Guest guest Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 Earlier this month we were talking about comments of non- vegetarians and I just had a real (what I consider) stupid one happen this week so I thought that I would share. We went to visit my step- daughter, her new baby, and the baby's father for the day. My step- daughter has absolutley no problem that I am vegetarian and made both a beautiful lunch and dinner that was vegetarian, but her partner.....He is a teacher and supposively a well schooled man and he said that he had a question that's been on his mind. I'm thinking, " Oh great :0( . " I hate it when people expect me to " justify " being a vegetarian. So, he says to me that he feels that plants are just as alive as animals, and that I am putting undue stress on the plants of the planet. Geez Louise ! I told him that I didn't feel that I had to justify vegetarians to him but that if he felt that strongly about the " soul " of plants, how can he eat them? He said that, to live he has to eat so people should eat everything in moderation. I told him that I wouldn't eat anything that I could consider a pet. He's just looking for a confrontation but, to be honest, since he kept pushing it, it kinda ruined part of my visit. My husband, who is not a vegetarian told him that there are people out there who don't eat plants that are alive, only what falls from the tree - bush. He argued that one too. Boy, do I hate people that think they have to argue everything with you. And he thought that he was being so smart. :0/ . Just thought that I'd share. Stef , Kathleen Pelley <kmpelley> wrote: > My favorite response to my vegetariansim is: > > " We have a salad and steamed vegetables " : to which I > respond: " vegetarians don't eat any more vegetables > than anyone who eats a well-balance diet " > > And then there is my mother-in-law who is personally > insulted that I do not eat meat. > > Kathleen > Eureka CA [286 miles north of San Francisco] > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 On Sep 26, 2005, at 9:46 AM, steffdav46 wrote: > > So, he says to me that he feels that > plants are just as alive as animals, and that I am putting undue > stress on the plants of the planet. Geez Louise ! I told him that I > didn't feel that I had to justify vegetarians to him but that if he > felt that strongly about the " soul " of plants, how can he eat them? > He said that, to live he has to eat so people should eat everything > in moderation. I told him that I wouldn't eat anything that I could > consider a pet. He's just looking for a confrontation but, to be > honest, since he kept pushing it, it kinda ruined part of my visit. > My husband, who is not a vegetarian told him that there are people > out there who don't eat plants that are alive, only what falls from > the tree - bush. He argued that one too. Boy, do I hate people that > think they have to argue everything with you. And he thought that he > was being so smart. :0/ . I've gotten variations of the " but what about the poor little vegetables? " Usually they don't really mean it and are just trying to give me a hard time. My usual response is that no matter what you eat, plants are going to die in the process. As a vegetarian, I'm eating plants. But if I ate meat, I'd be eating animals who had eaten plants. So while in a weird way I can see being bothered by the death of the plants, there's no way around it unless I'm just going to not eat at all and let myself starve to death. Consuming plants (either directly or indirectly) in order to survive is a necessity, consuming animals in order to survive is optional. I seem to remember reading somewhere that cows consume enough food that more plants die for you to have one pound of beef than do for one pound of vegetables. So we'd be using up less farm land (and killing fewer plants) if more people were vegetarians. Feel free to correct me on this, as I can't remember where I got this information and may be misremembering it. My more annoying friends who are clearly only trying to drive me crazy will tell me that plants consume animals too. No, they're not referring to venus fly traps, they mean that plants take nutrients from the soil and that some of those nutrients come from dead animals. That's when I stop responding and just give them The Stare. Although I suppose I could tell them that they're preventing dead animals from making it to the soil by eating them. I admit my response to my friends ignores fruitarians, who don't kill any plants even though they eat them. But as none of my real-life social groups have any fruitarians in them, no one I know has asked me why I'm not one. I'm wondering why your husband saw the need to fuel the flames by pointing fruitarians out if the other guy hadn't thought to mention them. My husband isn't a vegetarian either, but he'll stay out of the debates I'm having with other people. Which isn't too say we've never had discussions about it in which I felt the need to defend/justify my eating habits, but I always felt that was more so he could better understand what I was doing. He respects my beliefs, but I doubt I'll ever make a vegetarian out of him. Haras the Wonder Frog Princess of the Sandwiches ] " We used to say if a frog had side pockets, ] he'd carry a handgun. " - Dan Rather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 (Sorry Pat, for getting into religion again, but I am responding to a thread here...) Steff, about the relative worried about the " soul " of plants - if they are religious at all you could remind him of the Biblical passage in Genesis where God says " I have given you every herb bearing seed and every tree bearing fruit with its seed in itself and it will be the meat of man. " from Maida Citizens for Pets in Condos, http://www.petsincondos.org South Florida Vegetarian Events, http://www.soflavegevents.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 " Maidawg " wrote: > > (Sorry Pat, for getting into religion again, but I am responding to a > thread here...) > > Steff, about the relative worried about the " soul " of plants - if they > are religious at all you could remind him of the Biblical passage in > Genesis where God says " I have given you every herb bearing seed and > every tree bearing fruit with its seed in itself and it will be the meat > of man. " > > from Maida Hi. I don't think the Bible is a good source for pro-vegetarian teachings, as it has many anti-vegetarian verses also, such as: Genesis 9:1-3 says: " Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, " Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all of the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, now I give you everything. " I think the Hindu and Buddhist teachings more make sense on the spiritual qualities of vegetarinism, as it's about the consciousness development of the being that is being killed that determines the negative reaction, hence a cow is more conscious than a carrot. Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 There are Christians who vegetarian, such as 7th Day Adventist and many orders of monks and nuns in the Catholic Church--all in spite of the Bible :-) --- mr_cool_guy67 <tac828 wrote: > " Maidawg " wrote: > > > > (Sorry Pat, for getting into religion again, but I > am responding to a > > thread here...) > > > > Steff, about the relative worried about the " soul " > of plants - if > they > > are religious at all you could remind him of the > Biblical passage in > > Genesis where God says " I have given you every > herb bearing seed and > > every tree bearing fruit with its seed in itself > and it will be the > meat > > of man. " > > > > from Maida > > > Hi. I don't think the Bible is a good source for > pro-vegetarian > teachings, as it has many anti-vegetarian verses > also, such as: > > Genesis 9:1-3 says: " Then God blessed Noah and his > sons, saying to > them, " Be fruitful and increase in number and fill > the earth. The fear > and dread of you will fall upon all of the beasts of > the earth and all > the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves > along the ground, > and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given > into your hands. > Everything that lives and moves will be food for > you. Just as I gave > you the green plants, now I give you everything. " > > I think the Hindu and Buddhist teachings more make > sense on the > spiritual qualities of vegetarinism, as it's about > the consciousness > development of the being that is being killed that > determines the > negative reaction, hence a cow is more conscious > than a carrot. > > Will > > > > > Kathleen M. Pelley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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