Is it OK to kill certain animals?

I never said you were associated with PETA. If you had read closely you would know that.

 

Also there is no such thing as a concept that doesn't involve self-benefit. You either don't eat animals because it makes you feel good or because eating animals makes you feel bad. Eating animals doesn't make me feel bad and I can't derive self-satisfaction from abstaining them their consumption. Neither of us was able to choose how our conscience responds. This doesn't make you a better person than me.

 

I disagree with your limited view of what it means to be human. We are not just stimulus-response machines. We have free will and can overcome our conditioning. It is admirable to be responsible for the world and change your behavior in light of new information.

What if you discovered tomorrow that eating animals makes it more likely that children in Mexico will starve? Might that cause you to change your mind? Why or why not?

 

I also agree that we have free will. However unless I have a good reason not to eat animals, I see no reason to exercise that free will and abstain from it. And I can not derive satisfaction from abstaining from it which is the only good reason. Besides if it caused me emotional pain to eat animals, but that isn't a choice.

And the issue here isn't the socioeconomic implications of eating animals, it is not eating them as a matter of personal conscience. I've already made it clear that I'm a humanist.

 

OK, now I'm clear that you are one of those "selfish is good" types. It's all about you. I reject that philosophy.

 

I believe that every action we make is ultimately in our self-interest, especially when we do good for other people, as that makes for a better world for us too. If you don't then we both know it would be silly to argue over it.

 

OK, so why didn't you answer my question about children starving in Mexico? Is that you just don't care about them? I'm asking because you seem very selfish, and I think that's bad.

 

Because that's off-topic. We're not discussing mexican children, we're discussing the personal morality of eating animals.

 

OK, fair enough. Let me re-phrase my question.

If you discovered tomorrow that there was scientific evidence that animals suffered great terror and pain when they were slaughtered, would you change your mind about eating them? Why or why not?

 

I think that they do. Which is why I advocate humane treatment for farm animals. My conscience won't let me cause suffering.

 

I'm sorry, you're not making sense. If you think that way, you would not eat animals because that is causing suffering.

Perhaps you are taking this weird stand because you are not personally doing the slaughtering? I remind you that when you eat them, you are casting an economic vote that causes the suffering in the future.

 

I consider the pain suffered within the timespan of a few seconds to be superficial. By humane treatment I mean the life of the animal too. I only really eat eggs, fish and free-range chicken.

 

Well, I guess we must agree to disagree on that one.

 

To the OP, only if they taste good or make satisfying sounds in the throes of death.

 

I was really glad for this response. I'm on the same wavelength... about the hunters, and I would work in a profession handling meat if I had to... my boyfriend eats meat and I've paid for dinners for him containing meat...

I would rather avoid some of these situations, but sometimes there are more important things like love and a steady job.

:cheers2:

 

That is quite a ridiculous question. Though I have to say, Im more interested in the treatment before hand, and the killing process, rather than the killing itself. The way some animals are treated, and killed amounts to barbaric torture, and this is something I would never accept, or condone. I do eat meat, but sometimes feel guilty for doing so. If I could be sure all animals for meat were killed in a humane way, I probably wouldnt feel as guilty for eating it...Killing any animal for any other reason other than meat though (fur for example), is something I completely dont agree with at all.

 

I definitely agree with that. I don't have a problem with the killing, but the suffering that many animals go through for a long time before their death makes me cringe. I'm willing to pay more for meat from animals who got to live good lives and were killed as painlessly as possible. I'm actually unsure as to how bad the actual slaughtering is. If the animal's in pain for longer than a few seconds then I'd say that's too long.

 

Stabby, you seem to be a slave. Just like the animals that they pin up and raise to slaughter so you can eat them. You know why you are a slave? You are a slave because you cannot go hunt and kill one of your less precious life form for consumption for your self, you are being spoon fed because of the unnatural enslavement of animals. Think about it, look around you, there is nowhere for you to go but the grocery store. I feel you are just as bad off as these preordained meals. Maybe they are just fattening you up for another slaughter. Maybe they just like your money because they know your money is their money.

 

Yes I'm dependent on grocery stores. We all are. Good thing I'll always have money and there will always be food at the grocery store. This situation doesn't make us worse off than dead animals. I would like to give them my money. As long as they give me the tasty dead animals. If they don't do that then we don't have a deal and they don't get my money.

 

First off not everybody depends on grocery stores, ever seen a farmers market? Ever heard of farming for that matter? Secondly you don't know that you will always have money and that there will always be food at the grocery store.. things change and shit happens.