actions as being correct and form a defensive wall to protect that belief. That is how mankind operates. Form a belief based on known actions and then protect that belief to prevent cognitive dissonance.

Answer 3

Yes it is in our nature to eat meat. We evolved eating meat - the stone knifes and axes were for butchering animals - the bones are there too. We domesticated some animals just to eat. Are slaughterhouses cruel? Well in some cases the animals are overcrowded, but the slaughter itself is now quick. Or, if you prefer a more natural setting, you can hunt. In many areas of the country that is one of the main ways that the deer population is kept down - less highway kills, less crop damage, less that starve to death in bad winters. Being a meat eater doesn't mean you can't have compassion. Like many hunters, and the Natives here before me, I do say a blessing for the animals I kill.

One thing to ask of vegetarians - do you still wear any wool products, drink milk or eat eggs? Sheep, dairy cattle and chickens do not usually die of old age. As soon as they become less productive they are slaughtered - the lesser quality meat going to things like dog food and processed meat (hot dogs and such)

And I do have a lot of pets myself that are part of my family. But my dogs, cats, lizard, spider and quite a few of my fish rely on meat of some type as well.

Answer 4

All life on this planet depends to one degree or another on the demise of another. It is a cycle with the exceptions being life that can live off of sun energy and a few other exceptions. For one thing to live, something has to die for the most part. It is very elitist for us to somehow say that animal life is more precious than plant life. If you eta an ear of corn, that plant along with any potential plant it would have produced, has to die. It is very human to have more compassion to things that are more similar to us in structure (other vertebrates) than to things that we recognize as alive but are so differen tthat we interpret that "life" differently. The person who eats a steak is no more of a killer than the person who viciously plucks and apple in it's prime and kills and eats it , even if it seems too abstract to truly bbe the same thing. Planst have been shown to exhibit behavior that is startlingly animl-like under time lapse photography. They have been shown to "fight" , to wilt for reasons that could be interpreted as emotional. the world of plants is barely understood by us. So, if you are going to make this living connection , you must be fair and apply accross the board. once you do that, you will see that eating meat or plant is just part of the ctcle of life

Answer 5

God put the animals here on earth FOR US???!!

It's "NATURAL" for humans to eat meat???!!

Are these people lost in a convention of meat eaters or what? The idea that God put the animals on the earth for humans to do what they please with is NOT what it means when the bible says that "man" (sorry for the sexist lingo) shall have dominion over the earth and all it's creatures. Nobody cares what it means to be a steward of the earth because they're so damn busy trying to exploit nature to maximize profit in a capitalist society. You honestly think God approves of the fast "food" being served up by Burger King and McDonald's?

I only got one thing to say:

Mad Cow Disease

Answer 6

Well, why do animals deserve respect? What have they done to gain it? I loved my dog. I don't see how that has anything to do with me eating a steak. That cow was raised so that it could be killed and served to me in the form of a medium-well juicy piece of steak. That was its purpose. It wasn't raised to be loved, it was raised to be eaten. Cows really serve no purpose if we can't use their resources. Let me ask you this. What would you tell a native American who's family survived because of the meat they consumed from the animals around them. They should have only lived off of fruits and vegetables? I doubt that.

Answer 7

you know what ... i love animals BUT one of the main reasons some animals are here is for the nutrition of humans. food chain baby...if a tiger or a lion or a zebra or any other animal can eat an animal without feeling guilty i will do the same. I love meat!

Answer 8

God put animals on the Earth as a lower lifeform than humans to feed us, clothe us, keep us warm, etc. The Bible talks about not eating too much red meat, and no shellfish, but other than that, they are here for us. They have no soul, and are therefore edible.

Answer 9

I am an animal lover but it is natural to eat meat. You don't see a shark eating a salad or a grizzly bar snacking on carrot sticks. Why should humans be forced to eat only vegetable matter? Scientifically we are omnivores not herbivores!!

I find plants to be as pleasant as animals, does that mean i should not eat them? What do you propose I eat?

Answer 10

yes people respect animals and did God create them for us to eat or not. Yes we can respect animals by not wasting food and cut down on hunting animals when their population is downing down. Also you must remeber that animals and plants are food too.
So you're telling me that I can't eat a hamburger and can eat a salad. I'm sure that tree hugger don't eat salad. So what are you going to eat? NEVER PUT ANIMALS AND PLANTS ABOVE HUMANS EVER.

Answer 11

I don't "love" animals. I believe they were put here for a purpose, as were the plants and everything else on our planet. I believe we should protect animals who are facing extinction but have no problem eating some animals just as I eat many types of plants.