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Originally Posted by chriskisn
Oh dear not the old vegetarian debate again. It is kind of like politics and religion, not the sort of thing to bring up at the dinner table. I have never known this discussion lead to anything but arguments (oh and believe me I've had this debate many times). There are the people who say "but we are meant to eat meat" and the people who say "but eating meat is cruel" and they are never ever going to agree or see things from the same perspective.
My two cents worth here though is that if you eat meat, and you are happy to eat meat, then don't be upset if other cultures eat dogs, cats, horses or whales. I drives me insane the amount of meat eating people who complain about commercial whaling.
Oh and the old "we are meant to eat meat" argument. Sure this may well be true and I wouldn't profess to be an expect in this area. If we look back at our ancestors though, we can quite easily work out that we probably aren't meant to drive in cars, fly in planes, practise monogamy, or a whole list of other things. Good thing that cannibalism and human sacrifice never caught on !
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You're right--these arguments will never be productive. I don't think these sorts of debates will ever change anyone's mind--no diehard meat eater is going to read an internet debate and say "you're right, I will go vegan!" Just as no atheist will ever say, "Thanks for explaining it--the Mormon faith sounds perfect for me!"
And yet....
Most of us have a certain amount of investment in these topics. We define ourselves in part by how we align on these sorts of issues. Heck, I float somewhere in the middle--I've given up seafood for environment reasons, but not meat, and don't particularly begrudge either party. And even I can't stop myself from butting in on these unproductive conversations.
I was intrigued by your opinion on cats, dogs, and whales. I agree with you on cats and dogs--the idea makes me a little squeamish (no way could I eat a cat), but I agree that it's unfair for meat-eaters to draw a moral line there. As Americans and Europeans, most of us spent our formative years with Fluffy and Rex, and impose those memories on very different cultures. Basically, unless an animal is endangered or threatened (or highly intelligent--sentience has meaning IMO), I think it's unfair for meat-eaters to get too judge-y.
But whales? Are they really in the same category? I realize most whaling is carried out by indigenous communities and it may not be fair of us to imposeon their cultural traditions, but I definitely have a problem with hunting threatened species of whales. I'm less sure about non-endangered species--for me, the question with any kind of fishing comes down to the method they use and how destructive it is to other marine life. But I honestly don't know much about commercial whaling, and am very open to being educated...