Friday, November 26, 2010

Aren't Vegetarians killing living beings too?

Hi all,
I am writing after a looooooooonnnggg time.. But I feel nice about starting again with something I strongly feel about..

I am writing about one of the most argued subjects and my thoughts on that.. Vegetarianism!! I am a staunch vegetarian myself.. But I am not completely against people eating Non-Veg food.. What I am really against is the cruelty on them and also their argument that plants are also living beings..

First, let me talk about the cruelty animals are facing these days!
Why I really bother about killing animals is that people have started to breed them in inhuman ways to satisfy the growing demand for meat (Other than for the pleasure of hunting). When people had to breed them naturally and eat them, there were restricting factors like money, availability etc. Now, companies after companies are breeding birds and animals in a place where they can barely move, which I do not feel as anything less than the Nazi concentration camps from the animals point of view.

I have posted many videos in my blog in the article about "Animal Like or ..." Those videos show a sample of these concentration camps.

Second, their famous argument that Vegetarians kill too..
People who use this as a response knew well themselves that they are using this only as a defense.
One famous person, named Dr. Zakir Naik, went one step over board by comparing plants mentally underdeveloped humans and animals to people with full biological development. I felt pity for him.

My only reply to these arguments were that the plants have a choice of not growing and wasting away if the conditions are not suitable unlike the poor animals in the concentration camps and those killed in Kosheries and such places. Also, if one can compare plants and animal with humans as Dr. Naik did, may be cannibalism is acceptable too.. A cannibal likes a human's meat and so be it.. Let him eat.. Let him breed and eat!!

Since I am not a biological expert myself, I didn't know to express myself as clearly as the response below:

Someone questioned Sir JC Bose, about our use of plants for human food. "The cause of humanitarianism," he wrote, "can only be advanced by change of spirit, and not by making fun of people who feel compassion for the suffering of animals, greatly accentuated by terror when they are being done to death. Obviously, plants do not suffer from this terror, their nervous structure, where present, being far more rudimentary." No statement could be more authoritative or more conclusive.

In other words, as my friend explained, "
To imply that vegetarians maintain a one-dimensional ethical stance unconcerned with the death of plants is the wrong springboard.the mind and intellect of a plant is rudimentary as compared to that of an animal.the comprehension of pain is almost non-existent. Pain is demonstrated by averse reactions to negative stimuli that are non-purposeful or even maladaptive."

What we are asking is:
1) Please do not demean vegetarians pity for animals by accusing them of killing plants. Even if so, we are one step better that non-veg people as they kill Plants and Animals.
2) We are not against people eating non-veg food.
Once I met a prof. from Univ. of Tennessee who said "My wife and I have taken it as a policy to eat only farm raised animals and also of them also, we do not eat baby meat". This is what a human being is supposed to think and feel like. At least I feel so!

Hope this time, with the help of Sir. JC Bose and the Prof. I have made my stance and some of the other vegetarians stand more clear!

I eat to live, to serve, and also, if it so happens, to enjoy, but I do not eat for the sake of enjoyment.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

A good eater must be a good man; for a good eater must have a good digestion, and a good digestion depends upon a good conscience.
-- Benjamin Disraeli

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi...
That is a really good and intense analysis. good thought process overall.
I would like to add some more biological and ethical points of view. In a food chain, where Humans come at the final predator level(due to the complexity of the body organisation), we are always dependent on other LIVING ORGANISMS for food and that is how the nature is built. So absolutely no crime in eating up a living organism, and it is unfortunately the difference of power that determines it. So atleast vegetarians should not be against the people who eat non-vegetarians in the first place. Yes, in vegetarians' perspective, we see how the pain is perceived in the inflicted. ACCEPTED. I WOULD SAY THIS IS SUBJECTIVE(and ofcourse Humanitarian) BUT IT IS NOT AGAINST NATURE. Plants, though have immature nervous system, we might be still unaware of how they perceive pain.
But, it should also be taken into account that humans are atleast 13000 times more concentrated in this ecosystem, than we should have been and also we are intellectual to the extent that we manipulate our environment(ecosystem). This is really detrimental to the earth, and in a way we are forced to breed animals.

I know I am vague, but that is how it is.. :P I atleast hope the readers to concentrate on these 2 facts that I have put forward :D

BOTTOMLINE: Human community to be blamed and not non-vegetarians.

Divya said...

Thanks Sankar for reading and adding to the article...
"blame on human community for want of food
and hence breed"
agreed.. but breed with some compassion.. that's all!

Blame game shuld stop somewhere and something shuld be done for good..

You see.. in the eggs we get in supermarket, we have costly ones and cheap ones.. Costly ones from farm "raised" animals, cheap ones from 1X1 cubicle "breeded" pitiful creatures.. the information on from which animal the egg is coming is printed on the cover itself.. atleast start by encouraging farmers.. :) buy the expensive ones, eat less amt of eggs if it hits ur budget!!

aXs said...

Last paragraph and the words of those grt ppl are simply amazing !

Suraj said...

LMAO @ Zakir Naik's remark!!!

Divya said...

Thanks Akshath..
@ Suraj - :)

Smart Indian said...

Very well said. Thanks!

एक बेहद साधारण पाठक said...

बहुत अच्छा लेख ..

Divya said...

Thanks for reading and commenting!

DOT said...

Nice Article sir, Keep Going on... I am really impressed by read this. Thanks for sharing with us. IBPS,UPSC.