if it's immoral or unnatural to eat meat...?

Question

what does a vegitarian think about a lion stalking a baby zebra and slashing it's throat? about a shark tossing a mostly alive seal around like a vollyball for twenty minutes before consuming? about your vegan cat getting out and killing a baby sparrow that fell from the nest?
we're animals as well- why is it wrong for us to have a spot of meat on occasion?

Answer 1

I am not vegan or vegetarian and I agree all the more with your point. In fact, the best argument I have heard to support eating meat was from my Anthropology professor. He discussed the idea that eating meat allowed earlier hominids to evolve into modern humans. Here's a great quote from an online article:
"To White and Clark the revolution in diet was a key step toward nourishing the hominid brain that was then still small. It was, as White put it, ``the next major revolution in human evolution'' because it allowed the hominid brain to evolve into a larger and larger organ, eventually toward human brain size. "

But then I suppose you have to support evolution...and that horse just cannot stand another beating. I provided the link to the full article below.

Answer 2

I agree that it's a lifestyle choice to eat meat - I eat meat. Some vegetarians and vegans don't understand when I tell them that I respect the dietary choice they made (be it for religion or just a moral choice) and they should also respect my choice for choosing to eat meat. It's my perspective that it is not immoral or unnatural to do so since biologically human beings are omnivorous. If you look at the human teeth, we have canine teeth which we were born with for tearing meat.

If you eat plants, - okay this might sound ridiculous but hear me out here - what makes you so sure that plants don't feel pain when you harvest them? Just because they have less (what was it, 1 or 2?) senses and you can't hear them? That's why the old saying "a creature lives in the expense of another" has never been more true. A plant is still a creature (a creation). Eating doesn't make you evil, you eat because you have to. Wastage of any type of food on the other hand is just wrong.

Honestly, I agree that being vegan or vegetarian doesn't make you a good or a better person. However people who take part in saving the environment or humanitarian or charity work, people who choose not to wear fur, people who choose not to use leather or people who choose not to keep pets (because frankly there are just too many bad and irresponsible pet owners) - now THOSE PEOPLE really know what it means to be better persons because what they are doing makes a positive difference.

Answer 3

Those animals you mentioned are carnivores. Humans are not.

Just because we are animals does not mean that we were designed to eat meat. A lot of people will say "Yuh huh, because that's why we have those sharp canine teeth!" Well, come on, those teeth are clearly not suited for tearing through flesh. They aren't good at tearing through a big raw steak, let alone through animal hide. That's just a silly excuse to try and justify a barbaric and unhealthy habit. And our molars aren't designed to crack bone, either - they're designed for grinding and are very similar to herbivores'. Other people will say "Well, we use tools so we evolved to where we don't need to have physical characteristics of a carnivore." Um, our anthropological records don't show that we used to have sharp teeth. Or claws, for that matter.

Instead, we have nimble fingers for plucking fruit and pulling vegetables. Our canine teeth are well suited for piercing sharp rinds or biting into tubers. Our intestines are nice and long like an herbviores, not short like a carnivores (designed to expel meat from the body quickly so it doesn't rot in their gut the way it does ours which causes all sorts of diseases). Also, we have an appendix. I don't know where people have gotten the idea that it somehow helped us digest meat at one point (I have seen people respond that way here - I have no clue who tells people these things), but...guess who are the only animals besides humans who have appendixes. Herbivores!
There are a whole lot of other reasons to believe that humans were not meant to eat animal products, but I think reading the article at this link is the most compelling of the easy-to-read explanations that I have found online (and there are MANY reasons - please, read the article): http://www.all-creatures.org/mhvs/nl-2003-wi-meat.html

For me, the most convincing arguements come from the health world. Studies have been done that prove that animal products harm us. They do no good. Any benefit that comes from eating animal flesh or fluid is due only to the fact that the animal being consumed eats plants. There is no reason to eat our plants by processing them through animals first and then eating them. That's just insane. Studies have been done that show animal protein allows cancers to grow. Those same studies have shown that eliminating animal protein can make cancer go away. I mean literally - rats were given a carcinogen and half were given animal protein (milk) and the other half weren't and all the ones that had animal proteins got cancer and those that didn't did NOT get cancer. It's been proven over and over in both human and animal tests that animal proudcts are just very bad news for our health. The same with coronary heart disease, diabetes, and so many more diseases. It's just not cool that more people aren't made aware that consuming animals is REALLY, REALLY BAD FOR YOU! It's insane, really, and should be criminal, if you ask me, that animal products are still pushed on people. I highly recommend reading THE CHINA STUDY (the largest study ever done on nutrition) and then research the author and research the studies cited and look into until you satisfy yourself that animal products are poison - it won't take you long. Then spread the word. Once you know the truth you will never consume animal products again.

Answer 4

We have evolved to the point where it's a choice whether to eat meat or not. Many of us choose not to. Does that put us further up the evolutionary ladder? Maybe.

Humans are not in the same category as carnivores such as cats and sharks. Our digestive systems are different, and for those of you who think our teeth are for tearing meat, try eating your next steak without a knife and fork. Our teeth are not sharp and are not designed for that. They are designed for grinding grains down to a digestible mash and tearing through the flesh of a melon.

You're comparing apples & oranges (no food pun intended).

Answer 5

Only difference between Animals and MAN is that a man is blessed with power of discrimination or Conscience or God within you! If not, there is no difference at all for we eat, sleep, reproduce just like animals do.

Answer 6

What do I think about a lion killing to survive?... part of the food chain...
What do think about a human going to a supermarket, buying a bag of chicken wings that have already been prepared for him?... Unnatural.

What part about that IS natural?... we don't need meat to survive, we don't have to hunt for it(which by the way would be a funny thing because, well you go try to take down a zebra with your teeth.... Good luck) We can just go.... and buy it...
Humans eating meat is not part of the food chain.

Answer 7

First morals are a human beings conscience state of good and evil. If it suited our society better, raping and murder could have evolved as good in our moral system..its entirely arbitrary to the overall shared belief system of our societies.

Morals don't apply to naive animals.

Pay close attention to the above. I'm curious if you understand what I'm truly saying =)

Second the animals you named are carnivores. The animals that are omnivores typically eat from plant sources first as their bodies aren't the same as carnivores and biologically know that flesh is a crude form of nutrition. It's a last resort scenario for some omnivore creatures.

Third we are animals, but we aren't predators. We are prey biologically. 'Naturally' we have no defenses or attack mechanisms that would land us 'meat' regurally in the wild. If we managed to succeed typically the average person would use up more energy securing a kill then they would from the eventual eating of it. Without fire (which is a herbivores adaption to consume flesh) we'd most likely become sick and either die from the flesh we ate or be too weak to escape other predators.

Fourth weapons, i.e. tools are a herbivore adaption that evolved with us ever since we realized we could use tools to kill instead of to scavenge. I'd imagine some pathetic ancestor of ours was chewing on a dead kill from a true carnivorous predator and was attacked by another predator/scavenger and used there harvesting tools as defense..leading to the discovery that if they initiated the attack they could use it maliciously to secure food from unsuspecting creatures.

Fifth our bodies aren't designed to eat meat. Just because something 'works' doesn't mean it's right. Look at all the disease and illness in our world. Most of it is diet related and I can guarantee you its not from too much veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and grains. It's from too much saturated fat, cholesterol, parasites, hormonal intake and other contamination issues related primarily with meat and animal byproducts.

Sixth what is natural about the way our society consumes animals now? We aren't part of the wild. We aren't part of any food 'chain' or 'ladder.' This would imply we are subject to being eaten by other dangers of elements and predators regurally as to contest our spot. We aren't. We live in advanced societies that are artificial by necessity. You eat meat in an artificial way. You pay someone to raise captured animals in confinement, you also pay them to take their life for you..and to then strip their bodies into pieces so you can conveniently feed off of it. That's a lazy weak omnivore at best if you truly were one.

I could go on, but I believe I've stated enough. If you'd like to debate any of this or want more information feel free too email or PM me on yahoo. -VC

Answer 8

It is not immoral or unnatural to eat meat. Some religions and some cultures have laws that will not allow them to eat certain meats. That doesn't mean it's immoral or unnatural for people who are not of those religions or cultures.

Eating meat or not eating meat is an individual choice. Neither meat eaters or non-meat eaters should continue to throw mud at one another. Each has the right to do what he/she thinks is best for him/her.

Why not use that energy for a cause that truly needs support?

Answer 9

I see it that humans are the ruling species in the world, we have evolved as such, and now we have evolved so that we no longer need to eat meat to survive, and we have socially evolved to have morals. But if you think meat tastes good, hunter-gatherer instinct and all that jazz, by all means argue your point til the cows come home (geddit? Ha, bet you didn't know veggies were funny..)

Answer 10

Animals in the wild need to hunt for SURVIVAL. There's a difference between a lion chasing down a zebra, and someone going to a grocery store to buy a pack of hamburgers.