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The link that i have put in my journal goes to a news story about PETA.
The reason i posted it is because it hit me hard. I would really like some opinions from the rest of you on how it made you feel....honest opinions. I will not judge you for yours if you can do the same for me.
I have eaten meat my entire life without a second thought about what i was doing. I go to my local grocer and purchase it as if it was toothpaste or bread.
I have had many vegan/vegetarian friends tell me their views and it just has never hit hard enough for me to question myself on my choice to have an animal as part of my diet. This story/campaign did.
The controversy arises from their comparison of the enslavement of animals to the enslavement of people.
Many that saw the pictures they used as degrading. Many that read the story agreed with that view.
I read the story and right away felt sick to my stomach. Not because I saw the degradation that others did but because I felt that i was adding to the inhumanity of mankind by blindly making the choices that i have made with a total disregard to another living being.
I should make myself clear that I do understand the viewpoint of those who felt disgusted at the comparisons. I also do not in any way feel that any race or religion should have to be subjected to the feeling of being seen as inferior because of PETA's tactics. I suppose what I am saying is that it just didn't strike me in the same manner.
I should let you know that I am considered a minority (Native American). I have been stared at and point blankly asked rude questions as long as I can remember. Still when I read this and saw how shocking the comparisons were, I was shook to the core, not because I felt their usage of posters portraying Native Americans being exiled from their homes made my heritage or me as an individual seem any less significant but because what I have been doing without a stab of conviction for 23 years. It made me ill to think of treating another living breathing being in this manner.
Am I saying that as of tomorrow I am going to say no to meat? At this point I really do not know...but I am glad that the decision I make will no longer be the one that i have made blindly up to this point.
So tell me what you think. I refuse to judge you for your views as my own are still unsettled as is.
The link that i have put in my journal goes to a news story about PETA.
The reason i posted it is because it hit me hard. I would really like some opinions from the rest of you on how it made you feel....honest opinions. I will not judge you for yours if you can do the same for me.
I have eaten meat my entire life without a second thought about what i was doing. I go to my local grocer and purchase it as if it was toothpaste or bread.
I have had many vegan/vegetarian friends tell me their views and it just has never hit hard enough for me to question myself on my choice to have an animal as part of my diet. This story/campaign did.
The controversy arises from their comparison of the enslavement of animals to the enslavement of people.
Many that saw the pictures they used as degrading. Many that read the story agreed with that view.
I read the story and right away felt sick to my stomach. Not because I saw the degradation that others did but because I felt that i was adding to the inhumanity of mankind by blindly making the choices that i have made with a total disregard to another living being.
I should make myself clear that I do understand the viewpoint of those who felt disgusted at the comparisons. I also do not in any way feel that any race or religion should have to be subjected to the feeling of being seen as inferior because of PETA's tactics. I suppose what I am saying is that it just didn't strike me in the same manner.
I should let you know that I am considered a minority (Native American). I have been stared at and point blankly asked rude questions as long as I can remember. Still when I read this and saw how shocking the comparisons were, I was shook to the core, not because I felt their usage of posters portraying Native Americans being exiled from their homes made my heritage or me as an individual seem any less significant but because what I have been doing without a stab of conviction for 23 years. It made me ill to think of treating another living breathing being in this manner.
Am I saying that as of tomorrow I am going to say no to meat? At this point I really do not know...but I am glad that the decision I make will no longer be the one that i have made blindly up to this point.
So tell me what you think. I refuse to judge you for your views as my own are still unsettled as is.
However, I am not convinced that I need to become a vegetarian. What I have done about this is I have tried as much as I can to purchase meat from local farms, either through the farmers' markets or through my local coop grocery store. These animals were raised with more care and attention than those raised in factory cages.
I think connecting with local farmers helps to humanize us all, and helps us to better connect with the world around us.
I believe that factory farming is an outgrowth of consumer capitalism, where everything is commodified and produced as cheaply as possible, without regard to quality or benefit to the world as a whole. I believe organic farming and family owned farms are better for us and better for the planet.
I'd recommend reading Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" if you haven't already.
Of course, this comment is brief and doesn't really begin to cover the whole of the issue, but I wanted to tell you my basic opinion. I'm interested to see what others say about this.
I don't feel strongly about the animal issue. It has been done for thousands of years. They ate us, when they could, to survive, and still do in some cases. I know what we do to animals on the whole can be seen as terrible, and this debate is long-standing. However, there is something that just feels natural and normal to me about eating meat. I know how we get it, and I know it's "wrong", but I'm lucky to work at a store that does it's best to carry meats that are farmed in a sustainable humane way (I know there will be naysayers on this point, pointing out that it's all talk). Unfortunatley, the mass populace is not willing to go out and hunt, clean, and prepare their own food. This too has been the norm for many years.
It's all opinion. I don't feel anyone is wrong for not wanting to eat meat and I'd like not to be told I am for wanting to. That, to me, seems fair.