Vegetarianism+Ethics+Blog

Surprisingly, Vegetarianism, along with other dietary restrictions, is a topic of ethical interest in numerous religions. Whether adherents can't consume certain foods, or abstain from animal products all together, most have some form of dietary restriction due to their beliefs.

__**Hinduism**__
Many Hindus are devout vegetarians. Of course, most of this is due to religious beliefs, citing non-violence and concepts that link everything living together (Morgan). There are whole communities in India who are vegetarians and avoid all meats; it essentially comes down to personal choice. However, it is hard for ancient works to advocate it without contradiction. For example, in the //Mahabharata//, a work for Hindus, it advocates vegetarianism for those who adhear to the faith, saying:


 * "Those who desire to possess good memory, beauty, long life with perfect health, and physical, moral, and spiritual strength, should abstain from animal foods." (Dupler)

However, most texts show animals being sacrificed for rituals (Morgan). Along with this, Hindus tend to abstain from foods that are believed to slow spiritual growth. Although vegetarianism is not mandatory, most avoid pork, fowl, duck, snail, crab, and camel meat as well. The cow is a sacred being in the religion, so all devout Hindus avoid any beef product, even those who aren't strictly vegetarian. Although eating a cow's meat is taboo in a Hindu community and banned in India, dairy from cows is believed to promote the purity of the mind and body and is seen as pure. ("Religion and Dietary Practices.")

Much of this information is new to me. As a Westerner, it seems inherently odd that anyone would worship a cow, considering I'm a meat-lover, especially beef. I'm also a crab lover, so I don't think I would last in a vegetarian community for very long! However, I've seen numerous cooking shows on Indian cuisine, where most dishes avoids beef products.

One in particular was //Gordon's Great Escape//, where chef Gordon Ramsay heads to Indian to rediscover the cuisine there, and he ended up in an all-vegetarian community, and they still cook and eat very well. Seeing that makes me think that being a vegetarian in India wouldn't be so bad after all.

__Sources__
Dupler, Douglas, and Rebecca J. Frey. "Vegetarianism." //Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine//. Gale Virtual Reference Library, 2006. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

"Religion and Dietary Practices." //Nutrition and Well Being, A-Z.// Ed. Delores C.S. James. Gale Virtual Reference Library, 2006. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

Morgan, Peggy, and Clive Lawton, ed. //Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions//. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print.

__Buddhism__
Vegetarianism in Buddhism is a very controversial topic considering how sacred animal life is and historical ways. At the time of the Buddha, eating meat was okay even if religious authorities were not allowed to personally take life or cultivate it. The only way they could obtain meat was if someone gave it to them because it was leftover. It could not be killed especially for them. (Morgan)

Buddhists are also required to treat animals with respect, considering they have the Buddha spirit just as humans do. The relationship between humans and animals is very close, and they try to do as little harm as possible to the animal. Slaughterers, butchers, and hunters are despised jobs in the Buddhist community in all traditions. However, fishing is still deemed acceptable and did not spot once whole Japanese villages were converted. (Morgan) The doctrine of right livelihood teaches that you should avoid any work to do with harming animals because it is against their ethical code. According to //BBC,// one of their sacred texts gives the reason as to why. It says:

> All living things fear being put to death. > Putting oneself in the place of the other, > Let no one kill or cause another to kill. > //Dhammapada 129// ("Buddhism and Animals")
 * All living things fear being beaten with clubs.

Although, with the various terrains in Buddhist communities, it is difficult to feed people strictly a vegetarian diet, so they have to be wise and thoughtful about how much meat they wish to consume. Most villages only kill as much that is needed to feed the population. Buddhists do believe, however, if it is possible, you should consume as much of a vegetarian diet as you can. (Morgan)

After researching and discovering the views on Vegetarianism in Buddhism, it is much more apparent to me that Eastern religions are more adamant on Vegetarianism due to how their religion is structured to believe that everything is related. I would assume that the Australian Aborigines also have a sacred relationship with animals and try to do as little harm as possible to them. It is admirable to me, considering how much I love animals. I grew up in a society where we pay them little or no mind (with the exception of pets). It's refreshing to see that some people pay quite a bit of attention to it and has prompted me to pay more attention.

In the West, these animals feed us. It would be nice to see them get more respect and love than seeing them wade in their own waste in feedlots, be so close to each other that they can barely move, or be genetically altered so natural processes are stripped from their genetic make-up after years of evolution. It is sad how we treat them, and hopefully things will change in the West.

__** Sources **__
"Buddhism and Animals." //BBC News.// BBC, 23 Nov. 2009. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

Morgan, Peggy, and Clive Lawton, ed. //Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions//. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print.

__ Judaism __
Surprisingly, in Jewish tradition, there is no moral that says one can or cannot eat meat. In contrast with Buddhism and Hinduism, it is the polar opposite. Becoming vegetarian for a short period of time often indicated mourning, and eating meat is celebrated after the Flood. Some Jewish individuals advocate vegetarianism as a virtue, although they tend towards lacto-vegetarianism (implying they are still able to eat dairy products). Becoming a full on vegetarian is not seen in Judaism at all. (Morgan)

Although Jewish individuals can excessively eat meat, there are special practices on killing animals for food. Judaism teaches that animals are part of Creation, and should therefore, be treated with compassion.
 * The righteous person regards the life of his beast. //Proverbs 12:10// ("Judaism and Animals")

Because of this, hunting is completely forbidden in the Jewish community, as is most experimentation on animals. However, Jewish slaughter houses have special rules they must abide by in order for meat to be deemed fit. The slaughterer must be a trained "shochet", and the animal must be killed by slitting the throat with a special knife called a "chalaf" ("Judaism and Animals"). The other rules to slaughter include unharmed neck structures, bleeding out, and inspection to insure the animal did not endure any extra pain. ("Judaism and Animals")

This was a surprising contrast for me to find. Other dietary practices for the Jewish people that I know of are the lack of pork in their diet, and that many Orthodox Jews eat //kosher// food. This is food prepared in a special way, although that way I'm not entirely certain of. It seems, and we'll see if I'm correct later, that Eastern religions value animal life more than Western religions do. If not this, Western religions are definitely less strict on the idea of Vegetarianism than Eastern religious are.

These different practices on slaughtering animals remind me of the recent food crisis in the United States, and the debate between free-range, grass-fed meat and corn fed meat from a feed lot. I would much rather prefer the free range meat, but practices in slaughter didn't occur to me. If I could afford to be picky, I would definitely be eating meat slaughtered this way and fed grass instead of corn.

__**Sources**__
"Judaism and Animals." //BBC News.// BBC, 16 July 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

Morgan, Peggy, and Clive Lawton, ed. //Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions//. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print.

__Christianity__
Vegetarianism is a contemporary Christian concern. The traditional Christian view is that animals were below human beings because God created them so that humans could survive. This was largely because their reasoning was that human beings had souls and reason while animals do not. That has since changed due to the environmental movement, and many Christians have discovered that animals have a consciousness, and do deserve moral consideration. Many now concentrate on the ideas that both animals and humans have the same source, and as God's creation, deserve more respect. ("Animal Rights")

Although the Christian attitude towards animals has softened and led to more respect, there is no evidence that Jesus Christ may have been vegetarian. Their major concern is, "the stewardship of the world that they believe God has created for them and that could involve an implied commandment to be vegetarian in relation to modern conditions for breeding, keeping, and slaughtering animals for food" (Morgan). "Stewardship" in relation to the Bible means that everything belongs to God, and that humans must manage it for His glory. There are also other controversies over vegetarianism, including the idea that God's ideal image is that animals and humans live in harmony, as they did in the Garden of Eden. ("Animal Rights")

Other Christians have debated over the benefits of vegetarianism, such as Andrew Linzey. Linzey was a theologian who regarded vegetarianism as an essential aspect of his own practice of animal theology (Morgan). His theology is the advocation of animal rights and the idea of appreciating God's creation. He said:
 * Since an animal's natural life is a gift from God, it follows that God's right is violated when the natural life of his creatures is perverted. //Andrew Linzey// ("Animal Rights")

I commend Linzey's ideology in the fact that all animals have brains and a sense a reason and logic. They want to survive and thrive just like we do. Also, animals have defenses and attacks that we do not. For example, many animals' strength far outweigh our own. I would not want to screw around near an angry rhinoceros. I find the ethic that animals are inferior as factually false. However, I do find Christian views on animals much weaker than any of the previous religions studied, and it saddens me, considering Christianity is one of the biggest religions at the moment. This is only general Christianity though; this is not specific to Roman Catholic or Protestant ideals. There are specific traditions in those subdivisions that were not addressed or looked at. I do hope that they are underestimated here, though.

__Sources__
"Animal Rights." //BBC News.// BBC, 03 Aug. 2009. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.

Morgan, Peggy, and Clive Lawton, ed. //Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions//. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print.

__Islam__
The Qur'an and Muslim tradition do not suggest a specific view on vegetarianism. Eating meat is definitely a cultural normality in the Islamic faith, but it is not obligatory. Festivals such as Idd al-Adha normally involve animal sacrifices in meals, so these ensure that it is tradition. Even the few Muslims who have adopted vegetarianism still enjoy festivals such as Idd al-Adha. (Morgan)

However, in the practice of eating meat, there are general requirements for the religion. Certain foods are illegal in Islam, like pork and the meat of animals who are not slaughtered properly (Morgan). In the treatment of animals, Muslims believe that all living creatures were made by Allah and that they are loved by Allah. They also believe that while they exist to benefit human beings, animals are to be treated with kindness and compassion. They are instructed to avoid anything that may hinder these beliefs, such as hunting for sport, animal fighting as a sport, factory farming, neglect, over-working, and general cruel treatment ("Treatment of Animals"). As for using animals, the Qur'an explicitly states that it is alright by saying:
 * It is God who provided for you all manner of livestock, that you may ride on some of them and from some you may derive your food. And other uses in them for you to satisfy your heart's desires. It is on them, as on ships, that you make your journey. //The Qur'an 40: 79-80// ("Treatment of Animals")

Among their slaughtering rules, the animal must not be treated cruelly in life, see other animals killed, be in an uncomfortable position, and must be allowed to bleed out. One uncommon practice is that Muslims are allowed to prestun the animals to lessen the pain provided it does not kill the animal. Experimentation on animals is also allowed provided they are treated humanely and that the experimentation is for a good cause.

I find Islamist's views to be closest to what I hold myself, which for me, is surprising. I love animals, but reality often hits me that I love meat, and that as long as there is humane treatment, I have no problem eating it. Looking into the background of meat has been habitual as of late, and due to some of the inhumane practices amongst experimentation, I have ousted make up from my life as well due to product testing. While likely one of the most relaxed cultures when it comes to vegetarianism, I still appreciate the idea of trying to keep the animal in as little pain as possible when being killed, and that it must be for a good reason, such as food. No killing goes without cause, and it is an endearing gesture.

__Sources__
Morgan, Peggy, and Clive Lawton, ed. //Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions//. 2. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print.

"Treatment of Animals." //BBC News//. BBC, 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 17 May 2013.