Killing as Part of Living
Over the last few months, my experience as a member of this community has been an interesting one. I joined when I decided to cut milk and eggs out of my previously vegetarian diet. I did this because I'm not around any other vegans and wanted somewhere other folks could relate to me and I could relate to them. What I have found rather bizarre is the Jain-like belief system some of y'all seem to have. And let me just say that I think Jainism is pretty cool, it just makes me scratch my head a bit.
To me, there is a huge distinction between raising animals for the purpose of slaughter and slavery, and the other type of killing which may go on; like killing insects, mice, etc......... I'm thinking back to past posts and comments about killing mosquitoes, garden pests, and the concerns over cats killing mice.
The reasoning behind me becoming a vegetarian, twenty years ago, came out of the realization of what went on at food farms. It wasn't so much about not killing animals, as the cruel treatment of animals. The same reasoning eventually made me wake up and cut milk and eggs out. I can't imagine that I would ever eat a free-range animal, though, because I eventually developed the belief that I shouldn't eat animals if I don't need to. Besides.......yuck... However, if the economy of the world suddenly collapsed and I found myself out here with not enough to eat, then I imagine that fish, deer, and wild turkey may look a little differently to me.
So here I am getting to my point, which is that death is a part of life. Unnecessary torture should not be. That being said, animals certainly do torture other animals before eating them, like the cat and mice thing. But having mice and rats around people can lead to disease. Certainly history has taught us this. Also, I grow a very large garden and use organic pest control on it. Killing the bugs which threaten to eat my garden is the same as killing the mosquito which could threaten my health if it bites me.....not to mention the discomfort of a bug bite. If I didn't kill the ants in my house, they would over-run my house. It would become a giant ant hill. I would have ants crawling over me and getting into all my food. Surely, with the help of termites and other bugs, my house would eventually fall down.
So without getting all mad and worked up and mean and calling people names and stuff, perhaps some might like to share their thoughts about these things. Also, what about lions, and tigers, and bears? Should we put all of them in cages and feed them tofu, so they don't torture and kill other animals? What about anti-biotics? How 'bout all the ticks I have to kill on a daily basis, this time of year? Blah...blah...blah.....
Yin and Yang
Balance
Life and Death
Survival
Reality
To me, there is a huge distinction between raising animals for the purpose of slaughter and slavery, and the other type of killing which may go on; like killing insects, mice, etc......... I'm thinking back to past posts and comments about killing mosquitoes, garden pests, and the concerns over cats killing mice.
The reasoning behind me becoming a vegetarian, twenty years ago, came out of the realization of what went on at food farms. It wasn't so much about not killing animals, as the cruel treatment of animals. The same reasoning eventually made me wake up and cut milk and eggs out. I can't imagine that I would ever eat a free-range animal, though, because I eventually developed the belief that I shouldn't eat animals if I don't need to. Besides.......yuck... However, if the economy of the world suddenly collapsed and I found myself out here with not enough to eat, then I imagine that fish, deer, and wild turkey may look a little differently to me.
So here I am getting to my point, which is that death is a part of life. Unnecessary torture should not be. That being said, animals certainly do torture other animals before eating them, like the cat and mice thing. But having mice and rats around people can lead to disease. Certainly history has taught us this. Also, I grow a very large garden and use organic pest control on it. Killing the bugs which threaten to eat my garden is the same as killing the mosquito which could threaten my health if it bites me.....not to mention the discomfort of a bug bite. If I didn't kill the ants in my house, they would over-run my house. It would become a giant ant hill. I would have ants crawling over me and getting into all my food. Surely, with the help of termites and other bugs, my house would eventually fall down.
So without getting all mad and worked up and mean and calling people names and stuff, perhaps some might like to share their thoughts about these things. Also, what about lions, and tigers, and bears? Should we put all of them in cages and feed them tofu, so they don't torture and kill other animals? What about anti-biotics? How 'bout all the ticks I have to kill on a daily basis, this time of year? Blah...blah...blah.....
Yin and Yang
Balance
Life and Death
Survival
Reality