Posted by Sara A on January 27, 1999 at 20:01:24:
In Reply to: Meat! posted by James on October 01, 1998 at 11:43:30:
: I understand the respect for other animals :that lies behind the moral standpoint of today's :vegetarians;
Morals, although a main reason for most, aren't the sole reason people are vegetartians. You save money, you statistically live a lot longer & happier, you feel better, you're helping out with the limited food supply, you're helping the environment, the list goes on & on.
: however, all of the empathy in the world :doesn't change the fact that humans reside alone :at the top of the food chain. It is natural to :feed on other animals, and the process has gone :unchanged for millions of years.
What food chain are you looking at? Polar bears naturally feed on us, viruses feed on us, bacteria feed on us... None of them is capable of understanding the implications of what they do. We pretent to be the intellegence & moral standing on this planet, yet so many of us refuse to use that gift...
:I refuse to let my conscience stand in the way :of nature! Granted, I wouldn't be happy if I :were the prey, perhaps feeling my legs gnawed :away by a starving bear, but this is the way of :the world, and we too may fall victim to the :survival of the fittest rule.
Beleive me, I am a darwinist, & I, as the fittest, will survive. That in no way frightens me, it's a lot easier to keep me alive on my diet than one that requests meat.
: I do not, however, feel that it is my duty to :convince vegetarians that they are foolish, as I :do not have to live with their conscience. But :take one of them and stick them out in the wild :for a couple weeks with no tofu, and I'll show :you a protein- starved homo sapiens with a hell :of an appetite for squirrel..
Actually, I'm up for it. It's easier to eat berries & plants than to kill a squirrel. I don't remember who said this, but "you think humans as carnivores is a natural state? Put a toddler in a cage with a rabbit, a knife & an apple... If it eats the rabbit & plays with the apple, I will give you a million dollars..." Very true, but put a baby carnivore in wiht the bunny... or better yet, don't.