Does eating meat make us cruel people?

Question

A vegan told me that eating meat makes me a murderer and that I am responsible for death, pain and cruelty.

I work hard to provide for my family and there is always some meat on the table. To me, a meal is not complete with a meat entree. I want my family to be healthy and get the necessary nutrients that their bodies need.

What that vegan said to me is really bothering me. I consider myself to be a good person, but this vegan insists that I am a murderer. How should I respond this vegan?

Answer 1

Another vegan calling you a murderer? How many does that make this week, Foxie -- at least 10?

Darlin', you really need to take that, "Kick me, I'm a meat eater" sign off your rump. Given that everyone you know, are related to, or work with is a vegetarian or vegan, you're just asking to be nailed.

Like I said in my reply to your last post, I don't know where you live, but it must be the Vegetarian/Vegan Capital of the Known Universe. No wonder people call you cruel and a murderer, you poor guy. . .you must be the only meat eater within a hundred miles!

Just move out of Veganville, and people won't call you mean names any more.

Answer 2

You're welcome to have your opinion, but for me what clicked when I became a vegetarian was the fact that no matter how well you treat a meat animal while alive, the bottom line is that you still kill it. That's hardly an act of kindness, now is it? The whole food chain stuff is a rationalization, not an actual justification. It's a false dichotomy: just because you see something as 'the food chain' has nothing to do with the question whether it's cruel. And to the lion my answer is very simple: so what? I am not a lion, and throughout my life I am not in the habit of looking to lions to know what is or isn't moral. I don't attack my neighbours when they enter my territory because that's what a lion would do, and I don't eat meat because that's what a lion would do. What Would a Lion Do is simply not a relevant question. The food chain collapsing if all people would not eat meat? You actually BELIEVE that? In a NATURAL ecosystem, maybe. You DO know that we BREED the animals we eat, right? And that we as much as possible ISOLATE them from the natural ecosystem? It's not like we kill a cow, take the best bits of meat and then throw the carcass outside for the scavengers and flies to feast on. No, the fact that many animals around the world have the ability to survive on a meat based diet does not confirm that it is natural for humans to eat meat. You might as well say that this fact confirms that it is natural for cows to eat meat. Same argument, clearly rubbish. I am not saying that it is UNnatural for humans to eat meat (in fact I don't care whether it's natural or not, as I don't base my morals on nature) but this argument makes no sense, one does not follow from the other. Eat meat all you want, that is your decision. But I can't help but notice that you need an awful lot of rationalizing to justify your own diet. Maybe it's not about your best friend being a vegetarian, but about you yourself feeling uncomfortable about your diet? I believe you when you say you care about animals. Years before I became a vegetarian I myself switched to less cruelly produced meat, just like you. I thought I could never be a vegetarian. But in the end it came down to that one bottom line: you can cuddle the cow all you want, but it's still not kind to then load it into a truck to haul it to a slaughterhouse and kill it. No amount of wide green pastures makes up for that.

Answer 3

No.
"Carnivore" does not equal "cruel."

With our world and country right now, though, it usually means oblivious (ignorance is bliss), confusion, and then there's one more reason. People have different perceptions of this class: cruel, uncaring, normal, smart.

Think about the animal kingdom... are all the carnivores there cruel? No. It's natural. The idea that eating meat make someone cruel would have no debate if it weren't for factory farming. See below (keep reading you'll get to it).

Humans can be healthy while being vegan. This is a fact. Being vegan also means a little more awareness of what you put into your mouth and body. This can be a good thing. Being vegan requires this to stay healthy, but chances are you will be healthier all around, because although people don't realize it, they should be paying attention to this anyway. America has a huge obesity problem, and then come the anorexic people.

But the reasons carnivores fall into the classes above is this: http://goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp

Please take a moment to look through this, if only to understand where that certain vegan is coming from. And to be a little more educated about our world and country. And maybe, to make a change for the better. Or to at least to have all the facts and be confident in your choices and way of life.

After you make your decision and fully understand this situation, simply explain it to the vegan. If the vegan doesn't understand after this, then you have to be confident enough in it for the both of you, and you can tell the vegan that your sorry they don't see where your coming from: at least you researched and tried to under stand it where they were coming from themselves.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I think too many Vegans are extremists and that's their right to be so! U could respond & say that plants are living things too & Vegans are murderers also thou' to plants not animals.
With Vegetarians The eating of meat isn't the issue it's the cruel way it is killed they don't want support that . If U want to eat meat in moderation that doesn't make U cruel. If U kill the animal in a cruel way then that makes U cruel. The cruelest people are those that kill just for sport. Oh I've caught 2 Vegans: Bob & Lisa, killing animals 4 sport.. They talk about not eating animals because of them being killed.. yet they kill for sport? that's hypocritical isn't it? I bet most Vegans won't kill any animals at all. There's always someone making an exception. I'm an exception for a Vegetarians... cause I say if U want to eat meat in Moderation that's okay but most Vegetarians say meat is a No No No!
I would never kill an animal so I don't have the right to eat one.. Besides I never cared about the taste of meat anyhow.. I useto eat meat cause that's what my parents put on the table.
They said when I go out on my own then I can choose what I want to eat and what not to. I
chose to be vegetarian and it's best decision I ever made for myself! I can't give up eggs or dairy products because I like them far too much
although they aren't essential for a healthy diet!
Eat what U like just don't be cruel to what U eat! Even the Bible says: All things In Moderation! U can see why I didn't stay with my parents.. so I could eat what I want & not have to eat things I was uncomfortable eating!
I'm really much more healthy being a vegetarian! It's right for me! It's not for everyone! Don't let what others say bother U! Well even I have a hard time with the last line of advise I gave!
Merry Xmas even if U do eat Turkey or Chicken!
For me I'll eat perogies and cranberries some veggies.. like beets (lots of iron an nutrition in these.. the vegetable that's most closet to meat in nutrition!

Answer 5

First, rest assured that that individual is a bit extreme.

Having said that, it is entirely possible to be a vegan and to raise vegan children, from birth, and be not only healthy but far healthier than omnivores, with a longer life expectancy and far fewer serious illnesses.

Eating meat does not necessarily make you a cruel person. Uninformed in terms of nutrition, but not cruel.

However, in general, vegans begin to understand the cruelties of factory farming, and work from there towards a life that is freer of cruelty at their hands or on behalf of themselves than are others. In a way, becoming a vegan is a way of learning to be more compassionate, and that lesson gets used though all of your activities for the rest of your life.

Omnivores aren't exempt from compassion, of course.

And I'm proud to say that I'm a vegan.

Answer 6

It's not good for animals: for a start the meat industry is booming at the moment; secondly if enough people went veggie to actually affect the industry at all, and the demand for meat decreased, it would mean animals which were surplus to requirement. You're kidding yourself if you think that would mean they'd live happily ever after, as they couldn't be sold no one would want to keep them, and they'd still be slaughtered.
Think about it, the second farmers couldn't sell their livestock, the second they couldn't make a profit, they wouldn't keep them any more. Keeping animals isn't cheap, and to keep them, without profit, would be hugely expensive to any farmer. How many do you reckon would be prepared to make that kind of loss?
Now, what'd happen then? Maybe a few wild pigs or goats would stay alive, but for the most part it would be impossible to release them into the wild. The vast majority would have to be slaughtered.

I quote "If no one were allowed to farm animals, farms would grow crops instead. The first thing to go would be all the animals. Once the rural landscape were rid of cattle, sheep, and the like, fields would get larger, for the convenience of the combine harvesters, and hedgerows would go. Wild animals like rabbits would now be a more major pest. No farmer would want animals eating the plants, and so the war on such animals would intensify. Grown in the fields would be domesticate species of food crops, and so the number of plant species would decline."

Domestication is one of the best things that can happen to animals. If the golden eagle tasted any good you can bet your life it wouldn't be nearly extinct.

I quote "In the wild, a sheep would have to look for food, compete for it, jockey for position in the herd, look out for predators, guard its offspring, and it one day would die because of some accident, perhaps a fall, some nasty illness, or it would become weak and have its throat ripped out by the local predators. By striking contrast, the life of a farmed sheep is rather different. A farmed sheep has complete protection from predators; all the food of exactly its favourite kind at its feet all day every day, for which it does not have to compete; no competition for mates; no need to guard offspring; free health care; free haircuts; it is very unlikely to die in childbirth, and unlikely to die a nasty death. True, half a ewe’s offspring are taken away and killed. However, in the wild, a ewe would lose most of its offspring anyway, and in nastier circumstances. By the standards of the natural wild, a sheep’s life is about as cushy as a life could possibly be."

This is true, animals in the wild invariably die violent deaths. the closest an animal will get to dying of old age is being picked by a predator because it it old and therefore an easier to target. Farmed animals invariably lead happier, healthier, less stressful lives than those in the wild.

Vegetarianism doesn't save any animals, nor mean they get happier lives, nor does anything good for the animals at all. It just dissasociates people from meat, and means they can feel all smug inside that they are less cruel than those nasty meat eaters, and therefore better people. They're wrong.

Answer 7

I don't agree with ANYONE forcing their views on anyone else, and that goes for meat eaters and vegans alike. Both parties can be as guilty of that as the other.
I'm a veggie and feel strongly about what I'm eating and not eating, but I have a lot of friends who eat meat and I don't think they are cruel. I was eating meat for years and that didn't make me a cruel person. I just didn't really aware of the issues then and I guess I was desensitised to it. Now I'm very aware of what I'm doing and I feel it's right.
"Cruel" is a subjective opinion anyway. Some people will think you're cruel based on their own beliefs, but as you can see from your answers hundreds of people also eat meat for their own reasons. You just need to do what you think is right for YOU, and research the facts if that makes you feel better. I don't agree with eating meat, but I don't condem anyone for doing it unless they are cruel in other areas of their life.

Answer 8

eating meat does not make you a cruel person. but it is supporting the slaughterhouses, which are cruel. BUT since it is no longer a convenient or necessary thing to go out and kill your meat yourself, it is understandable as to why you buy your meat. it all comes down to your views. if you feel like eating meat is cruel, then dont eat it. if it doesnt bother you, than keep your diet the same. i and your friend have both chosen the first choice, but the difference between the two of us is that i try not to preach. you should go tell that person that what they said to you was rude and you didnt appreciate that. seriously, if they think your a murderer they should keep that to themselves.

Answer 9

Some vegans are extremists who try to force their senseless opinions on other people, especially carnivores. You should turn a deaf ear and not let it get under your skin. You got teeth and a digestive system designed for the job, so why feel bad about it? If you want to eat meat, it's your choice. No one else should be influencing you otherwise.

Answer 10

these people are tring to give you a giult trip.

what is the differnce in killing a vegitable than killing any thing . they all endup the same dead. as vegitables are best freash what is more cruel pulling up a fresh veg and putting it in boiling water or a quick clean humane death. i know which on i would pick , any killing is wrong , but killing to live is differnt that killing for fun . if a person does not want to eat meat that is their chioce , so why do they say that it wrong fora person to eat meat.

Answer 11

eating meat isn't cruel or anything. it's natural. it's the food cycle. we wouldn't want cows taking over the world, right?
eating meat doesn't make you a murder or a killer. the person killing it is (jk...knd of...).
you're not responsible for pain & cruelty.
tell that vegan that he/she is wrong and that she/he might think that, but it's not true.
Hope you feel better! :D