<p>Alright, I have noticed that many posters on CC are either vegetarian/vegan. All my life, I have been a meat-eater and have found no plausible reason at all to switch my diet. Considering I am Asian Indian, this has always been an issue I find myself being constantly pushed into dealing with. I have heard all of the arguments against consuming meat(religion, health, animal cruelty, corporate greed, etc.), however I have found none of them to be particularly persuasive and in my IMO, I have found some of the reasons to be counterproductive.</p>
<p>So, lets start up the educational debate. If you are vegetarian/vegan, what is the rational behind your lifestyle??? If you are a nonvegeatarian, what are your reaosns for choosing to eat meat???</p>
<p>I'm indian. I eat Chicken, and I eat fish(although I don't like how fish tastes, but once in a while i eat a tiny bit since its supposedly good for my brain).</p>
<p>I don't eat beef, pork, etc. The reason is that these animals don't have clean meat(Red Meat).</p>
<p>I don't eat too often though. Be happy you have a choice. I go to boarding school, and often times people are forced to get a certain type of meal because the other types are so horrendously disgusting(one time the pasta was messed up so bad, my roommate whipped out his cell and started taking orders for chinese ;p).</p>
If you exercise a lot purrli, then you wouldn't need to cut back on food that is high on fat/carbs/protein, especially at such a young age. In order to become healthy, you definitely need to have an appropriate intake of protein and carbs, which would become hard to receive through what I consider artificial means such as soy and beans.</p>
<p>On your second point, animals are going to die anyway, whether or not you eat them. I wouldn't consider killing an animal for dietary sonsumption wrong even by ethical and moral standards. Human beings are just like any other species on this planet and thus we must do our part, just like any other organism, in maintaining Earth's ecological balance. If all human beings suddenly became vegetarians, there would be serious consequences that would upset the Earth's natural order. Furthermore, human anatomy dictates that we were built to digest and handle meat. Doing otherwise would be counterproductive.</p>
<p>If all human beings suddenly became vegetarians, there would be serious consequences that would upset the Earth's natural order. Furthermore, human anatomy dictates that we were built to digest and handle meat.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don't think this is a particularly logical argument. There are many things that are "natural" that are nevertheless not ethically permissible. For instance, women could have a child every year from puberty to menopause, and perhaps this is the most natural course of events, but as humans we know that it's wrong to bring children into the world that cannot be supported. Or how about old people? It's not very natural to artifically keep alive (through medications etc) people who are for the most part no longer productive to society. But you don't see many people advocating letting the elderly die off, do you? We as human beings have reason, and it is this reason that allows us to look beyond the natural in the formulating of what is right. Ethics are not all based on instinct, neither can they be based simply on what is "natural."</p>
<p>On another note, I'm vegan for a lot of reasons, but it basically boils down to the fac that I'm trying to live my life in the least destructive way possible.</p>
<p>you've put it very nicely, but I didn't say that eating animals is wrong - I for one still can't resist sneaking in a fish occasionally. I understand that humans have canine teeth and are built to be omnivores.</p>
<p>About the exercise thing: yeah I agree it's the best way to stay fit, but when I'm overloaded with homework I just have no time for yoga or bellydance anymore. And since I don't move alot, then the calories will just turn into a potbelly, which by no means is an indicator for good health.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don't think this is a particularly logical argument. There are many things that are "natural" that are nevertheless not ethically permissible. For instance, women could have a child every year from puberty to menopause, and perhaps this is the most natural course of events, but as humans we know that it's wrong to bring children into the world that cannot be supported. Or how about old people? It's not very natural to artifically keep alive (through medications etc) people who are for the most part no longer productive to society. But you don't see many people advocating letting the elderly die off, do you? We as human beings have reason, and it is this reason that allows us to look beyond the natural in the formulating of what is right. Ethics are not all based on instinct, neither can they be based simply on what is "natural."</p>
<p>On another note, I'm vegan for a lot of reasons, but it basically boils down to the fac that I'm trying to live my life in the least destructive way possible.
The human capacity to reason also allows us to take into account the costs and benefits of every situation vegangirl. It's not about what is "right" as much as it is about what is "optimal". How exactly is it unethical to deny a natural instinct such as eating meat??? Is it ethical to wear the blue sweatshirt, black sweater, etc. that you wear eon a regular basis when it is made from animal skins/entrails??? To truly live your life in the least destructive way possible, you would have to be able to bear almost a primitive existence. The fact is that a lot of the products you use in everyday life originate from animals and you can't downplay our dependency on animal products by becoming "vegan".</p>
<p>I think my argument is very logical. It is understandably immoral to kill a living creature just for the sake of amusment/money/etc. However, the killing is justified if it benefits another organism directly as through diet. There is a reason why humans are "consumers" and not "producers" like plants. We can't make our own food naturally so we must find it by ourself, and meat is supposed to be a vital part of the human diet.</p>
<p>who ever said being vegetarian is a good way to be skinny -- thats just a load of crap. I know plenty of indian vegeterians who are fat. The fact of the matter is that being vegetarian limits what you can eat. Say you're out at a fast food place, instead of that lean grilled chicken sandwich, you might have to settle for french fries.</p>
<p>I think that killing for food is better than killing for amusement/money/etc, but I still think it is wrong on moral grounds. Humans have the ability to just not eat meat. If everyone in the world agreed, we could all stop eating meat very easily, and also put an end to famine (1 lb of beef takes 100x the resources of 1 lb of wheat). Also, there would be no worldwide, natural cataclysm if we stopped eating meat. The vast majority of the meat humans eat is "grown" in the sense that domesticated animals are brought up on a farm or similar institution with the express purpose of killing them for food. It's not like anyone hunts for meat, and their turning vegetarian would mean that animals would go unhunted.</p>
<p>And vegangirl is right. Again, although we are "built" to do something doesn't mean it is ethically right. Why don't we just go around having sex all day, even though our anatomy dictates it? Because it is ethically wrong. For the same reason, just because our anatomy "says" we should eat meat does not mean we, as 21st century humans, must do so. It is also ethically wrong.</p>
<p>And why do you say eating meat is ethically and morally wrong. I'd have to say I disagree with you. So what if we have the ability to not do it, that doesn't mean we shouldn't. </p>
<p>I happen to like and enjoy eating meat- I'd never ever give it up. And also where I live meat is not farm raised, everything is free range, not all of it is killed. And people still do hunt for food. The guys in my family go to the Czech Republic or to Wyoming or Dakotas in America every year to go hunting. And we eat the meat afterward.</p>