🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <92110.003857CGAVER@auvm.american.edu> Cynthia S. Gaver <CGAVER@auvm.american.edu> writes:
>Good question, Paul.  I've heard the multitude of arguments pro and con, and
>I've been both carnivore and vegetarian but the "bottom line" is that animals
>feel pain and I personally have a hard time justifying the infliction of pain
>on any species.

Animals react to outside stimulus.  As was pointed out before, so do single-
celled creatures, such as the ones you kill by the millions on your body
every time you take a shower.  Have you ever cut an earthworm in half? It,
or its two halves, thrash uncontrollably, seemingly in agony.  The damn
thing doesn't even have a brain.

Certainly most animals we eat are more advanced than these species.  But where
do you draw the line between "instinct", "survival actions" (such as fighting
back or running away when attacked) and "sentience"?

I do not propose torturing animals.  If Mr. Purdue is partaking in criminal
activities, he should be prosecuted.  But the notion that we shouldn't eat
animals because we are preventing them from leading a fullfilling, productive
life, full of self-discovery and global change is absolutely ridiculous.
There is no evidence that animals are self-conscious beyond simple instinct
and learned behavior.  Sure, I can't prove that they aren't self conscious,
but can you prove that PLANTS aren't self conscious?  Until there
is any conclusive evidence that I am ending the life of something that
knows what's going on, I am going to go on eating animals, and plants,
just like lots of other carniverous and omniverous species.

What's next, save the gazelle (from the tigers)?  Save the mice from the
eagles? Save the krill from the whales? Eating meat is a part of nature.

>  If people can't live with that then there are a dozen or
>more practical and economical reasons to go vegetarian.  Suggested reading
>for those who are curious:
>_Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture_ by Jeremy Rifkin
>_Fit For Life_ by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond and
>_Diet for a Small Planet_.  8-)

Agreed.  There are many reasons to become vegetarian, and I am slowly
moving that way... but not because I am trying to save any chicken which
would have otherwise been a productive member of the chicken-society from
being my dinner.
-- 
James A. Treworgy    "And it all would be so crystal clear, if it wasn't for
jamie@digex.com         the foam..."          (jamie@sun.astro.wesleyan.edu)