Part 3: Spirit
Here we are at the most nebulous of topics. Religion plays a part for many people and so I will discuss it. If you believe in God, or a similarly cognizant Creator, than you must be concerned with Their opinions about your diet. After all, if They made chickens, surely it is wrong to eat them ... but no, that doesn't work because They also made oranges and everything else and we really must eat something. Perhaps you think They would like you to protect the animals because they are not as blessed in brains or strengths? But wait - we are learning everyday how strong and smart animals are - ants have herds of aphids, dolphins play games, and monkeys know sign language. Is it the lack of an opposable thumb? I would really like some opinions here because I am obviously missing something.
Some dear souls have determined that one should not eat animals because they are spiritual beings, or because they are closer to our version of conscious than plants. I have even heard "I don't eat anything with a face". Okay. I find that horrible. A face? Really? Do you really mean that? I might be over-reacting but how can you justify eating something because it looks different than you? Come up with a different reason because that is just too close to various prejudices for me.
My spiritual reason for not being a vegetarian is this. If I believe in the human spirit, than I also believe in the animal spirit as well as the spirit of all living things. I hate to go a step further, but I must because I am a scientist by nature. Prove to me that a vegetable does not have a soul. Prove to me that you do have one. Prove to me that a stone is not self-aware. How do you know plants are not operating on a level we cannot yet understand?
Look - we gotta eat something. But I'm not prepared to draw some humanly prejudiced line about what deserves to be eaten and what is cute enough or nice enough or loud enough to get a pass. If lettuce could sing, would you still eat it? If a dog couldn't bark? I don't understand the rules of this game. Please explain to me how you know what qualifies as edible and what doesn't.
Until I know for absolutely certain that there is one thing more deserving of being farmed than anything else, I will continue to eat what my body needs.
Thank you for listening to my rant on vegetarianism. May your own opinions serve you well.
I also believe the things we have been told are "not living" have something of a spirit, though perhaps not in a form we might expect. The soil (from rocks), air and water are all required for us to stay alive, yet they are considered not living. And I believe that plants may have even a stronger spiritual connection than the human animal.
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