Am I missing something? Which do you think is worse?

Question

This girl just cried watching a lion get a baby antelope on TV - and all her tears dropped into the beef stew she was eating at the same time!!! Is it hypocrisy? Lack of knowledge or sensitivity? Or am I missing something here?
I'm confused! What do you think?

Answer 1

No, our society is missing something

There is a severe disconnect in our culture between "animals" and "meat," just as there is a severe disconnect between "dog" and "pig."

Why love one and torture the other? No reason, that is just how things were when they got here. If we did things the other way around centuries ago, then we would be giving our cute little pigs christmas presents today.

Even if someone *knows*, s/he still might not actually *get it*.
It is odd how the human mind works.

The sad thing is that that antelope died an exponentially less painful death than the cow in her soup did.

Answer 2

Yes it is hypocrisy at the extreme. In fact, the lion has a justification to get the antelope because it is a carnivore, cannot survive on lentils and rice, and only hunts what it needs to eat (btw, 90% of all lion hunt targets escape). Most humans do NOT need meat to be healthy, are facultative herbivores (capacity to be omnivorous but not necessary) and eat way more meat than 'required' to satisfy.

I'm a vegetarian and funny thing is, I don't cry when I see a lion hunting an antelope. I do feel bad for the antelope but I realize the lion has no choice. Humans HAVE a choice.

PS: I think BriarDan makes a good point above about our psychological reaction to the weak losing and being killed. What isn't normal is why this reaction doesn't occur when eating meat. A disconnect between 'meat' and 'animal', as others have pointed out.

Answer 3

Hypocrisy. That's why the majority of meat eaters couldn't actually kill and gut the animal they are comsuming. They never think about why it's ok for someone to do it for them, but not for them to do it. And those that can, one would have to worry about their mental state and propensity towards violence.

And briandan is 100% off base with his 'No one tried to stop the baby antelope from dying' crap. So, it's better for the baby antelope to live and for the lion to die? Think it through. . .

Basically much of what this briandan guy said is hooey. We fear for our families because a weak antelope is killed? Huh? Vegetarians only go veg to be healthy? HUH??? Vegetarians realize that killing plants is the same as killing animals? WHAT???? Seriously, he is WAYYYYYY off base on this stuff - it seems to have just been made up of propaganda and lies, packaged in a semi-eloquent wrapper. Hooey.

Answer 4

This is an interesting question. This girl you are talking about probably doesn't realize that she is eating something that was sometimes alive, and got killed just like that baby antelope. Maybe u should explain to her that she is eating an animal which is killed just like the one she saw on TV. Who knows, maybe she will become a vegetarian. Hope I helped...

Answer 5

Let's face it. If MOST people had to go out and kill an animal for their own food, they wouldn't do it. If slaughter houses had windows, only the most jaded would eat meat. There are a few people who enjoy killing helpless animals. Most of them grow up to become serial killers. Factory farms have the highest employee turnover of any business. What they're doing is creating abusers. If killing an animal is no biggie to you, neither will be harming your spouse or children.

chew on that a bit.

Answer 6

I think that sometimes people dont think about things unless they actually see the process, like she's having beef....if she watched how cows are "raised to be slaughtered" she might have a change of heart. However; we ususlly dont think of these things, and most of us are raised eating meat without thinking or being taught exactly how it gets to our tables. This idea holds true to many many things we all do and use every day!

Answer 7

It's not really about the killing of the animal for food but the weaker one being devoured. When people cry at such things it more because of the psychological impact of running or fighting only to lose the battle. We equate that loss with how vulnerable we are in our own lives from predators, our inability to protect our families from the dangers out there and not really about food or the need for society to become a vegetarian.

Few vegetarians do so for cruelty to animal reasons, it's a healthier diet and longevity that they feel they are accomplishing. Most vegetarians realize that when the vegetable plant is killed to feed them, it's not a big leap to take to see that killing the vegetable plants for food is not much different than killing an animal for food either. Both species will continue with human help and both are raised for the primary purpose of feeding humans.

There are those who say animals accept this as the fate of their lives and take pride in it. There are also those who say vegetables scream in agony when they are harvested.

Farming is really devastating on the environment also. The chemicals used to maintain and have an abundant harvest. Chemicals that eventually drain through the soil and contaminate our water supplies. The trees and forests that are depleted to make way for vegetable farms that harms the quality of the air we breath. The chemicals that wind up in our bodies, leading to countless diseases from both vegetables and animals.

There is no totally sensitive way to live without harming anything. There is always something you do in your daily life that effects the outcome of someone or something's life be it good or bad. Working with environmental groups and animal groups who promote protecting the environment to make the world and our food safer and produced in a clean and healthy way if far more productive than condemning someone who cries into their beef stew about a baby antelope being killed by a lion.

My biggest problem with such shows on television is that no one in the crew tried to stop it from happening. No one rescued that baby antelope and that says far more about society's values and what is deemed entertainment or education. Yet we don't want to entertain or educate people with shows on the terrible things that happen to "human young." I often find real victim shows on Court TV and A&E equal to the animal victim shows found on National Geographic and Animal Planet. The only difference is one is considered entertainment and the other considered educational.

Answer 8

We live in a cruel world, I've cut and cleaned animals that I've eaten, I've killed animals that I've eaten, deer, elk, pheasent, salmon, trout. I've killed a lot of live lobsters with my Chef's knife. I've butchered an entire pig, and a half of cow. I don't think theres anything wrong with that, I think that we all have to understand where our food comes from. It doesn't come from a styrofoam board in the grocery store. It comes from a living animal. That doesn't stop me from eating meat or seafood, it just gives me an understanding of what we eat. If some lion were to come in my house and rip me to shreds and eat me, I think I would be fine with that. Its just life, live with it, not everything can be perfect

Answer 9

Well, people like to be dissasociated from the reality of their food. People refer to it as "meat" rather than what it is, "animal flesh", becuase they are feeling people who don't want to hurt animals. It's okay becuase the reality of a slaughterhouse or factory farm isn't directly impacting their life. People like to continue consuming as they see fit and prefer not to think about the reality becuase it would mean they would have to change their choices.

I think it's a combination of hipocrisy, selfishness, ignorance, entitlement, and "if it feels good" attitude. I do feel very strongly about these things, but I'm not out to judge others.(not that I'm saying the asker is) I just try to bring things to thier attention and hope they are willing to take action in thier own life.

Answer 10

It is hypocrisy. If she's that concerned about animals, she shouldn't be eating them. The lion didn't do anything different than her.