are vegatarians hypocrites?

im not tryin to start a fight im just confused on why and what a vegatarian is.
let me explain why, the ones ive met say one of two things, either they dont eat meat cause its a reincarnated realative or something. or because its cruelty to animals.
but thats where the i find it hypocritical the religoius thing i can buy, but i dont feel sorry for the kids i see in india starving when i see like 20 cows walkin around, no offense.
but the animal people are the same ones who will live in a tree so no one bulldozes it but then theyre up there eatin carrots. isnt a tree alive like fruits and veggies were? wouldent killin a cow to eat be the same as killin a carrot? theyre both alive,both act on instinct, is because carrots cant move or make noises.i personally eat mainly fruits and veggies but i eat meat mainly chicken and tuna, im a healthy eater. i dont think we should tear down the rain forrest cause theyre beutiful and we need the oxygen,but ill eat its fruit{which was alive and growin} i dont think u should torture or abuse animals, and i only think u should kill it if ur gonna eat it or it was gonna eat u.
u can see my point i would like to hear what the truth is, and i hope i didnt offend any vegatarians.
power to the people.tim

 

i can see your point. we shouldn't destroy rainforests!!!! now, raping the ocean on the other hand... that's not so bad. overfishing and polluting the waters isn't so bad, we don't need the oxygen that comes from the oceans anyways. trees are where it's at

where do you get your 'chicken and tuna' from? do you get it locally? or from the supermarket? or?


to answer your questions,

the difference between an animal and a plant, of course, is that an animal has a nervous system and can feel pain and emotions. animals have unique personalities and are capable of intelligent thought (pigs, for example, are very intelligent). animals go through a lot of pain (physical, emotional) for you to get that burger. carrots on the other hand, don't have to have their throats sliced or drained of their blood or boiled alive or any of that other fun stuff animals get to do!


the difference between a carrot and a tree is hundreds or (in some places) thousands of years. duh.

 

I have never seen this before in my life, or heard of this. It seems like hearsay... Indians use cows for dairy and they are apart of the families there. It would be like starving and then killing your dog to eat and stay alive.

No.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ_i4qDRzzg

 

i always do good deeds, im christian andi dont force my belives on people but im very kind and giving,and always help at least one person a day.
i get that animals bleed and all, i just didnt understand where u guys came from and the children in india thing maybe its cause im christian and dont belive the whole incarnation thing that i think its stupid to not kill a cow for food. but i ment no offense to any one who does, it just dosent make sense to me, thats why im askin these questions to get a better understanding, in the past hippies i met have took offense to me bein a christian and eatin meat so i just wanna get a better understanding of why vegetarians r what they r so in the future i can get along with them better.
peace,and love.tim

 

Well I'm a Christian too. And a vegetarian. I don't believe in reincarnation either and honestly haven't heard that as a reason for being veggie.

I'm vegetarian for health reasons. I have a genuine allergy to all pork & shellfish. Poultry doesn't do well in my body, and beef has always made me feel ill. Fish was the last meat I gave up, but when I realized exactly how much mercury contamination is in a can of tuna OR the local freshwater fish these days, it just seemed that the toxins don't outweigh the health benefits anymore.

It's your choice, just as it was mine & everyone elses. You have to weigh the benefits & the risks of ANY dietary choice. Just like you wouldn't live on Cheetos & hot dogs for a week because it's too unhealthy, I no longer find meat to be the healty option for me.
love,
mom

 

I am veggie mostly for health reasons. However, I eat the fruit of plants, not the whole plant. Or if I have to eat the whole plant it is one that I know is easily replenishable, not like a tree that takes hundreds of years to grow. Likewise, I eat the "fruit" of animals not the whole animal; cheese, unfertilized eggs, milk, things like that. I'm comfortable with the way I eat. I'm also okay with animal rights vegans eating the way they choose and with people from certain religions, such as in India, eating the way they choose. To me, it's a personal coice, not a decision someone else should force on anyone.

Kathi

 

^ what she said

 

I cant tell you how sick I am of hearing this argument.

 

that's quite an assumption....they aren't necessarily the "same ones"

have you ever looked into why people try to stop trees from being cut down? there is a huge difference in cutting down the trees you speak of, and eating vegetables.

 

I'm curious if you would eat fish if it was not for the over catamination of mercury?

I think I can guess, probably not, but only because when I initially became vegetarian for health concerns, all the other reasons for converting oneself towards a vegetarian diet that existed, became more easily adaptible once I had become vegetarian for awhile, and no longer had any guilt attaxhed to the issue.

but then again I feel like a hypocrite when I think about the dietary choices I make to preserve better health, and the alcohol my Scott/Irish blood loves to drink, and some of the other things I like to do Personally, when you get down to it, every man and woman somehow, and in some way, acts against their beliefs for either material gain, loss of self, acting out, or whatever. None of us are perfect and on occassion will sacrifice our higher self for our earthly being and ego. So the questions is, are vegetarians hypocrites? or every damn one of us? I believe the latter.

 

i can understand the eating the fruit of things explanation,i dig it,i drink too which is against my religion, but i dont believe in the work religion i just believe in god, religioins get it all confusing,i dig eatin healthy i do for the most part.

 

So wait, wait.....you're 22 years old, and you don't see a difference between a carrot and a cow? yeah.....

I stopped eating meat because I can't stand the thought of contributing to their pain. Maybe I'm being a little callous towards the carrots...I'll remember to ask God to have mercy on my soul later.

Maybe if you spent just a fraction of a moment to think about it, you'd realize that nothing you said makes a lick of sense. But, if you still need help, I could always let my six year old explain the basics to you.

Just one more thought though....would you compare someone outside pulling up weeds from their garden or mowing their lawn to a genocidal maniac, like hitler? According to you and the mess you posted, it would be the same thing.

 

no, but the explanation ive got,not from anyone on this site, is hypocritical, every vegetarian ive met in person. is against eatin animals,and cuttin down trees because theyre alive. so is grass and carrots, so to me it seems crazy.the only difference ive heard here is a trees alot older and u dont eat the tree u eat its fruit.but a calf is the fruit of her mothers loins, if the difference between killin a tree and a carrot is just age thats hypocritical,is eatin only fruits and veggies really healthy? u cant get all ur vitamins and nutrients from them.and multivitamins arent natural theyre man made, i think killin a cow to eat and for instanse what vick did are two different things. god said the whole earth is ours and to eat whatever we want of it.now i eat alot of greens,mainly greeens, and i eat chicken and fish when i work out{ for protein} i dont believe they have souls,plants or animals, they act on instinct, now someone who will fight for a tree{cause its alive} and then cuts theyre grass is a hypocrite.
but someone who fights for a tree{ cause we need oxygen and the forrest are beautiful} and then is a vegetarian cause theyre allergic to mercury is not.

now moonshyne if i knew all about why and what a vgetarian is, i wouldent have made this post explaing my encounters, and askin about it cause im not that far from one,i would like ur 6 year old to explain it to me, or anyone thats why im askin, in my original post i never said any of that was my opinion,thats what ive been told and if it dont make sense, are vegetarians hypocrites? is a good name for this thread, cause any explanation ive got dosent make a lick of sense, except bein allergic to meat.

peace,love,and power to the people.
p.s. how do u know plants dont feel pain? or that animals do?

 

paulsdeadtheory, "how do you know that animals feel pain?" are you serious?

 

Its funny that you haven't heard of that reason for being veggie. Its probably the most common reason world wide. Think of all the Buddhists, Hindus, Sihks, Jainists... all of those religions hold vegitarianism to be paramount.

 

Iced Tea Princess - I realize that it's probably WHY people are veggie world-wide... I'd just never heard someone use that as their justification!


Crystal - Yeah, a year ago I would have eaten fish if it weren't for the contamination. I'd love to say I wouldn't have, but the truth is otherwise. Now though I would continue to abstain from fish even if they were declared contaminant free. Guess I've changed, huh? I believe that each person has to decide for themself where they are & are not willing to "give" with diet, clothing & lifestyle choices.

Paul - might I ask which denomination you are, that you feel drinking is against our religion? Jesus did turn water to wine, you know (I'm a BGC member, though we're more closely alligned with the Evangelical-Frees practice-wise) From what I understand it's not alcohol that's banned, but becoming drunk with it.

Trimming grass (or herbs or picking fruit) to eat it is no different than, say, cutting your hair or fingernails. It'll grow back, and you're no worse off for it. Cutting a tree down, NOW you've killed something. Once that tree is felled, IT will not grow again. Even if you leave its' saplings there to grow in its stead, that won't be the same tree. This is the rationalization I've seen for fruitarians. Those are people that will ONLY eat foods that DON'T kill a plant to harvest it - tomatoes, pumpkins, nuts & I suppose even milk or eggs could be considered okay because nothing actually dies. But a carrot, potatoes or meat... to eat those something has to die, and it wouldn't be okay.

When you get down to it, I think the only way you could live completely free of any hypocrisy would be if you were a nudist fruitarian living in the wild without a job. But honestly, how many of those do you know? That's why I think it's up to each of us individually to decide how far we're willing to go with our foods, our homes, our clothing... and absolutely everything else we come into contact with.
love,
mom

 

Paul, by your justification, it seems to me that omnivores are hypocrites for not eating human flesh.

 

Its my reason.

Pretty much everyone who doesn't eat meat due to the whole "killing of animals" thing has religious backing... just maybe not their current religion. For example, Hindu's don't eat meat because of reincarnation ... the soul you are killing by eating a cow just might be your mother's soul, or your grandmother's soul. So while a person might not be Hindu, they could still claim religion as their reason if cornered.