First, let me be clear.
I am not here to judge you based on your eating habits.
I am not here to advocate that you should love animals and not eat them.
I am not here to force veganism upon you.
I am here, writing this post, looking for possible answers to a few questions that popped into my mind recently.
I know a few people who care for their pets so much that they feed their pets with the best food available in the market, play with them all the time, make them sleep in a comfy bed, switch on the fan/AC, close the door slowly - and then come to the kitchen to slice the meat to prepare delicious food for the family, without the consciousness of the cruelty that the dead animal went through to become a slice of meat in the plate.
I should not say that they are not aware of the cruelty. My wife always asks me to buy fresh meat. I had asked her many times to accompany me to the butcher shop, where you can choose the chicken; the butcher would kill the bird in front of us, remove the skin, and chop them into small pieces - so perfect for our biriyani.
She always refused to come. She said, “I can’t withstand the sound of the bird flapping their wings hard against the walls while dying”.
But, She loves to eat chicken and prepares extra-ordinary South Indian biriyani. She is one of the best cooks. I don’t blame her. My wife is not alone. Millions of such people selectively ignore few things to keep their mind at peace.
I have a question for pet lovers who eat meat.
How do you decide which animals are worthy of love and respect and which ones deserve abuse and slaughter?
Think about it once, please.
OK. Leaving aside the pet/animal lovers, what about other people?
I cannot simply put everyone in one bucket. Can I?
Some people can kill the animals, chop them, cook them, and eat them - without much of the talking going on in their heads. They know what they are doing and feel nothing about it. Happy about the meal they just got. Shall we call them The Predators?
Some people cannot withstand the slaughtering process but enjoy the processed meat. In a sense, they cannot kill an animal but can eat what was killed by another predator. Shall we call them The Scavengers?
Who are you?
The Predator or The Scavenger?
Could you look an animal in the eyes and say to it, ‘My appetite is more important than your suffering’? ~ Moby
If you can… great !!!. You simply live by your predator instinct. Please continue.
If you cannot, would you like to explore why?
Maybe, it’s your love for animals disguised in the form of disgust/fear/pity?
Maybe, it’s your body that tells you that you don’t need to kill an animal for meat.
Maybe, you are an angel born to spread love beyond your species.
I don’t know.
Everyone will have their own, unique realization - if you spend the time to understand your instinct.
Selectively ignoring a fact suppresses your instinct. Isn’t it?
I don’t care if you are a vegan or meat eater.
Why don’t you live by your instinct?
Why don’t you listen to your heart?
After all, what else we are here in this world for?
Don’t eat anything you aren’t willing to kill yourself. ~ Lorene Lavora
Some animals are here for us to eat and some are here for our companionship.
No animal or species has evolved over millions of years, just to provide companionship for humans. We domesticated them, trained them, and fed them for thousands of years - which makes modern humans believe that both species evolved specifically to co-exist.
I only eat humanely raised and slaughtered animals.
Well. That’s a contradiction depending on your definition of “humanity”. What difference does the “humanely-raised” experience, make at the moment of slaughtering? You still kill and eat them anyway.
We were meat eaters for millions of years. How can I change suddenly?.
No. We were not 100% meat eaters. We were opportunistic eaters. We ate anything and everything. Fruits, roots, vegetables, insects, small animals, and occasionally large animals. We did not have the power or claws or large canine teeth to kill big animals. We killed animals by persistent hunting - which requires hours of coordinated effort and energy. If vegan food was available, we didn’t choose to hunt. So, technically a man can live with both vegan and meat-based food.
Who are you to say this to me?
I am just another human being, experiencing life. I was a voracious meat eater at some point in my life and a 100% raw vegan at some other time. Deep introspection and questioning move me closer to being a raw vegan.
So, what’s the conclusion?
Should there be one for every article?
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