MEAT IS MORE THAN JUST MURDER
I don’t believe in any deities, so I don’t view eating meat as an act of fulfilling my sovereign dominion over this earth. I see it as it is: determining something’s value by weighing it against another, instead of evaluating it as a stand-alone entity.
By this I mean that humans view animals as being inferior life forms because you (I refuse to be a part of such) compare them to yourselves.
You tally your most insignificant traits and use them as a yardstick to measure the integrity of other beings’ lives. And when they fall short, you use that to justify their destruction. Racism is another example of this.
What I find most offensive is how bothered people are by the abuse of domestic animals yet they still eat meat with great delight.
People who say that they love animals but eat meat are full of shit. If you’ve spent time on a farm or interacted with farm animals, you’ll know that dogs and cats aren’t the only animals with personalities and they certainly aren’t the only intelligent animals.
I’ve seen a cow play fetch and a sheep jump through hoops. The only reason they aren’t pets is because their size makes it impractical. How can you be outraged by dolphin tuna but enjoy lamb? This is where that weighing of life comes in.
How exactly did people come to the conclusion that certain animals are too sacred to be eaten but others aren’t? Furthermore, what gave them, being animals themselves, the right to make such decisions? Look at yourselves, you rape and kill each other, you don’t even respect your own lives. I come from a family that slaughters in times of celebration and despair. When someone passes away, an animal is killed. And what for? So that the deceased has a companion?
My dad and uncles once slaughtered a goat (nanny) when I was about ten. She spent the day before her death in the courtyard outside our kitchen, where I kept her company. It took effort and persuasion to get her comfortable with my presence, but by the end of the night I was feeding her dog pellets and had named her Mildred (she was a distinguished goat).
Watching the blood gush from her neck and hearing her cries is a torture I could never describe. I looked into her eyes and saw the same fear that was in my eyes, years later, when I was in a car accident, I watched her try to escape my father’s firm grasp in vain, I watched her fight to live till all the life had been drained from her body.
“I can’t weigh lives against each other and decide that one is more or less important than the other…”
You can’t tell me that animals don’t have feelings. They may not be able to verbalise any objections to their deaths, but that struggle is indicative of thought and emotions. Not comparable to ours but we don’t exactly slit the throats of all stupid people in society. Although that shook me, I continued to eat meat. Just not Mildred.
The struggle of the animal that provided the burger was too far removed from me. Between the ages of sixteen and seventeen I finally became a vegetarian, after failing many times. My family always had pets and I went through rabbits, fish and hamsters but it was only when I got my own dogs that I began to respect the value of life.
Unlike the other dogs, they were solely my responsibility. I was in charge of giving them love and keeping them alive and healthy. It was no longer possible to separate Mildred from Princess Bella and Bona (and now Neshika).
Meat isn’t a vital part of sustaining life, so eating it just for the taste is no longer a good enough reason. My choice not to eat meat (because there are cruelty-free alternatives) is often met by smartass remarks like: “animals eat meat” and “if we didn’t eat meat, the world would be overpopulated by cows”. Such clever creatures.
Yes, carnivorous animals eat meat. Their bodies have no other way of functioning, ours do. Besides, if you find yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually comparable to a lion, you should consider speaking to a professional.
The meat you eat doesn’t occur naturally, it’s farmed. You (humans) have become so greedy that you manipulate nature. You have become so arrogant that you feel it is within your rights to create life only to snuff it. You have decided that even before a life comes into existence it is insignificant. I can’t believe any deity intended that. If the state of the world is any indication of the respect humans have for life, it’s really no surprise that you eat meat.
I can’t weigh lives against each other and decide that one is more or less important than the other. I don’t think it’s my place to do so. By eating meat you are saying that you can.
Own it. Don’t feel honourable when signing petitions to save whales knowing that you’ve tasted crocodile meat; don’t be saddened by the conditions of the SPCA when you don’t care that chickens are kept in such tiny coops that they aren’t able to develop properly; don’t you dare call yourself an animal lover when you only care about the animals that haven’t been served garnished to you.
Don’t stop eating meat on my account, just own your malevolence. Because that’s exactly what it is.
abhor-what??. Boy, you don’t beat around the bush do you? Your piece is kind of angry…. The anger is in you and it’s not because others choose to eat meat, I can assure you. A new consciousness is growing on Earth, human Beings are learning about ‘what works’ and animal farming and meat-eating are amonst the things that does not work. Anger and the judgement of others will not get them to cross the line to your side. You’ve failed in getting any empathy from me. Re-think your approach maybe? Ps: I don’t eat meat, but I sure like the BONE *wink*
I have to agree with Azayin. This rant, rather than article, just came out of nowhere Despite having previously wrestled with the arguments you put forth myself, I myself have not managed to kick the habit.
I would have been more swayed if the tone wasn’t so reminiscent of the Sunday mornings at the NGK of my youth.
The substance of meat. I am in complete accord with the meaning of this article. Indeed, at the age of 7, i quit meat whilst eating a chop while viewing a dog being put down on a TV documentary on the SABC. I resumed eating chicken aged 28 when in treatment for an eating disorder. At that time, eating meat was defined as measurement of therapeutic progress. So i began seeing it in the same way. And have done for 10 years. I eat meat in an almost conscious state of denial. But lately, i am recalling how much more interesting my cooking and meals were, when meat is not the central dish. Maybe it’s again!
i won’t do what is right coz i don’t like the tone of the person telling me what to do – fekking baby – stop pissing and moeaning and making excuses and stop eating meat!
mmm…Well of course everyone is entitled to their opinion. Not sure what this article is doing on a gay lifestyle site, though.
So. Gay lifestyle involves nothing other than being gay, straight peoples lifestyle mags can cover any and every topic but gays cant. Gay people can’t be interested in the arguments around vegetarianism because why??
Agreed. Completely Agree. Gay people are just as multifaceted and capable of a range of intrests as straight people.
Oh fuck off. Get your self rightous holier than thou crap off my fag website.
some broccoli might improve your spelling – dickwad!
Vegetarians…gmpf. I again think vegetarians are full of shit. They are always extremely annoying people like Zi here that think themselves “superior” to others because they “have seen the light” of not eating meat. And that is why I never, if I can help it, invite a vegetarian over for dinner, because they annoy everybody else with their self-righteous and self thought of “superiority”.
It’s called nature my friend, NATURE. And yes, carnivores do eat meat, but monkeys, who are naturally closest to humans, are also omnivores, that would eat meat and veggies and anything they can get their hands on. I am sorry, if you cannot be part of that natural order in life – just like you consider me selfish, I consider YOU the freak. That’s life, deal with it. It is your choice not to eat meat, good for you, but just because you think you “have seen the light” and have the answers, do not expect everyone to be like you. You are exactly like a religious freak trying to fit and force everyone else into their own little idaes of right and wrong.
Re: Vegetarians… gmpf. Ben, you’re unfairly generalising by saying “vegetarians are full of shit” and labelling us as “self-righteous”. I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my life, but I view that as a personal choice and have never, ever tried to foist my views on anyone else.
That said, I didn’t really like the tone of this article. Yelling at someone that their choices are wrong is never productive. An article highlighting the health benefits of a meat-free diet would have been better. If you’ll excuse the pun, a carrot rather than a stick/steak *wink*.
Relaxedveggie. Hey, yes, I know it was a gross generalization, but it was just in response to him calling meat eaters “full of shit”. I do not really hate all vegetarians and i am sure there are many relaxed guys like you out there. I just hate the fact that anyone tries to force their view onto anyone else. We, as gay people have had more than our share of that, me thinks. If you want to be a vagetarian, that is perfectly cool by me. It is a personal choice, and yes, perhaps even a healthier choice, BUT, it is not everyone’s choice, and vegetarians must respect that too, just like they ask for respect. It’s like ex-smokers. They are usually the ones that cannot stop annoying everyone with how bad smoking is, and how unhealthy and what a disgusting habit it is. Non smokers are rarely that verbal about it. Yes thankyou, we know all that, BUT, you’ve made your choice, now allow others to live with theirs.
Anyway, even I tried the vegetarian route once. I dated a vegetarian for 5 months, so he would never come close to anything meaty. I tried it with him, and though the food is tasty, I missed my meat, and I lost so much muscle in 5 months. Nope, not for me
Vegetarian wannabe. I’m trying to change my ways. I completely agree with Zi and admit that I’m a hypocrite here. There is no justification for people eating meat today – other than satisfying our greed and taste-buds. She is asking that we admit this.
Vegetarianism is not only good for the animals’ welfare and our health but is also morally correct when one considers the the impact that livestock and mass farming has on our environment. Eating and ‘producing’ meat on the current scale is simply not feasible for much longer… And it’s quite simply wrong.
Those that say that this is natural and that animals do it as justification should go back to living and hunting in the bush. Times have changed and so have we. Let’s grow up and take responsibility as a species. let’s show that we are ‘superior’ – not by eating fellow animals, but by choosing not to.
I’m sorry!. I’m sorry Dominee, I won’t do it again Dominee, I promise Dominee!! No, wait. This isn’t church??!! Bring me my medium-rare fillet with a rack of spareribs on the side!!!
It is unfortunate that the article was written in such a combative style. However, the article makes several salient points which could have been handled better.
I would direct anyone to the movie ‘food.inc’ which details the appalling junk labelled as food these days. Educate yourself and then make the decision.
…article. What a shit article.
I believe that this article could have been used to highlight the positive aspects of vegetarianism and not to point a finger at meat consumers. However the ‘high horse’ attitude and tone that was employed by the author will not sway anyone to quit consuming meat. The same argument that that you present about humans being selfish consumers can be presented to you wrt to the consumption of vegetables. Anything that grows has life, judging consumers of meat does not make you any better. I’ve been vegetarian for a year now, not because of any moral dogma, but because I derive no utility from meat. Let people decide for themselves. To each their own BRU!!!
wow. brilliant article… you actually made me think about it 🙂
the honest truth for me though is that even the “vegetarian” food we get these days have been manipulated to get more crops etc…
and it simply isn’t economically viable to try and source organic everything… cause unless ure very comfortable financially or actuallly have space for a garden, u simply can’t afford it (well i can’t)
I’m a vet and I eat meat.
If we didn’t eat cattle, there wouldn’t be cattle.
Are you going to shout at a lion for eating meat?
Did you read the article?. You’re not thinking logically. YOU are not a lion. YOU don’t live in the wild. YOU have access to supermarkets with a vast range of nutritious meat-free foods. YOU do not require meat to survive and thrive, while a lion does. That clear enough for you? I thought you had to be bright to be a vet… Sheesh.
Couldn’t agree more! What a knob!
I think you missed the point of my comment. Guess it went over your head, even in its simplistic context.
INSULTING. Find somewhere else to impose your beliefs!
YOUR BELIEFS!!!!!!!!
YOU HUMANS. The author clearly thinks he is better than all of us and has transcended even human form!
“The meat you eat doesn’t occur naturally, it’s farmed. You (humans) have become so greedy that you manipulate nature. “
Who the hell do you think you are?