Question about vegetarian

By Bruce Friedrich

Question 1: Animals eat one another in nature, so why shouldn’t we eat animals?

Variations on this question include, “Aren’t humans at the top of the food chain?” and “Aren’t humans omnivores?” Please really think about what we do to animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, denying animals everything that is natural to them and then killing them in gruesome ways, and try to tell me that this is moral. Nature’s law is, without a doubt, Darwin’s “survival of the fittest.” But some animals may procreate by rape and other animals may fight territorial battles to the death. But the fact that those things occur in nature does not mean we say they’re acceptable for humans. We hold ourselves to a higher standard in our interactions with one another. We even hold ourselves to a higher standard with regard to animals we often form special bonds with, such as dogs and cats—readily granting them some basic protections. What animal welfare advocates suggest is that we should be compassionate toward all animals, not just those who we know a bit better.

Question 2: Do you care more about animals than humans?

Variations on this question include, “With so much human suffering, why don’t you focus on human issues?” The interesting thing to me about this question is that none of my friends who run shelters or soup kitchens or who work on famine relief ever asks it. The people who ask this question invariably have not dedicated their lives to alleviating suffering—human or animal. And, of course, a vegan diet is the only environmentally responsible diet, it’s the healthiest diet, and it’s the diet that is the best for U.S. workers and the global poor. So a vegan diet is good for both animal and humans. Regardless, shouldn’t all suffering be addressed? Princeton bioethicist Dr. Peter Singer said: “When nonvegetarians say that ‘human problems come first,’ I cannot help wondering what exactly it is that they are doing for human beings that compels them to continue to support the wasteful, ruthless exploitation of farmed animals.” One great thing about veganism is that it allows you to take a stand against suffering without doing anything that requires any real time or effort.

Question 3: Didn’t God give us dominion over animals?

As a Roman Catholic, this is the one question that most unsettles me, because it is such an obscene rationalization. Dominion doesn’t mean domination and exploitation. All of the world’s prominent religions teach the importance of compassion, the importance of mercy. But the choice to eat meat, dairy products, or eggs is a violent one; it supports cruelty. Even if their religious beliefs allowed people to eat these products, they would certainly not be required to do so. Leaving aside the environmental and human consequences, which should be anathema to any kind or ethical human being, God created animals with needs, wants, desires, and species-specific behaviors, and all of these things are denied the animals who are turned into food by the farmed-animal industries. God created animals with a well-developed capacity for pain. Chicken, pigs, cattle, fish and other farmed animals—they are individuals. If you get to know a chicken or another farmed animal you find that they have personalities, intelligence, and social structures. They love their families. The Bible talks repeatedly about a hen’s love for her children, and that’s the metaphor Jesus uses to describe his love for humanity. Anyone who has ever seen a hen with her children or protecting her nest, knows this to be true. Farmed animal industries abuse animals and deny them the expression of each and every natural behavior God created for them. For more information on this topic, please check out JesusVeg.com.

Question 4: Why are you imposing your will on me?

This is sometimes put as, “You choose to be a vegan. I choose to be a meat-eater. Live and let live.” The problem here is that meat and dairy consumers are supporting the gratuitous abuse of an animal who had no choice in the matter. They are not putting into practice a “live and let live” philosophy. Just as child abuse involves the child who has no choice, eating meat, dairy, or egg products involves an animal, or many animals, who have had no choice. And just as you can choose to beat your child, you can choose to eat meat. But if you do, you’re hurting someone who is powerless to stop you.

Question 5: Don’t plants feel pain?

Pain requires a brain, a central nervous system, pain receptors, and so on. All mammals, birds, and fish have these things. No plants do. Really though, we all know this to be true: We all understand that there is a fundamental difference between cutting your lawn and lighting a cat’s tail on fire and between breaking up a head of lettuce and bashing a dog’s head in. Birds, mammals, and fish are made of flesh, bones, and fat, just as we are. They feel pain, just as we do. I may not know quite where to draw the line. For example, I’m not sure what a roach or an ant experiences. But I do know with 100 percent certainty that intentionally inflicting suffering because of tradition, custom, convenience, or a palate preference is unethical. And if we’re eating meat, dairy products, or eggs, we’re intentionally causing suffering, for no good reason.