To Eat or Not to Eat: That Is the Question--Sounds Fishy

Is There a Moral Case for Eating Meat?

Is Vegetarianism a Virtue?

Do We Need to Give Animals a Life Worth Living?

Are Human Beings Meant to Eat Meat?

Why Are Only About 1% of Humans Vegans?
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Here's the beginning of an intriguing, thought-provoking article from Vox and Grist:

"Is There a Moral Case for Eating Meat?"

by Nathanael Johnson

"Where are the philosophers arguing that eating meat is moral?

When I started researching this piece, I’d already read a lot of arguments against meat, but I hadn’t seen a serious philosophical defense of carnivores. So I started asking around. I asked academics, meat industry representatives, and farmers: Who was the philosophical counterweight to Peter Singer?

In 1975, Singer wrote Animal Liberation, which launched the modern animal rights movement with its argument that causing animal suffering is immoral. There are plenty of other arguments against eating animals besides Singer’s, going back to the ancient Greeks and Hindus. There are even arguments that Christianity contains a mandate for vegetarianism. Matthew Scully’s Dominion argues against animal suffering; Scully rejects Singer’s utilitarian assertion that humans and animals are equal but says that, since God gave people “dominion over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,” so we have a responsibility to care for them and show them mercy.

The arguments against eating animals are pretty convincing. But surely, I thought, there were also intellectuals making convincing counterarguments. Right? Nope. Not really..."

http://www.vox.com/2015/8/9/9122907/meat-ethics


http://grist.org/food/is-there-a-moral-case-for-meat/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
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As you probably remember from a past post, I am on a long journey toward vegetarianism. Currently, I am mostly a fishetarian (read crab, salmon, catfish, etc.) though occasionally I eat foul food;-) with my extended family and friends.

I resigned off pig many years ago. Easy for me to do since I don't like pork. Then left the cattle grazing on a thousand hills about 15 years or so ago. (Though, when my allergies let me, I still borrow cheese and milk.)

Back in the late 60's, my first vegetarian experiment came about because of the influence of a friend. Shortly before she went down to D.C. for King's March on Washington, she adopted vegetarianism. By the time I was in full swing, living on only vegetable, fruits, and nuts, she quit and resumed meat dishes. But me, I went nuts.

Yes, I followed the radical advice of health food fanatics including a 6-medal Olympic swimming star, Murray Rose. It worked for him and others.*

Bode Miller

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/07/27/top-10-historic-vegetarian-and-vegan-olympians/

One can't become an Olympic star easily. But my body couldn't handle a vegan only diet. I lost almost 50 pound, down to about 117, when I ought have weighed 175! Got malnurished. Looked like a stupid-sort of gandhi, without the wise side. More of a not-so-wise donkey.

I know that the official name of a fish-eater is pescatarian, but that not only sounds too academic, it sounds like being a pest;-)

Because, this time around, 40 years later, I'm taking vegetarianism slower and wiser, not evangelizing, don't have a knife to grind, just want to move toward a more spiritual and ethical level.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox