Animal rights, veganism and PETA

[KichigaiNeko]

PETA seems pretty confused to me, and it doesn't really help its cause with its militancy and self-contradiction. That said, I don't eat red meat a) because I want to reduce the amount of suffering which my diet entails, and the farming industry seems quite often cruel to me (hence I rarely eat any animals apart from fish) and b) because I draw a fuzzy line around which animals are too intelligent and self-aware enough to be killed. Pigs certainly fall into that category for me, as there are masses of evidence to suggest that they're as intelligent as young children. As I wouldn't want to kill young children for a sandwich, the only consistent thing to do seems to be not to eat pork products.

Have no evidence to hand but apparently fish are quite intelligent...

[Skipper]

PETA are a bunch of twats. Too many times I've seen them sticking their noses in to issues that are so pathetic it just undermines anything else worth while they may be attempting to change.

As for my stance on eating animals....yes I do, and I'll try anything pretty much. Love meat and that's not ever going to change. Of course I would expect animals I eat to not be treated like crap and at least killed as humanely as possible but at the end of the day, honestly, I'm human, I'm top of the food chain....get in my fucking belly!

[Violet]

One thing I want to know is, what are your stances on eating animals and why?

I eat what I crave, or what i can get easily. Meats usually do not fall under either of these categories, and so I tend to not eat meats or cheeses. I'd much rather eat grains, fruit, and sugary things.

My morality stops applying if I'm hungry enough. I may not kill something directly, but i sure will eat something that is dead... it isn't like it is going to hurt it any. I don't care where I am on the food chain, i am a scavenger at heart, and when it comes to eating my own species: it is just another flavor of pig.

[thesummerqueen]

What did Ron White say? "I didn't crawl my ass to the top of the food chain just to eat...carrots."

[Autumnlicious]

One thing that my friend brought up yesterday is that he noted that humans had only recently evolved (within 10,000 years) the ability to digest grains while the ability to digest sugars and meats had been around for far, far longer.

Makes me wonder if Dr. Atkins was really right.

[thesummerqueen]

It's been a long held discussion point that the rise of agriculture (and therefore the increased consumption of grains and fewer types of food sources used) vs hunting and gathering actually negatively impacted human health rather than benefited it. I'll see if I can't pull a quote or two from various sources when I get home from work.

[Minimalist]

One thing that my friend brought up yesterday is that he noted that humans had only recently evolved (within 10,000 years) the ability to digest grains while the ability to digest sugars and meats had been around for far, far longer.

Makes me wonder if Dr. Atkins was really right.

Go to a mirror and smile. Those canine teeth looking back at you used to be an inch long. They did not evolve to hunt string beans.

[Edwardo Piet]

I must eat what I want, as everyone else must. We never do anything without desire because desires are what motivate us.

As it happens I am motivated to eat meat, whether that's right or wrong.

[Meatball]

I enjoy eating meat of any kind. I respect vegetarians to varying degrees(depends on their motivation, to be honest), but can't see myself doing it.

I don't think animals deserve rights, but no sentient creature should ever be needlessly tortured or abused. I don't like the idea of killing or enslaving dolphins and whales, especially SeaWorld bullshit.

I think the meat industry the downfall of humanity, and the development of mass-produced lab-grown meat will be a big milestone in human history, up there with electricity.

[Edwardo Piet]

I don't think animals deserve rights

[...]

but no sentient creature should ever be needlessly tortured or abused.

Doesn't "no sentient creature should ever be needlessly tortured or abused" imply that sentient creatures deserve the right to never be needlessly tortured or abused?