Quote:
Originally Posted by m
Thanks for the replies. Seems like no one has actually responded to the question, except for Banglatiger84.
I will pose the issue in a more structured way here.
1. What is your take on the cruelty issue that Rabindranath has raised in his letter?
2. If you don't concur with him, why so? (we already have someone who has answered to this question, which was actually a delegation of the judgment to superior being)
3. If you do concur, then a. Why so?
b. How big a deal, do you think, it is, with respect to general human value structure.
c. What you think we can do about it.
I am not asking anyone to follow this structure while responding to this thread, just in case someone looked for one.
I would really like to know what you guys think, and would especially ask for the opinions of the likes of Shaad, Zunaid, Sohel NR, puck, goru, Al Furqaan, Nasif et. al. Not to discriminate others, just few names those came to my mind.
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i am a vegetarian. i have been a vegetarian since february 1995. after a semi-serious operation in late 2006, my doctor advised that oily fish might be good for the recovery process, especially if i wanted to go back to my usual running and cycling regime. so i ate fish once a day for the next few months. now i only eat fish when visiting an elderly friend who had always found it difficult to cater for me in the past.
i enjoyed the taste of meat rather a lot when i was a carnivore. do i miss it? yes, i certainly miss the taste of the biriani dishes cooked by my late maternal grandfather, who amongst other virtues possessed an ability to turn the simples ingredients into a culinary delight. i miss 'salted', cured cold beef that my mother made from the qurbani meat. would i eat such delights again if i moved back to dhaka tomorrow? there is no chance of the biriani, however, i would taste the salted meat if it pleased my mother but would certainly remind her why i don't eat meat, and would obstinately refuse any 'salted' from qurbani meat as animal sacrifice in this day and age is simply abhorrent. i disliked vegetables as a child. i still have a dislike for the mushy vegetables prepared as part of curried dishes.
animals reared for human feed are factory treated to such an extent that the reason for their entire existence appears to be human consumption. the organic movement is a step in the right direction, however, the success of it depends on reducing the amount of meat we consume. unless advised on health grounds, i can't think of a reason why i would eat meat again. i am not offended by others enjoying meat in my presence. i certainly would not wish to ban the consumption of meat products overnight. however, i would like to see a great reduction in its consumption, perhaps two third less that what we consume today. ultimately, i would like to see the end to killing of animals for natural consumption, however, this must be a gradual process of learning to appreciate the benefit of a vegetarian diet. i would also like to see different methods of slaughtering animals. sedating the animal or putting it to sleep before chopping off its head seems more humane.
the creation of animal feed and the animals themselves greatly add to the greenhouse gases. meat is rather more expensive as the main constituent of any meal. the hunter gatherer society that our distant ancestors lived through made meat, naturally grown fruits and vegetables the only feed. with the advent of farming the ancient man ate more cereals as it would last longer in the warmer climes, and the scarcity of animals to hunt in the colder climes also made the cereals staple. rearing animals in small farms guaranteed the supply of meat in all weather conditions. however, meat had traditionally been a rich man's food. the poor ate less and certainly less meat. the roman soldiers on the march were given rations of bread with high protein content and olive oil. the soldiers would forage and hunt outside of formal marches to battles, but the reason for this lay in how meat is digested. the digestion process would be much longer based on a meat based meal so an army prone to ambushes would not be able to fight adequately after a heavy meal.
we are not an army on the march here although some of the mullahs certainly seem to think so. we lead sedentary lives. we need more exercise to burn off the calories. come to think of it, there are very few fat vegetarians!