The Ethics of Vegetarianism and Animal Rights

[Guest guest]

B " H

 

My post decrying any analogy between the Holocaust and industrial

farming drew a number of reactions on line and off. I should say

that, in the main, most people agreed with my critique. Empathy with

my outrage was expressed by a number of people.

 

Quite naturally, I turned to Dani'el, my husband, a second-generation

vegan and son of two Holocaust survivors asking his opinion on the

matter. That is to say, my husband's vegan parents are Holocaust

survivors. He found the analogy of cattle cars that carry cattle to

the cattle cars that transported human beings to Treblinka repulsive,

excessive and the product of obsessed minds or, perhaps, the

disingenuous acting out on vested personal interests.

 

Dani'el then thought a minute and said: " I seem to remember that the

Nazis, may their memory be blotted out, adopted ethical vegetarianism

as a 'moral' principle (and, it transpires, a propagandistic

expedient as well). Surprised, I searched Nazi+Vegetarianism. I came

to the links below. I hope that you will read them carefully.

 

I am most certainly not touting eating meat. I am, however,

seriously concerned with misguided ethics in whatever form it may

take.

 

Just as many adjustments have to be made in the planned path to an

object far from us in space, no matter how painstakingly we

calculated the original trajectory, so painstaking moral calculation,

and continuous rethinking in light of error, must be made if we are

to arrive at an elusive moral target.

 

We are confronted with moral dilemmas when we attempt to be moral.

As we scale the highest levels of human existence we encounter levels

of being that are characterized by paradox. At the lower rungs of

existence, the world is characterized by disjunction, i.e., this or

that. At higher levels, as we approach ultimate resolution of

contradictions, reality is characterized by conjunction, i.e., this

and that. Boundaries blur as we approach infinity. It is for this

reason that we must be solidly grounded in common sense. While our

heads may be in the heavens, our feet must be firmly planted on the

ground, lest we become confounded. The source of evil is not the

base, but rather the sublime improperly apprehended.

 

Please read the following links and rethink very carefully about the

ethics of vegetarianism and animal rights.

 

Please allow me to say that the following excerpts from the link

directly below best describes, in part, my husband's approach to

vegan vegetarianism. Another issue for him personally is the reigning

in of appetites that, given free reign, not only impact negatively on

one's physical health, but, allowed to take root in the personality

and become habit, impinge upon one's self-control and character

generally.

 

These are the excerpts from the excellent article:

 

" When the lines are blurred, when both human and animal life is

considered equally sacred, this can trigger a dangerous philosophy

that regards killing a human being as no more heinous than killing an

animal. "

 

" Vegetarianism based on the idea that we have no moral right to kill

animals is not an acceptable Jewish view. "

 

" Vegetarianism for aesthetic or health reasons is acceptable; indeed,

the Torah's mandate to " guard yourselves carefully " (Deut. 4:15)

requires that we pay attention to health issues related to a meat-

centered diet. Some points to consider include the contemporary

increase in sickness in animals created by factory farm conditions,

and the administration of growth hormones, antibiotics and other

drugs given to animals. All of these may be possible health risks to

humans. "

 

http://tinyurl.com/2er2z

 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/englund4.html

 

http://www.ivu.org/history/europe20a/hitler.html

 

http://www.all-creatures.org/murti/pub-anscam.html

 

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Doreen, for the posting and the links.

It is amazing how several groups of people can adopt facts and

situations according to their needs and advantage.

Without going too deep ito this subject, I just want to point out one

thing.

Many decisions in history were certainly sitting at a table, but no

historic fact was altered by what might have been on anyone's plate.

It should not interest us what Hitler, Stalin or anyone else had on

his menu - facts are facts!

 

 

Shavua tov!

Gabriella

 

 

 

, " Doreen Ellen Bell-

Dotan " <dordot2001> wrote:

> B " H

>

> My post decrying any analogy between the Holocaust and industrial

> farming drew a number of reactions on line and off. I should say

> that, in the main, most people agreed with my critique. Empathy

with

> my outrage was expressed by a number of people......

 

>.......I am, however,

> seriously concerned with misguided ethics in whatever form it may

> take.