#vegetarian #vegan #evolution
Originally shared by Sean P. O. MacCath-Moran+Eve Volve: "Meat allowed us to evolve"Really? I think you're mistaken to believe this is a certainty, but what causes you to believe this is so,
+Eve Volve?
As
I understand it, there have been healthy, thriving vegetarians and vegans for as long as there have been humans. Some were so due to moral or ethical concerns, others due to resource utilization issues, others due to cultural taboos. All other factors being equal, the veg(etari)ans have thrived, and continue to do so.
For some more recent historical examples of vegans, we can look at Pythagoras, the "Pythagoreans" (as vegans were called for the following 1300 years), along with a plethora of like-minded contemporaries (e.g.
goo.gl/lgDBL). Buddhists, Jainists, et al., have been doing grand as veg(etari)ans since around the 6th century BCE. Prior to this, there's compelling reason to believe that most people were vegan anyway (ref.
goo.gl/3QZWDg).
=o)+Eve Volve: "Those animals were bred to be eaten"I'm not sure what the reasoning here is. This would be like saying that if I raise a dog specifically to use it in dog fighting, that it's OK to torture and kill that dog in dog-fights since that's what I raised it for. Of course, no reasonable person would support such an excuse, and it can't reasonably be used to explain away our doing so to other animals.
+Eve Volve: "A lot of farmers make most of their money from selling animal products."So... You're saying that if something makes money, it's therefor a moral action? That's just silly. Besides, they could engage in farming activities which don't hurt or kill sentient beings and make money as well.
+Eve Volve: "People not eating meat is not gonna stop people from producing meat... cause people like me still eat it."Meh - I grew up on a farm where I was personally raising, killing, and butchering cows, pigs, chickens, goats, et al. You
are people like me,
+Eve Volve, and I'm sure that you and I have very similar values where it comes to not causing needless pain and suffering in the world. I have faith in your innate humanity, so unless you're a diagnosed sociopath, I trust that you will react the same as I have once you realize how horrific the act of needlessly killing (not to mention torturing) sentient beings is -- which is exactly what one is forcing on the world by deciding to eat animals.
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This post is one in a series in which excerpts of discussions on veganism from other threads are reposted (or paraphrased) for the sake of expanding the conversation. As always, your thoughts and questions are welcome. See the full collection via the #spommveganchats
hash (or perhaps with a more robust search, such as goo.gl/JoxZC ).(for anyone requiring/desiring more context, the original conversation can be found at goo.gl/k1Dge4 ) #evolution #meat #vegan
