Vegetarianism is something I strongly believe in and so thought of penning down a few of my thoughts on it.
Being a vegetarian is one’s choice, so if a person is a hardcore non-vegetarian it’s his personal choice. But then does an individual’s choice give him the right to kill a life? Certainly not! Is there so much of a need to kill these poor and dumb animals that are slaughtered and butchered mercilessly so as to fill the ever-increasing hunger of humans? This is a question that one needs to ask one’s conscience. Just because humans have been gifted with more intellectual power and are superior than animals doesn’t give them the right to take these innocent creatures lives!
The moot question is that how does one who believe in non-vegetarianism agree that vegetarianism does not involve killing of life. This is one defensive argument that such people bring in the forefront as the only tool for defending their non-veg stance. To this a very nice and justifiable statement would be the one issued by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“There is currently no reason to believe that plants experience pain, devoid as they are of central nervous systems, nerve endings and brains. It is theorized that the main reason animals have the ability to experience pain is as a form of self-protection. If you touch something that hurts and could possibly injure you, you will learn from the pain it produces to leave it alone in the future. Since plants cannot locomote and do not have the need to learn to avoid certain things, this sensation would be superfluous.Plants are completely different physiologically from mammals. Unlike animals' body parts, many perennial plants, fruits and vegetables can be harvested over and over again without resulting in the death of the plant or tree.”
It is but sensible that a fruit that you pluck from a tree will again bear fruits, but once you chop of a goat’s head it is dead forever! The circumstances under which the various animals are brought to the slaughter house is also greatly inhuman wherein they are just pulled off ruthlessly, animals like cows who are dumped like garbage into the trucks, exist in a claustrophobic state, the sight of all this is really heart wrenching. Imagine the plight of these animals butchered right in front of the other animals in line! The tempos carrying chicken also make an equally miserable sight, not only are they loaded like stuffed gunny bags, their conditions once they arrive at the butcher shop is equally bad with people holding them upside down by their legs 3 to 4 in one hand and then dumping them like lifeless creatures inside the cages! All their cries and pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears. What crime have these animals committed that they are destined to satisfy the so-called starving human appetite?
Some act ignoramus to all this and state that we are not the hands that are responsible for butchering them but then are these not the same hands that are giving the money to buy them? What pleasure can one get to fill ones stomach at the cost of others life? If the brutal killing of animals is not concerned a murder then why do people who kill fellow human beings considered murderers? What is then the difference between people who eat animal meat or cannibals who eat human meat? After all it is the flesh and the meat that matters right irrespective of whoever’s it is?
The facetious question asked sometimes is that when it comes to survival, circumstances when you don’t have anything to fill your stomach with, then won’t you be compelled to eat meat? This entirely depends on the situation and the ability to make personal choices. Given an alternative you may always get better things on mind and find better ways out to survive. But in our daily lives when we have all the facilities and food to consume why become a part of taking someone’s life when one has so many alternatives on hand?
People don’t give a damn to all this as this is just a matter of satisfying their taste buds and has nothing to do with the inhumanity involved in the process! These are the ones who won’t give up non-veg food ever. It is one’s own realisation and not compulsion, which can transform people into vegetarians. One needs to ponder over what is right and what is wrong and not continue with it just to satisfy their taste buds! This can only be initialized through a self-realization process, that whether I’m justified eating meat which involves sacrificing of so many lives and slaughtering so many animals or a vegetarian diet which causes no harm. So the next time you try to sink in your teeth into meat think about it!
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"The Heart of the tree"
What does he plant who plants a tree?He plants a friend of sun and sky;He plants the flag of breezes free;The shaft of beauty, towering high;He plants a home to heaven high;For song and mother-croon of birdIn hushed and happy twilight heard---The treble of heaven's harmony---These things he plants who plants a tree. What does he plant who plants a tree?He plants cool shade and tender rain,And seed and bud of days to be,And years that fade and flush again;He plants the forest's heritage;The harvest of a coming age;The joy that unborn eyes shall see---These things he plants who plants a tree. What does he plant who plants a tree?He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,In love of home and loyaltyAnd far-cast thought of civic good---His blessings on the neighborhoodWho in the hollow of His handHolds all the growth of all our land---A nation's growth from sea to seaStirs in his heart who plants a tree. by Henry Cuyler Bunner1855-1896
26 comments:
A very well written blog. I completely agree with you on the moot point that you have raised herein. Just one point of difference.
You write and I quote, "There is currently no reason to believe that plants experience pain, devoid as they are of central nervous systems, nerve endings and brains. ...Plants are completely different physiologically from mammals." I beg to differ.
Dr. Jagdish Chandra Bose has proven most conclusively that plants responded to various stimuli as if they had nervous systems like that of animals. His experiments showed that plants grow faster in pleasant music and its growth retards in noise or harsh sound. This was experimentally verified later on.
His major contribution in the field of biophysics was the demonstration of the electrical nature of the conduction of various stimuli (wounds, chemical agents) in plants, which were earlier thought to be of chemical in nature. These claims were experimentally proved, so this isn't just a mere conjecture. He claimed that plants can feel pain, understand affection etc. According to him a plant treated with care and affection gives out a different vibration compared to a plant subjected to torture.
So does this make vegetarianism just as barbaric as non-vegetarianism? You will appreciate that people living around the coastlines do not have recourse to as many agricultural products as those living inland. For them, the only sources of nutrition could possibly be meat, never mind the idealogical objection that people have to that.
This isn't simply a matter of right and wrong. There are gray areas, and to each man his own be our creed.
wat can i say..u picked up a really controversial issue on which the entire globe is debating....being a vegetarian,i agree with your thoughts bt would like to state that its more of a personal choice than a matter of right and wrong..some may justify their habit of eating meat to our position in the food chain.some mite say its a personal choice and a delicacy they can't resist!for some its a need rather than a choice like vivek rightly mentioned...apart from all this..a gr8 nd noble thought....PETA is surely gonna b proud of ya..Cheers!!!!
go palli.... ye hui na baat.. finally u took my advice.. what took you so long to write on one of ur favourite topics?? :)
The point of vegetarians harming life is facetious at best. Think of it this way.... If one accepts thios argument, what is left to eat? Surely, no one is dumb enough to equate a plant and an animal...
Although i agree with your roops wen you say that the animals are thoroughly mistreated, I dont think its the case in more developed countries where they are very professional about these things. However, it dosen't lessen the horror any bit.
Waise reddy is rite wen he refers to the constraints on some people... take the people in the Artic regions or fishermen.. there are places where living without meat would be impossible..
Looking at it practically, I guess its very difficult to change a habit which has been inculcated in you since childhood..being vegetarians makes it easier for us to argue this way.. it may not be for everyone...
Yes, it is each man to his own..but it would be nice if more and more people convert to vegetarianism and save the poor animals...
( Next time I read ur blog, I am going to sit with a dictionary.. both to understand ur new found english jargon as well as to throw some of my own!)
When I mentioned Dr. Bose's thesis, never did I intend suggesting that vegetarianism involves just the same amount of pain for a living creature as eating meat does.
The point that I wanted to make that the doctrine of pain is erroneous and places a lot of primacy on the so-called insentient nature of the plant kingdom, a fact that Dr. Bose proves to be a fallacy at best.
Suggesting that one is a vegetarian merely because the partaking of meat involves too much pain for a living being and that eating plants is akin to suggesting that just because plants cannot express, the loss of a leaf or a fruit that once formed a part of the plant's body, and were nourished by the juices that flowed through the plant's stem would not cause it any pain, any suffering.
Separating a limb from any sentient being, be it a plant or an animal, would cause it pain. If one must advocate vegetarianism, let it be on the grounds that the human body is not attuned or built to handle the digestive exercises that eating meat entails. The doctrine of pain is hardly strong ground to stand on.
Vegetarianism is a worthy cause; it behooves us to be worthier warriors in its defense.
Fantastic,roops!!!This is one topic you and I are equally passionate about as you said,the other day.
Ofcourse it's a matter of choice-whether you want to be a vegetarian or otherwise;but I suppose man has been provided with intellect as compared to other animals so that he may think and make the right choices in life.
There are people who say they can't manage to live without eating non-veg even for a single day.My friends at office ask me,(on seeing my lunch-box),"Tu ye ghaas-phoos kaise khaati hai re?"
One says she can't live without eating chicken everyday(so what about the poor chicken???) while another changed her accommodation only so that she could get hold of "authentic non-veg khaana".
Pertaining to plants,I agree completely with Vivek as I've seen it myself.Plants may not locomote/speak but they do respond to a loving touch or soft music by swaying along/growing faster/blooming better/bearing more fruits.
Good one,re.Keep it up!!!
i agree with u roops...
THough its a matter of personal interest, how can one eat something that has been killed! Bechare animals...! As far as plants are concerned...i agree with rajesh. how can one compare plants and animals!
sowing a seed is enough to grow a plant, but creating animals is not that simple right ;-) !!!
Is sowing a seed enough? Does not a plant require water, nutrients, and sunlight? Does it not ask for your attention? I find this attitude of vegetarians most offensive. The doctrine of pain is erroneous, why the heck can't you accept it?
Kingdom Plantae and Kingdom Animalia (I hope I got the names right) may be distinct by virtue of pure biological evidence, but both have life within them. Both have complex systems within them. Both are just as sentient as the other.
The statement that one creates a plant is erroneous as well. If it is not to be, then even despite the best of intentions, a plant will not strike root.
Hey Roopali.
First of all, despite being a vegetarian, I have issues with this weblog. Would try and elucidate it now, with the disclaimer that this is going to be the most scathing comment I have ever written
1: The problem with opinions is that sometimes we tend to overlook facts that refute our stance. As Vivek pointed out, Dr. Bose's research had led him and the scientific world to believe that plants DO experience pain.
2: Its important to understand Man's position in the food pyramid. As known, he is at the apex, and must subsist on the lower layers, which includes animals. Note that with depleting plant resources, herbivore existance may be an issue.
3: Many of the votaries of vegetarianism are driven by the idealistic enigma called FAITH. And, there are faiths which require meat eating. We, as Hindus, believe that vegetarianism, is the "Holy Way". Remember, that this does not transcend the religious barriers. In fact, mythology has it that at one point of time, before the Kali Yuga, even Brahmins consumed meat.
4: Environment does play a part. There is no way an Eskimo be a vegatarian. He has to survive on reindeer meat.
5: Finally, when it comes to choice, mankind as a whole is filled with hypocricy. You seem to have an issue with Animal Slaughter. Have you ever wondered about the place where you stay? Wasnt it the home of a thousand insects before your builder built your building on it? So, at some level, arent you contributing to the "Animal Slaughter"?? The fact is that man, and economics, dont care about the "environment". Its only the self that matters. And then, there is free will
And yeah....
Who said one needs to subscribe to "A Word A Day" etc. Read Roopalis blog!!
Facetitous
Ignoramus
superfluous
Lage raho!!
@Sunil:It is really amusing to know that a person who himself speaks a dictionary.com word for every sentence is speaking about it!talk of hypocrisy here!ha!
And ya one small Quiz just ans it with the option,please don't give elaborate explanations on this one!
If you are in a situation wherein a person is plucking a fruit from the tree and the other person is going to slaughter a cow or goat whom would you stop from performing their action?
option a)person takin the fruit
option b)person slaughtering the animal?
@reddy:Thanks reddy for the comments.I agree that plants do have life but regarding the
concept of life I think there is a distinction between plant and animal life.
The truth is that plants, when stressed, release a chemical called ethylene. This chemical indicates that the plant needs to increase cell growth or take other
measures against the perceived stressor. Scientists measured levels of ethylene released from stressed plants by “listening” to them using lasers until a certain
frequency was measured.
While this research shows that plants might have a stress-avoidance response, it is quite a stretch to refer to this as “pain.” It is even more erroneous to equate this
response with the pain suffered by animals and human beings. Plants lack nerve endings, brains, hormones, and other structures that would allow them to experience pain. They also lack the ability to move away from sources of stress, an evolutionary trait linked with the ability to feel pain.
(The above content was taken from sitehttp://www.islamicconcerns.com/plants.asp for plants concern!)
As far as people in the coastal region is concerned they have an alternative like rice and cocunut and still if they don't have a choice maybe one can understand
their state but when one can make a choice then why not?
But as it is people's perspective and no one can change it except they themselves and it is upto them how they perceive it!
Ms Soma:thanks for your comments.You seem to have a lot of concern for the plants too,really good.But there is also something called as a fruitarian diet which
involves involves eating fruits,vegetable seeds etc.This does not require the taking of “life,” as plants produce fruits, seeds, and nuts so that they can be eaten.
@Sunil:As far as your scathing comments are concerned man himself is causing the greatest imbalance in the food chain what with the unwanted cutting of trees and hunting and killing of animals not even sparing humans at times,his over intelligence and his unnecessary logic will alone lead to his downfall.
And I think being a vegetarian is nothing to do with faith religion or caste,it's one's individual choice irrespective of him being a Brahmin or Shudra,a Hindu or
Muslim and irrespective of what religion preaches!
Hmm I din't know that some creatures were alive underground, as far as i know it might not be the case,but next time surely when a builder will construct some
building he should do a proper research about the number of insects and pests it was home to!
The number of plants that must be fed to an animal to produce enough meat for one human is greater than the number of plants required to feed that same human if he or she ate the plants directly. Meat-eaters are responsible for “killing” 10 times more plants than vegetarians, and they also kill and cause suffering to
animals.
But then at the end of the day one needs to make a personal choice considering both the arguments!
@Raj,Maya,Varun,Kris:thanks for ur comments!It surely is nice that we have some supporters for this cause!
hey..very well written..i too support vegetarianism. i seriously don't think that plucking of vegetables and fruits from plants can be compared to killing animals.Plucking of fruits and vegetables may cause pain but is nothing compared to the pain the animals suffer when they are slaughtered. but yes, if there is no choice and you live in a region with no plants and only animals, then i guess everything goes by the law of nature'Survival of the fittest'.
Well Roopali, you make interesting comments, but with the oversight of a few very interesting points:
1: "Personal Choice" involves understanding others choices. The votaries of being veg, should keep this in mind. Mind you, those who consume meat, should not try and influence others.
2: Milk consumption. I think this makes for a good debate, dont you think? If we veggies are so against animal killing etc, and about how many more plants are killed to raise one kg of meat (Yeah, I know the facts), then why are plants being killed for OUR milk. Cows,do eat plants, dont they?
3: Forget if plants experience pain or not. Bottomline its death. This no pain argument is plain bullshit. Why? Because its fine to drug a person then, and kill him! And then eat him too. No pain na?
4: I think we are being a tad too frivolus with insects there, werent we? So what if they are miniscule w.r.t size? Its death again.
5: Do you use "Colgate" or any other designer toothpaste? It containts gelatin. Do you like Ice Cream? That contains gelatin too. And yeah, gelatin comes from Animal Bones.
6: We use conches for our rites. Conches contained "animals" in them. FYI.
7: Musk perfume: Derived from deer intestines.
8: Toothbrushes: Pig intestines. I guess its ok to have animals in your mouth, as long as you dont eat them. :)
9: In the arctic, there are only shrubs. I am sure, a diet of lichens, which is infested with nuclear waste matter, is quite tasty. I guess thats why reindeer meat is consumed there.
.....
See, I could go on and on. As I said, personal choice has very very fluid boundaries. To be frank, the world is cynical. Its the self choice which is the best choice. Thats why we have votaries of being veg. Thats why we have non veggies being condescending on veggie diets. Thats why, we have evangelists! All boils down to personal choice.
Cheers,
Sunil.
P.S: I guess I outdid my previous "scathing" comment
Hi,
Nice one, once again. Must ask,Where do you find these words from!
I've got nothing new to comment. What I had to say has already been elaborated by Vivek, Sunil.
Both plants and animals have life. Killing plants is as insensitive as killing animals.
But as a personal choice, it's better to limit ourselves to being vegetarians.
i completely agree with all of the commentators n d blogger herself.but think about when a child is going to eat meat for the first time-is he/she being given a choice,does he/she have the ability to make a choice,will his/her will or unwill make any impact on the the fact that his/her parents will give him meat in the future too.looking at the meat from the child's mouth makes me clarify my next step in only one of two ways:if it tastes good i'll eat it again,otherwise not.from a child's point of view it's absolutely a righteous choice.but he/she doesnt know that his/her choice is going to foretell if it's vegetarianism or the void of it that he/she is going to be attached with.and a person's habits are formed in his/her childhood which can be changed later only with the person's will to change itself.so it's that fateful moment when a child is going to eat meat for the first time that has the deciding factor of a lifetime.whatever you argue with him/her at a point of time in his/her life at which he/she has the ability to make a choice,has to deal with this truth(of the person making the choice in his childhood).which reinstates the fact that a child can never be/think/do wrong.he/her only knows the truth.the bottomline is that a veggie will remain a veggie if he/she distastes the fact that the killing of life will satisfy his/her hunger and a non-veggie will remain so if he/she doesnt face the problem of the veggie(thinking from a veggie's n a non-veggie's point of view respectively coz when it comes to one's own,there's no point in thinking from others' point of view).
The blog reminds me of an incident a friend narrated.....
As a kid, this friend used to enjoy his 'chicken barbeque'. He was sent by his mother once to buy chicken. The kid went to the market and was horrified by the scene in the chicken shop. None-the-less he was tempted by the delicious meal awaiting him; and taking the packet given by the shopkeeper started on his way back home.
Even as he was walking, his mind kept flashing back to the visuals in the chicken shop. His mind started playing games on him. Suddenly he caught sight of a feather sticking out of the package and could hear the chicken clucking and squaking in revenge....
He yelled out in horror, dumped the packet there and then on the road and ran back home....He hasn't touched meat since then!!
science magazine(2005) says....
92% of this world is non vegetaRIAN..... which includes all mammals... aquatic animals and aerial animals...
and non vegetarinaism has more to do with choice, fear, religion than anything else...
think muslim, think christain, think zorastrian, think chinese, think hindu.. atleast 60% of it... think pagan, think tribal.. all of them advocate non vegetarianism.. as they uphold the superiority of man over other beings...
they do talk abt compassion.. but when it comes to eating the story is something else.....
and the point to moot here.. is not abt thinking abt the poor animals when they are killed...the point is.. arent vegetartians doing the same thing by killing vegetables and plants for their palate...
the argument here is futile.. cause vegetarians are certainly not on a moral high ground.. and if they think so.. they risk being called hypocrites......
the argument shud be directed, as sunil has aptly mentioned, towards the ultimate end result, death. when u cut a plant, as dr. juggy D told,it is going to experinece pain and it is going to die... and if u cut cause u think it will regrow.. then wud u mind letting someone chop of ur limbs just because u can grow them back?..
.. and anyways.. i firmly beleive that vegetarianism has more to do with culture then say compassion... if u were born and brought up to like meat.. you will most certainly love it.. but tht doesnt mean u are less compassionate then say a vegetarian...
the rule is simple...
it may be plant.. it may be chiken.. or a goat, or some fish.... when man is hungry.. he will eat it..and sometimes even when he is not... and all the above mentioned hve life, they breathe, they breed and experience pain and suffering......
... and PETA is more abt publicity then anything else... its losing its core values.... temme wht are the major actions done by PETA?... are they trying to save the rain forests?.. are they saving the swamps?.. are they saving the habitats of endangered species.. with species i mention all animals... all they do is protest some celebrity wearing a mink fur coat..infcat by lending so much attention, u are making the mink fur coat more fashionable... and do a dharna on turning over to vegetarianism.... which most meat lovers shudn for health reasons....cause simply put. meat has more nutrients then any single vegetable or fruit.. and how do u expect a rich country like say a UAE or a Saudi or JApan eat vegetables.... shud they export the ones which dont grow there?... and in exporting waste millions of gallons of fuel.. and thus pollute the environment further.....
think abt it?..
and just because a handful of population is allergic to eating meat or killing of any animal..they shud stoip eating the plants and vegetables that have life.... and see how their life shapes up......
I thought the most appealing line from your blog is, “It is but sensible that a fruit that you pluck from a tree will again bear fruits, but once you chop of a goat’s head it is dead forever!”
As you know I'm non-vegetarian but still I agree with you to some extend. There are certain conditions where you need to eat non-veg directly or indirectly e.g. In medicine. But we can avoid eating non-veg b'coz now a days lots of vegetarian dishes available which are delicious and nutritious than non-veg.
Scientist Dr. George Washington Carver who made many dishes just by using groundnuts and they are healthy too for health. So we've options for non-veg also.
But still I think you cannot stop anybody.
This debate will go on till,there are coats and chickens on this earth :)
Roops, visit my blog...
new blog. pl. check.
Hi Roops!!! I know its a very very late response...... The article is good, being a non-vegetarian, i agree that humans have no rights to kill any animal..... Totally agree with you babes.....
Keep up the spirit!!!!
Love,
Gita K C.
"I am a vegeterian not beacause i love animals, I'm a vegeterian b'coz i hate plants"..........
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