I don't eat meat. But I'm not going to storm the halls of congress and yell about murder and how eating meat should be banned and be illegal.* I'm not going to set up a restaurant where everything is vegetarian but I lie to you and tell you it's meat. I'm not going to force feed you tofu or my opinions.
I also believe that the answer to abortion is in better prevention methods, more honest and open conversations, more sharing of information and ideas, and not in deadhanded government control to limit the practice. Truthfully, I believe the same about eating meat. I don't think I've convinced any of my friends to stop eating meat by preaching. But I do make it an effort to show them that a less meat-filled existence is possible, and to set an example, and to share what I know, and to share my food, and I think that's where change happens. When change happens in people's hearts and minds, it has an effect on the industry.
I would love to live in a world where all the meat is raised hormone-free and gets to see grass and sunshine. I would love to live in a world where we existed on mostly plants, helping to reduce global warming and hunger and poverty around the globe. I make the choices I make to try to see that happen. I believe that power as consumers is important here. I would also love to live in a world where abortion clinics close down, not because of protests and murders, but because of thoughtful choices by consumers to use more reliable methods of contraception, because the unintended pregnancy rate goes down, and because we make an effort to use effective methods of sex education.
So that is how I connect my personal beliefs about vegetarianism and my political belief favoring freedom of choice. How do you? And if you are pro-life, how do you connect eating meat with valuing life in all of it's forms? I'm not trying to make trouble - I'm genuinely curious. Share in the comments.
*Some people do this, but I wish they didn't. I suspect this will lead to back-alley butcher-shops and the raising and eating of livestock as pets, I suspect.
Clearly I need to visit your blog more often. I am missing all the philosophy.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer to your challenge to pro-life omnivores is that nobody really lives out an ethical nihilism where inability to live consistently with some held value diminishes another held value that is lived out. That discrepancy between belief and action is part of the human condition. Deciding what we value is a lifelong struggle which feeds the lifelong struggle of finding a way to live in accordance with those values. Some people are just farther along in those struggles than others. Those who seem to be lagging might just be jerks, or they might be engaged with any number of other such struggles. I think a vegetarian diet is a pretty good bang-for-the-buck choice for saving the world, but some people might choose to save the world another way.
Also, I just saw your tip for sticking a towel under the lid of a crockpot. Genius! Thanks!