Heavy meat eater, lifelong hunter, thinking about going vegetarian.

The difference is sentience. Animals don't have it. Aliens, if you go for that thing would. Making us equal.

a reply to: intrepid

Animals aren't sentient?

a reply to: intrepid

If you ever had a dog for many years

It becomes obvious animals have feelings and yes intelligence that is limited from our perspective

Plants breathe, feel pain, mate, etc. Some even eat animals. So I fail to see the logic of vegetarianism. Bacon is a gift from god. It is right up there with threesomes.

I went vegetarian for years... basically for all the same reasons as that hippy nonsense expressed in the OP, lol.

It was almost considered a sacrilegious act amoung my meat loving family and peers, which was probably part of my motivation to sticking to it for so long. Thats just the kinda person I am... If I'm told I'll only be accepted as 'one of them' if I turn right, then I'm definitly turning left, just out of pure spite.

But anyway... its not really the extreme 'rabbit food' diet lifestyle change people think it is, just so long as your still eating dairy products.

If you go full blown vegan, then you have to be a lot more scientifically minded about our diet, since its difficult to get all 20 amino acids into your diet to ensure your consuming enough protien...

Though, some people do suffer from iron deficiencies from going vegetarian, since they lack the ability to absorb enough iron from non-meat sources. But that was never an issue for me and shouldn't be an issue for most healhty individuals...

All and all, it really is completely unnecessary (and probably actually unethical) for humans to consume meat in our modern age... but what can I say? For me personally, I grew out of my whole 'save the world' hippy phrase and I enjoy eating pizzas & burgers with animal flesh in them... lol.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
I went vegetarian for years... basically for all the same reasons as that hippy nonsense expressed in the OP, lol.

It was almost considered a sacrilegious act amoung my meat loving family and peers, which was probably part of my motivation to sticking to it for so long. Thats just the kinda person I am... If I'm told I'll only be accepted as 'one of them' if I turn right, then I'm definitly turning left, just out of pure spite.

But anyway... its not really the extreme 'rabbit food' diet lifestyle change people think it is, just so long as your still eating dairy products.

If you go full blown vegan, then you have to be a lot more scientically minded about our diet, since its difficult to get all 20 amino acids into your diet to ensure your consuming enough protien...

Though, some people do suffer from iron deficiencies from going vegetarian, since they lack the ability to absorb enough iron from non-meat sources. But that was never an issue for me and shouldn't be an issue for most healhty individuals...

All and all, it really is completely unnecessary (and probably actually unethical) for humans to consume meat in our modern age... but what can I say? For me personally, I grew out of my whole 'save the world' hippy phrase and I enjoy eating pizzas & burgers with animal flesh in them... lol.

When I was in college, I was initially on some pro-black, nation of islam, don't eat swine kick and decided to give up pork. It lasted until I came home from the holidays and I got a whiff of the country ham my grandmother cooked...

originally posted by: InFriNiTee
If you feed cows to cows, they get hoof and mouth disease (Mad Cow Disease).

WHUT? Hoof and mouth disease is not BSE disease in any way, whatsoever. BSE is a prion disease, HMD is a virus.

originally posted by: intrepid
The difference is sentience. Animals don't have it. Aliens, if you go for that thing would. Making us equal.

If and when aliens do appear on this planet, given the opportunity, I'd probably try hunting and eating one of them. Who knows, they may well be tasty and nutritious.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
Animals are not lower lifeforms, they live in balance with nature so I'd say in that way they are much "higher" than we humans are. We rape and pillage the Earth and take more than we need and in the process kill the environment and make other lifeforms suffer for our greed. Animals don't do that, they only take what they need and no more which keeps the balance in tune, humans have thrown that balance out of whack and the suffering that happens from our greed is that balance being lost.

Just my opinion but I think we as humans are less (spiritually) evolved than most animals because of the fact that we have forgotten where we came from. We care more about money than we do the livelihood of others.

Do not ever look into a hen house after a dog or raccoon gets into it. They will kill every chicken they can. Lots and lots of dead chickens.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: InFriNiTee
If you feed cows to cows, they get hoof and mouth disease (Mad Cow Disease).

WHUT? Hoof and mouth disease is not BSE disease in any way, whatsoever. BSE is a prion disease, HMD is a virus.[/quot]

Prions are on plants too.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: intrepid
The difference is sentience. Animals don't have it. Aliens, if you go for that thing would. Making us equal.

If and when aliens do appear on this planet, given the opportunity, I'd probably try hunting and eating one of them. Who knows, they may well be tasty and nutritious.

Bwahahahahaha......The "fountain of youth" maybe. Maybe "equal" wasn't quite the right word. Especially on brutality. We have no equal there.

originally posted by: DavidKip

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY

is that I have just lost my mind and should shut the f up and stop reading whatever I am reading LOL

Man I am so sick of this world

I feel like finding a practice bridge, you know not too high from the water, just for practice.

What do you mean by this?

It reads so ominous for such a thoughtful person -- like you obviously are.

I'm hoping i just misunderstood.

People have this fantasy that animals are not cruel...

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Animals are not lower lifeforms, they live in balance with nature so I'd say in that way they are much "higher" than we humans are

They kill each other and eat each other!!
Totally in balance with nature!!

Having a hippy dippy mindset in nature will get you killed.
They are not "higher" than humans...they kill each other too,we just attempt to justify it when we do it.

Nature is cruel.

Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!

originally posted by: Edumakated
People have this fantasy that animals are not cruel...

Animals don't apply emotions, so no, they're not "cruel." Cruelty requires a sentient choice to do something purely to hurt another. If anything, animals can be considered selfish, as they tend to do things that impact others purely for self gratification.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: Edumakated
People have this fantasy that animals are not cruel...

Animals don't apply emotions, so no, they're not "cruel." Cruelty requires a sentient choice to do something purely to hurt another. If anything, animals can be considered selfish, as they tend to do things that impact others purely for self gratification.

Chimpanzees have been observed capturing members of a rival group, then torturing them in the most horrible ways imaginable, well other chimpanzees from the same group happily hold them down. These torture methods include biting fingers off, riping the skin from there face and also tearing off there genitals well still alive.

There is no logical "survival" reasoning behind it. There sole purpose for carrying out these acts seems to be for the pure pleasure the gain by watching another suffer...

The OP has never seen what a Jaguar/Tiger/Hawk/Eagle/Etc will do to its prey.

Nature is not forgiving.

double post.

originally posted by: DavidKip
I could never imagine life without eating various dead animals, even rabbit and horse meat, always wanted to try crocodile, in a pinch I'll eat a can of SPAM

But considering that we ourselves are food for higher beings, (see my other thread)

How can I protest our condition if i myself participate in eating lower than me lifeforms

Take a duck for example, prepared right it tastes mighty good.

But that duck was a living thing that looked for mates, ran from danger, experienced fear, experienced being content while sleeping

That duck or pig or chicken is stupid compared to us, but no one can deny it lived in its own limited way.

We are limited compared to those coming from other galaxies and dimensions, does that mean we should be zapped and drained, and carcass thrown out of flying saucer (by the way that happens)

Religions like some East Indian religions advise vegetarianism but I haven't met a single follower who actually understands this, he or she just follows the rules of religion without thinking about it.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY

is that I have just lost my mind and should shut the f up and stop reading whatever I am reading LOL

Man I am so sick of this world

I feel like finding a practice bridge, you know not too high from the water, just for practice.

Maybe my outlook would change if I stopped eating meat.

Health might improve but I don't care about health,

I know one East Indian guy, seen him at the pool, his stomach and fat is spilling out, so you can eat vegetables and still be a fatso

I guess they use too much butter with their veggies

I can pass onto you something Paul McCartney and late wife Linda once answered when asked about being vegetarian.(after a time in India)...He replied to the question..."We eat nothing with EYES". (No...not potatoes included!)

I thought the eyes looking back must have presented the thought that it was alive once as are we. Poignant reply I thought...and never forgot.

a reply to: DavidKip

I've done just what you indicated in your OP. I went from bacon loving, roast eating, sausage making, lip smacking omnivore to a lacto-ovo vegetarian. (I still eat fish and dairy...and eggs-sourced from my friend's small chicken coop.)

It's not an easy turn. It took me several years of 1 week, then two weeks type of buildup to do it. But now I'm totally cool with it. Most restaurants have something to offer the vegetarian in the crowd, but in general options are limited.

I encourage you to take small steps...maybe eliminate meat totally for a few days, or even become a weekday vegetarian, which is growing more and more popular these days.

There are many healthy benefits to the lifestyle, and you can still eat tons and tons of food...in fact I've never been famished or looked gaunt.