Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner
So what you are saying is that an animal "must invariably suffer" to be killed and eaten? Don't you think that after witnessing things like that and being ok with the fact that those things are happening that there is something very wrong with that??
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No. Not at all. I realized at a very young age that this world is not a pretty place and hardships and suffering is a part of life. That these animals must suffer is unfortunate and I am sympathetic to their situation but I can accept as a simple fact of life and of our modern culture. There are more humane ways to slaughter animals but the industry is about speed/efficiency and lower prices at the grocery store. That's just how our society works. There are many things you are powerless to stop in this world. The amount of suffering that animals and human beings have gone through throughout recorded history and beyond is something most people cannot seem to grasp. It's simply a fact of life and I don't waste my time feeling sad or compelled or angry about things that are out of my control. If there is something that I do think about more often - it's the big picture (again, why I always look back at history and how everything fits together and came to be as it is now and try to be as less narrow minded as possible). I care about the environment and I worry more about the extinction of species and devastation to ecosystems more than the individual plights of individual animals that are plentiful.
I don't like animal suffering, but I don't lose any sleep over it. I don't have any guilty conscience or moral dilemmas from consuming animal products based on the knowledge that I have (and believe me, I've seen and read a lot on the subject due to morbid fascination). I love animals, and have raised many pets. Right now, there is honestly a bird perched on my shoulder. Sometimes I have pondered the philosophical implications of eating a Colonel's Original Recipe drumstick while Snowy (my Budgie) was perched on my shoulder nibbling at my ear: "Hey Snowy, I'm eating your (95% genetically related) cousin Bob, he was delicious, I hope you aren't delicious" but I just laugh at the strangeness of our world.