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How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 4:47 am
(This post was last modified: November 29, 2017 at 4:51 am by Alexmahone.)
I'm an atheist and a non-vegetarian but I can clearly see that raising and slaughtering animals for food is immoral. This is partly because of the appalling conditions under which most of these animals are raised and the fact that we are killing them for our benefit.
Do religious folks agree? If not, how do they ethically defend non-vegetarianism?
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 4:55 am
(This post was last modified: November 29, 2017 at 5:17 am by Fake Messiah.)
Alexmahone has a point. If this world was designed by anyone who has even a grain of compassion then there really is no reason not to avoid this predator-prey madness that stains our world with so much blood. The populations of various species could be controlled by tinkering with fertility rates rather than disease and predation. Life could have been based on photosynthesis and chemosynthesis and there would be no continual slaughter happening every day, let alone the pollution, food shortage and diseases that come from growing livestock.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 5:18 am
Ms. Coulter is perfectly correct - raising and slaughtering animals for food is justifiable because 'God said we could do it', full stop. The religious need no further justification for any action.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 5:32 am
Godseddso.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 6:07 am
It's our fault because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God designed a pain free world and humans Fucked it up, free will blah blah.
That's what they'll say, you know.
The Matrix has less plot holes.
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 6:21 am
(This post was last modified: November 29, 2017 at 6:23 am by Catholic_Lady.)
Raising them poorly/inhumanely is immoral, yes. But the notion of raising animals to eat them in and of itself is not immoral when done humanely.
I don't see why it makes a difference to you, whether someone is religiois or not in this case. If you think raising/eating animals is immoral, it should be immoral for everyone. I don't see why you think religious people need to justify an action and atheist people don't have to justify that same action.
(November 29, 2017 at 6:07 am)Aroura Wrote: It's our fault because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God designed a pain free world and humans Fucked it up, free will blah blah.
That's what they'll say, you know.
The Matrix has less plot holes.
No it's not.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 6:43 am
(This post was last modified: November 29, 2017 at 6:45 am by Aroura.)
(November 29, 2017 at 6:21 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Raising them poorly/inhumanely is immoral, yes. But the notion of raising animals to eat them in and of itself is not immoral when done humanely.
I don't see why it makes a difference to you, whether someone is religiois or not in this case. If you think raising/eating animals is immoral, it should be immoral for everyone. I don't see why you think religious people need to justify an action and atheist people don't have to justify that same action.
(November 29, 2017 at 6:07 am)Aroura Wrote: It's our fault because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. God designed a pain free world and humans Fucked it up, free will blah blah.
That's what they'll say, you know.
The Matrix has less plot holes.
No it's not.
I should have said, that's what the literalists will say. You are not a literalist.
Although you do go with the Free will thing a lot.
And P.S. if it is immoral, then yes, we all have to justify it. The question is why God created animals that need to suffer so other animals may live. Seems like a massive design flaw. That's the gist of the question directed at the religious here.
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 6:45 am
(November 29, 2017 at 6:21 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Raising them poorly/inhumanely is immoral, yes. But the notion of raising animals to eat them in and of itself is not immoral when done humanely.
I don't see why it makes a difference to you, whether someone is religiois or not in this case. If you think raising/eating animals is immoral, it should be immoral for everyone. I don't see why you think religious people need to justify an action and atheist people don't have to justify that same action.
As an atheist, I don't see that much difference between humanely raising a pig and raising another human being for consumption. Pigs and humans are both very intelligent and sentient.
I think non-vegetarianism is immoral for everyone, of course. When did I say atheists don't have to justify it? I claimed it was immoral in my OP. Which means I have no justification for it.
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 7:36 am
(This post was last modified: November 29, 2017 at 7:37 am by Catholic_Lady.)
(November 29, 2017 at 6:45 am)Alexmahone Wrote: (November 29, 2017 at 6:21 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Raising them poorly/inhumanely is immoral, yes. But the notion of raising animals to eat them in and of itself is not immoral when done humanely.
I don't see why it makes a difference to you, whether someone is religiois or not in this case. If you think raising/eating animals is immoral, it should be immoral for everyone. I don't see why you think religious people need to justify an action and atheist people don't have to justify that same action.
As an atheist, I don't see that much difference between humanely raising a pig and raising another human being for consumption. Pigs and humans are both very intelligent and sentient.
I think non-vegetarianism is immoral for everyone, of course. When did I say atheists don't have to justify it? I claimed it was immoral in my OP. Which means I have no justification for it.
You specifically asked theists how we justify eating meat. It's the title of the thread as well as the content of your OP. I'm not sure why you are singling us out.
Also, Im a little confused. You think eating cows or chickens is no different, morally, from eating human beings... yet you claim to not be a vegetarian? I find this a little disturbing. I definitely see a moral difference between the chicken breast I had for dinner last night and cannibalism. If I didn't, I can't imagine living with myself after having eaten it.
Perhaps you should ask yourself how you justify eating meat if you're the one who sees it as no different from canibalism, rather than randomely demanding justification of it from theists.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: How do religious people justify raising and slaughtering animals for food?
November 29, 2017 at 7:40 am
(November 29, 2017 at 4:47 am)Alexmahone Wrote: I'm an atheist and a non-vegetarian but I can clearly see that raising and slaughtering animals for food is immoral. This is partly because of the appalling conditions under which most of these animals are raised and the fact that we are killing them for our benefit.
Do religious folks agree? If not, how do they ethically defend non-vegetarianism?
Farming animals is worldwide. Could our species do a better job? Sure, but don't look for that to end though.
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