Example: Be it vegetarianism, animal testing, or anything that infringes on the lives of other creatures, we all come
down to the same arguements.
You shouldn't kill!
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I agree, killing is bad. Yet in order to make that tofu-veggie stir-fry, you thoughtlessly murdered dozens of plants -
soy plants, bean plants, carrot plants, etc.
But plants don't have feelings. They have no nervous system.
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That's true, they don't. So by your logic, all animals are superior to all plants. Does that mean that
it's not okay to step on an ant crossing the path, but it is okay to chop down a 500-year-old sequoia? After all,
that tree can't feel anything.
Well, no. You shouldn't chop down trees, either!
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So we've established that in order for us to live, something needs to die. We've also established that maybe
animals aren't superior to plants after all. So if we have to kill something, why not a big ol' tasty cow?
After all, it's a stupid creature. Definitely nonsentient.
Hey! Cows have feelings and thoughts, you know. They can feel love and fear and pain. The way they are raised in meat
factories is inhumane! They get no chance to live before they are killed.
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So it's cruel and horrible for a human to keep a calf in a box to turn it into veal, but it's gentle and
peaceable for a cheetah to zip out a gazelle's intestines while it's still alive? And prior to that, the
gazelle lived a happy life, constantly too cold or too hot and underfed and eternally in fear of cheetahs (do keep in
mind that less than half the babies gazelle ever live to adulthood).
It's only doing that to survive. It needs to eat meat to live.
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Nope. We can take all the cheetahs and tube-feed them tofu with vitamin suppliments and they'll live just fine -
the exact same way humans can survive without animal protein.
But that's cruel to the cheetah! It's only doing what comes naturally. Besides, it's not the same as
killing another of its same species.
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That's true, it is. And animals can be some real shits sometimes. Have you ever watched mallard ducks in the late
summer? The male mallard duck has, by percentage body weight, the highest testosterone levels of any creature alive. All
of the unmated males join together in packs of up to 30 or more and chase the unmated female mallards by land, by water,
by air, until finally she's so exhausted they catch her and beat her up within an inch of her life and gang-rape
her. When they're finally done with her, she's bruised, bleeding, had feathers pulled out, and quite
miserable. That is what is "natural." Oh, and as for killing another of the same species? Animals do that all
the time - a male lion taking over the pride will kill all the cubs of his predecessor so that the females will come
into heat and he can impregnated them. Wolves will kill tresspassers to their territory if they can't be dissuaded
any other way. And ants from rivaling colonies will kill each other for just about any reason. So why isn't it okay
for humans to rape and murder?
That's because we can choose not to. We can control our hormones.
Okay then ... are you saying that animals can't?
Uh, yes.
Good job! And that distinction, that difference, the ability to control one's self, is the sentience that has
allowed us to become civilized. Civilization is the hallmark that allows us to live comfortable lives free from fear,
and one of the many benefits is that we damn well deserve to subjugate other creatures.
So there you have it. Either ALL living things are equal, in which case it's just as much a crime to kill a microbe
as a cow, so as long as we don't kill our own species then we might as well snack upon the tasty cowflesh ... or
all living things are not equal, in which case cows are inferior to us and we might as well snack upon the tasty
cowflesh.
One last comment:
*i don't actually have any problem with vegetarians. Feel free to eat whatever you want. I eat meat, you
don't, and that's cool. Be it religion, upbringing, dislike of meat, or to cut down on animal cruelty,
it's all good with me. I am targeting ONLY the self-righteous vegetarians, the ones who insist that they are
morally superior to me because they don't eat meat. Y'know, the ones who don't believe in mutual respect
of culinary choices. Everyone else is fine. *
