Why do Vegetarians and vegans think its wrong to eat meat but OK to eats plant products?

Question

Aren't plants living things, like animals? And to not use any animal products, doesn't that seem strange since, from the dawn of man, we have been part of the survival / food chain that all animals are part of in order to survive? How is it that suddenly after millions of years it is wrong?? Lets all rip out our Molars and nibble some lettuce and deny what we are- animals.

Answer 1

As far as we know, plants are not SENTIENT beings - they do not think or feel as we understand the concept. The methods of aquiring meat products are also akin to torture, in many cases.

Others believe that plants "feel" in a different way, and ask if they "scream" when yanked out of the ground (or pulled from a branch). Humans, being omniverous, do have the choice of whether they eat meat or not. My cat, however MUST eat meat, so there is no way around my not purchasing meat products, one way or another.

Another thought is that since meat is also a "second-level" nutrient, we may as well cut out the middleman - or middle-cow - and just eat the vegetation. Red meat has been proven to contribute to heart disease and some cancers, so there is a health consideration.

That being said, I do eat meat and dairy - including yogurt, eggs (can't stand tofu in all of its guises).

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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RE:
Why do Vegetarians and vegans think its wrong to eat meat but OK to eats plant products?
Aren't plants living things, like animals? And to not use any animal products, doesn't that seem strange since, from the dawn of man, we have been part of the survival / food chain that all animals are part of in order to survive? How is it that suddenly after millions of years it is...

Answer 4

For extreme situations, and for survival purposes, it is very wise to use the 'Excellent' and "Unique" gift of self awareness humans have, to modify anything that can become a food stuff and eat it!
But with modern facilities of storage and transportation, is it not wise to not only eat but also try to produce more & more of what our human physiology (the body & digestive structure) is actually designed for ? That way, we would be doing a very great service to posterity in many & unimaginable ways! For example,
1. Producing vegetable supports & creates more awareness about vegetation, ecology, environement.
2. Eating more of vegetables nourishes all the components of this 'human' machinery to give peak levels of performance! Not just enough to feed the cylinders with gasoline, we need to grease & oil other parts, the brain, eyes etc. for which animal products as food does not help much.
3. And then, the family genes, get bettered when a chain of generations keep evolving into intelligent thinking, living, etc, eating more of vegetarian food. (An example would be, there are certain communities in India, who are having sort of monopoly in most types of businesses, and who also happen to be strict vegetarians! This is no coincidence, or a silly thing to be discarded, if intelligence really matters in our life!).
4. Most important of all, the structure of teeth, the extra-long digestive canal (compared to meat-eating animals), the digestive juices secreted right from mouth, etc, .... all these speak out tooo loudly in support of vegetarian food to be preferable for human constitution for a longer, and healthy life.... not just a disease free life!)
5. The only support from meat eating humans is that they make vegetables more easily & economically available to vegetarian people, keeping away from the vegetable market! This is not really a good thing, because the entire mankind should 'team-up' like a global family.
6. Vegetarian diet supports peaceful attitudes & tendencies. This point is not so important when a person is basically stabilised in peaceful type of attitudes, but a person who is short tempered, and of violent 'inclination' would do well to keep away from meat (spicy meat, in particular).
Please verify and then try to get convinced , if the above points are practically correct/true!

Answer 5

Yes, of course plants are living things, but they do not have a nervous system that allows them to feel pain like animals do. When one kills or harms an animal, they suffer immensely, while chewing lettuce does not cause the lettuce any pain.
To answer your next question, at one point I believe it was fine to eat animals because we did so for our survival. At that time we hunted and such like any other animal in the wild would do, causing them pain only at death. Now, on the other hand, we do not need to consume animals or animal products to survive, and factory farms, labs, etc abuse an animal it's entire life, not just at death.

Answer 6

If you cannot tell the difference between a carrot and a cow, may I suggest you go back to middle school and take a few biology classes.

Millions of years ago, it was necessary to eat animals, as food was scarce. So people went out with tools, killed the animal, and ate it. Until 50-100 years ago, many people lived on farms and raised their own cows and chickens. When the time came, they would slaughter these animals. Well, that's just not the case anymore, now, is it? You have heard of factory farms, haven't you.

By the way, there are many animals who DON'T eat other animals, and our digestive systems are closer to theirs than they are to the digestive systems of carnivores.

And the plant question is older than Senator Robert Byrd. Do you think you antivegans can come up with something a little more intelligent? Please?

Answer 7

I think the main thing is to let people eat whatever they want to eat. If people want to be "vegans" (not exactly sure that that means, but believe it to be an extreme version of vegetarian) then let them. No one has to eat meat, but most of us love it and enjoy it, so that's our right also. Personally, I would never give up steak, bacon, etc but I don't expect everyone to feel the same. I resent it when vegans proselytize so I never tell them to do as I do...life is more civilized when we accomodate and respect each other's way of life.

Answer 8

It takes 15 to 20 pounds of grains to produce 1 pound of meat. The grains and soybeans fed to American livestock each year would feed 1.3 billion starving people.

If a vegetarian diet is more than enough for a healthy happy living, i dont find any reason to kill animals.

You will feel a bit of the pain the animal feels, when u just try peeling your skin. Will you try doing it???

Yes plants too have life, even if eating plants is bad, we cannot stop it since we need to live.

But we very clearly know that killing animals is wrong, and we have a choice of not to kill them just to pleasing our taste buds.

By the way plants and animals are very different, thats why we have botany and zoology.

If we can cut a branch of a tree it grows, but if you severe the head of an animal will it grow??

I dont find any reason to kill animals if a veg diet is more than enough for humans...

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.
-- Pythagoras

Answer 9

Vegetarians limits their food to plant food..
Non-Vegetarian is dangerous to even mankind.
Non-Veg is not limiting to goat/cow/chicken/fish, some eat monkey, dogs etc.
Belief says Hindu worship cow.. as it gives many other products, without which human life misreable in olden days..
Some other beliefs says no-pig as it is treated as dirty animal.
Human came from Monkey. Now poeple are treating it a meat/food,,, what next & next.....
One sees meat from any animal is ok, then human also animal.. No END...

Answer 10

Vegetarians think it right to eat plants coz they have the least element- water only,out of the five-earth, fire, wind, water and ether!
So-though the plants do have life-but since they have only one element of the five-mentioned, the karmas created by eating plants are lesser comparatively! And the lesser the karmas created the better!
Hence, its ok to eat plants instead of animals!
Hope its understood well!
Thanx-God bless!