Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat!

This thread is to discuss different dimensions and theories of spirituality (NOT RELIGION) and how should we go defining our do’s and don’ts. Religion is just a medium through which ways to spirituality are conveyed.


Live & Let Live!

I am sure you all have read in your Junior High that life runs on solar energy, which drives the process of photosynthesis in plants. When animals eat plants they are converting the energy in order to build and maintain their bodies and to walk, run, swim. Yet because the conversion process is relatively inefficient, the amount of animal matter on the surface of Earth is only a tiny fraction of the amount of plant matter. Therefore, the amount of animal matter that comes in the form of predators is very small compared to the amount of matter that comes in the form of prey (So, you can stop worrying about animals spamming the earth if you don’t eat them, keshi and if you are worried this much, you may want to think again and move on to eating humans as humans have dramatically increased our numbers:)

and FYI:

Animals are not fetched from forests but rather raised in factory farms to meet the demand of meat-eaters, where many are overcrowded or trapped in cages or pens. They are fed hormones and antibiotics to make them grow faster. Chickens are debeaked so they don't peck each other to death living in overcrowded conditions. Veal calves are fed on a diet of powdered milk, in order to keep their flesh white and bloodless. They are chained to pens, not allowed to turn around for their entire lives, then trucked to the slaughterhouse to die. While the practice of feeding cows back to cows has been curtailed, in response to the outbreak of Mad Cow disease, pigs are still fed to pigs. The pigs may have a similar disease, but are slaughtered too soon for them to develop symptoms. The gruesome slaughter of animals is the most compelling reason why everyone should stop eating meat. The process resembles the Nazi holocaust. Chickens are electrically stunned and hung upside-down on hooks: a butcher cuts their throats. Pigs and cows are killed with captive bolt pistols. They are hung upside down while a butcher jabs his knife into the jugular vein. Blood gushes out onto the floor while the animals twitch. The butcher cuts off the heads and peels off the skins, then jabs his knife into the abdominal area to allow the animal's guts to fall out onto the floor. "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."

Many of us hope to see humanity progress beyond the way of violence and domination and toward the way of peace. I believe a crucial first step toward peace and sustainability is overcoming the mistaken notions of happiness through material accumulation and peace through strength. Happiness has more to do with positive social relations, optimism, self-esteem, good health, sufficient sleep, and having a sense that one's life is meaningful. In turn, our lives are meaningful to the extent that we actualize our potentials, and the central feature of self-actualizing individuals is devotion to a task or calling beyond themselves. Indeed, people are happiest when engaged in positive social interactions or when helping others. The doctrine of peace through strength has outlived its usefulness. A stable peace can only come when everyone is able to meet his or her basic needs and when everyone feels that they are heard and respected. Global equity is a prerequisite to peace.

In the search for equity, we must examine our own lives. Ultimately, humanity will progress toward the way of peace when the ideals of truth, peace, justice, and sustainability are reflected in our everyday lives. At each meal we make a choice. We choose to be a part of this oppression, and to perpetuate it…or we choose to dissociate ourselves from it, to say--this is wrong and I can no longer be a part of it. Mahatma Gandhi once stated, "The basis of my vegetarianism is not physical, but moral. If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef-tea or mutton, even under medical advice, I would prefer death." So, the Mahatma Gandhi and the likes have taught us that when we choose to respect life, consistently, at every meal, the choice of peace with all beings can become a part of our identity. Where once we may have been defensive, we can become open to understanding our place in the universe. We can come to accept that we are part of the web of life, and not godlike beings at the center of the universe.

I am a vegetarian, not because of religion, but because I think it’s wrong to kill animals and eat them. We are the intelligent life form. We don’t live in the jungle like Tigers or Lions as displayed lol, so why should we kill animals and eat them like they do? And keshi, you say that you are a strong believer in peace and harmony. Isn't animal killing, brutality, cruelty and death caused by humans for food or sport should be against your beliefs? We have the ability to grow our own food, produce good vegetarian food, so why not? I don’t believe people should kill animals or eat them just because they are hungry. And whoever of you think we have walked past the Barbarics and are civilized, think again cuz’ we are still killing animals for food.

And yes, Keshi, you are right that green vegetables and fruits are also living beings. But that is the minimum karmas we will be doing by eating vegetarian to sustain our lives. Given that the body of non-vegetarian animals contains 10 times more amount of hydrochloric acid than that of vegetarian ones, and that the human body should not be having such a high concentration of hydrochloric acid, it is reasonable to assume that the fact human body is basically meant for a vegetarian diet. Another FYI: When an animal is butchered, the cells in the body stop metabolizing. They decay and release toxins. Before death, (sadly)the animals secrete a lot of hormones due to fear and anxiety, which are deposited in the muscles that are consumed by meat eaters. Many die of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and other diseases related to consumption of meat. In countries that eat less meat, fewer people die of such diseases. Human bodies are designed more like those of herbivores than of carnivores. Our teeth are shaped to pulverize grain rather than to tear flesh. Our hands and feet have no claws. Our inability to digest animal fat is one of the biggest indicators that we are not meat-eaters.

"Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is - whether it's victim is human or animal - we cannot expect things to be much better in this world... We cannot have peace among people whose hearts delight in killing or eating any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight we set back the progress of humanity."

We shouldn’t live to eat but eat to live.