More on veggieness.

[ruakh]

Thanks to everyone who commented, whether via LJ or over the phone, on the vegetarian entry

Comments

[thetaet]

It just seems wrong to kill and eat animals when we don't need to

Could you be more specific about what you mean by "when we don't need to"? Do you mean as far as humans' nutritional needs are concerned, or something else?

[ruakh]

I mean in general. There are some places where people can't afford to feed themselves fully aside without some form of hunting; or where the diets are so limited that removing meat is simply not a reasonable option. There are some places where there is such deer overpopulation (overvenitation?) that it's really necessary, both for humans' sake and for the sake of the deer as a whole, to kill some deer, and in those cases, I see nothing wrong with eating said deer (though I personally would not do so, as venison isn't kosher, and as I've been vegetarian for too long to just eat some meat as though it were nothing). Etc. Sometimes, it's necessary, or at least, obviously desirable; it just seems wrong to me to do it when it isn't. *shrug*

venison

[nay01]

I have been told venison is Kosher.

[ruakh]

I believe you were told incorrectly. Regardless, even if venison is theoretically kosher, it's moot, as to be kosher, an animal must be killed in a halakhically prescribed way (designed to minimize cruelty, and to permit the animal to be examined beforehand for any defects that might make it non-kosher); so while a properly slaughtered deer might be kosher to eat, a hunted deer is most certainly not.

[tos1981]

Even if it isn't "necessary" to eat meat, humans are definately designed to eat meat, biologically speaking. That's the way the food chain works. I mean if you don't want to eat meat, that's your business, I've just never been a big fan of the "don't kill the poor little animal" mentality. I mean vegetables are living things also, but noone ever cares about ending their lives.

I understand the argument about how animals are not treated well before they are killed (I just don't care enough to do anything about that) but I think that argument implies that if the animal was treated fairly (hunted from the wild, or raised in a way in which it lives a normal life, like free-range animals) then it's ok to eat them. I personally don't want to take the time to find out how my meat was treated, but I don't know as any vegetarians are willing to take that time either. Well anyway I'm rambling so I'll stop :)

[ruakh]

Even if it isn't "necessary" to eat meat, humans are definately designed to eat meat, biologically speaking.

Humans are definitely designed to do a lot of things that I think are wrong. Violence, for example, seems to be a very integral part of humanity, but I don't support needless violence, either. *shrug* I'm not very hard-core on the veggie front - I have nothing against people who eat meat because they don't think it's wrong to (while I do have something against people who act violently because they don't think it's wrong to). That's just how I feel.

[...] if the animal was treated fairly (hunted from the wild, or raised in a way in which it lives a normal life, like free-range animals) [...]

"Free-range" animals do not live a "normal life." IIRC, the legal definition of "free-range" animal requires only that it have some level of access to some quantity of soil for some part of every day. (I think that the duration of said part is required to be at least one hour, but IIRC, that's the only restriction.)