Theos-Talk Archives (February 1997 Message tl00592)

I can certainly agree with the meateaters that
"holier-than-thou" vegetarianism is a blight on the TS.  Up
front I should say that I'm a non-mammal-eater but eat seafood
and fowl.  Apart from the well-documented health risks of red
meat, the ecological problems associated with hog and cattle
production, and the fact that Cayce advises against it, there
is a certain moral issue about what species are "too close for
comfort."  I'd hope even reprobates like Chuck would oppose
eating dolphins or apes, since they are just too highly evolved
to be dinner.  Pigs are smarter than dogs, which should give
people pause about eating them.

But the gist of this post is about cattle.  Even though I don't
eat them, I live in a rolling part of the Piedmont that is full
of cattle and horse farms.  Every day driving back and forth to
work I see hundreds of cattle placidly grazing in beautiful
fields.  I don't like to think of them vanishing from the
landscape, and they would do so if the world became vegetarian.
Dairy farms are few and far between around here.

In India, especially in Delhi, I remember the huge amount of
cattle wandering the streets, gaunt and homeless.  Being sacred
kept them from being eaten or hurt, but it didn't give their
lives much worth living for.  And the question I keep wondering
about is, given the choice to be reborn as a homeless and gaunt
sacred cow in an Indian city, or a sleek and well-fed cow on a
beautiful Virginia farm, which would be better?  To live a life
of comfort and beauty, suddenly to be hauled away and
slaughtered one day, or to live a life of deprivation and
wandering knowing that at least I wouldn't end up in a
slaughterhouse?

Not a very clearcut situation.

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