It seems ironic for a vegetarian like myself to preach or
even suggest that meat eating is not a "sin." Precisely
because I am an atheist, I am confused by the inability
of animal rights activists to appreciate or "excuse"
nature for its circle of suffering.The "circle of suffering" I am referring to is the transfer
of energy from one state to another...in the animal
world, this is accomplished by eating lower animals
in the energy transfer sequence. Finally, the animal
that eats vegetable matter is consumed at the bottom.The circle of suffering is horrible indeed. However, it
is nature. Mankind did not invent this system, which
has a utilitarian value all of its own. Seeing an
ostrich being torn limb from limb by a lioness running
into it is a horrible yet fascinating sight. Animal
rights activists, you cannot ignore nature, which was
here before you were born, and will exist long after
you die. Sorry, that's just the way it is.However, there are a huge number of reasons why adults
should consider a vegetarian diet. Too many to mention
and besides, most of you are aware of them. It is
precisely that I am an atheist that drives me to
realize the value of such a diet. It benefits
our ecosystem as much as my body. It gets rid of
my irritable bowel syndrome and reduces the chances
that I will die of cancer or heart attack. If
vegetarianism were a pill, it would (should) be the most
popular drug in our World. An atheist must think clearly
and review data available to make an INFORMED decision.
Religion just gets in the way of informed decisions.Animal rights activists are closely aligned with
vegetarianism. At least they appear to be on the
Internet. I am deeply concerned that animal rights
activists are reducing the opportunity for medical
science to proceed due to their intransigent ways,
and in some cases violent or illegal activities.To those animal rights activists, I hope you
don't get any diseases that have benefitted from
good animal research. (Not that I believe that
all animal research is good--some of it is
unnecessarily cruel, and even stupid). That
is unforgivable. Worse, it wastes a valuable
and important resource.To recapitulate, vegetarianism is probably the
most sensible choice an adult could make. But
animal rights activists must also realize that
nature is horribly cruel by definition. Nothing
you do will ever change that.Thanks for reading me.
M.M. Rosenblatt