I?ve just read through all the pages, and there are a couple of things I?m hearing again and again from meat-eaters that I would like to add my thoughts to.
Comment #1: "Plants are alive. Therefore, if you believe eating plants is okay, you should also believe eating animals is okay."
Personally, I love plants and I do not wish them harm. In fact, needlessly killing plants is, in my opinion, wrong. However, there?s still a difference between plants and animals.
Mainly, plants have no nervous system. Thus, they cannot feel pain (at least not in a way we can understand).
Animals most certainly DO feel pain. Any pet owner knows when their animal is hurting. They will yelp when hurt and get mopey when they are ill. Just like humans. How animals process emotional pain is less understood, but there is still evidence of an animal moping even ?crying? when they have lost another animal friend (when one of my cats died, the other wandered up and down the hall meowing for a long time). There?s been studies of dogs going into depression after their owner dies (and many die sooner after). Not unlike old married couples do sometimes.
I can only conclude that animals do have similarities with humans. Thus, I try to treat them how I would like to be treated. At the very least, I would like to see them with better quality life while they are alive. There?s no way a chicken feels nothing when its beak is cut and they are crammed in small cages where they can?t even walk.
Now -- plants. Being an entire different species, plants are difficult to understand. Biologically, they cannot feel physical pain as we do. Personally, I recognize their alive-ness and even intelligence. But I have no solid proof for any of that: I can say that picking a plant is not physically hurting a plant like killing an animal hurts an animal.
Animal herbivores are much less destructive when they eat plants than humans. That is, they nibble on a plant and move on. Humans plant fields and wipe out fields like its nothing.
That brings me to my next point:
There are ways to eat plants and NOT KILL them. The obvious one is fruit. Even with mass-produced fruit trees, the trees are not killed to get their fruit. ?Fruit? covers more than trees, and ranges from sweet to non-sweet fruits. The plants never have to be killed for their fruit.
There?s other plants which don?t have to be killed to be eaten. Flower vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower, etc) and grains (the ear of corn can be picked. I grew up with growing corn, and we always removed the plants after they had already died). Beans/legumes, nuts and seeds also fall into this category. Even with leaf vegetables, one does not have to kill the plant. Not if a person just pulls a few leaves off. I have a herb garden, and I always just pull a few leaves off. The plants continue growing and being alive.
Unfortunately, living this way (having no plants killed on your behalf) would be difficult for the modern person. Mostly because the way in which things are mass produced (machinery that goes through, harvested, and wipes out all the corn at once, for example). Still, the misconception that one cannot live without killing is incorrect.
I can?t claim to live a life with 100% no killing of plants. I shop at a grocery store, after all. This doesn?t mean, I?m going to forget the whole thing and go eat animals. And like I said, animals and plants aren't the same anyway.
Comment #2: "Humans are animals. Animals kill other animals. Thus, it is only natural for humans to kill animals."
This comment is not completely unfounded. However, when I hear the ?humans are animals? comment get brought up, I tend to view it as an excuse. I hear comments from people, such as ?Humans are animals, so it is only natural that I cheated on my girlfriend and sleep around with many girls.? ?Humans are animals, so I had to establish my dominance in that way.? And so forth.
I don?t know what it is like to be just any animal. But I can speak of what it is like to be human: I have awareness and a choice. And I don?t want to be an animal bound to simple instinct, not stopping to think about what I did.
If we live in a world to be like animals, then we would also be dealing with rape and even cannibalism (at times at least). And yes, most definitely cheat on your partner.
Why not do those things? Because we have an awareness of how that hurts others. We also have a choice. We can choose to do those things or not. In essence, we can choose to be a merely instinctual animal or we can choose to be more.
All that to say --- I don?t believe simply eating meat makes one ?an animal? in that sense. Many people have stopped to think about it and still choose to eat meat. That?s still intelligence. What I am saying is that using ?humans are animals? as a valid reason to eat meat is rather insulting.
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So to answer the main question of this topic: Should you feel guilty for eating meat?
That?s a loaded question. Two key words ?should? and ?guilt.?
?Should? implies a judgement. It is an obligation. When combined with a feeling, ?you should feel this way,? it is even more so. It is judgmental and negative. Either a person does or doesn?t feel a certain way. Whichever way they feel, that is simply where that person is in that point in time. They are where they ?should? be. Not to say people can?t move forward and desire better, but that is ultimately up to the individual.
The other word is ?guilt.? Feeling guilting can have its purpose to show us how we want to be. Whether it is stopping a certain action or attempting to make it right with a person that you have wronged, guilt can act as a moral compass.
However, feeling guilty is also a word that keeps a person in bondage. It prevents a person from living in the ?now.? People feel guilty because they remain attached to a situation, usually in the past. Feel guilty? Forgive yourself. I?m not saying to continue to do what you feel is wrong, but if you are being honest with yourself, you aren?t going to want to do that. So instead of feeling guilty, just don?t do it.
Thus, I believe a better question would be:
Do you feel guilty for eating meat?

 If your answer is ?yes,? then perhaps you would be happier to stop eating meat. Of course, the process of quitting eating meat may be difficult and will take discipline. In the end, it may be worth it. I say ?may? and ?perhaps? because I can?t speak for what it feels like for you, but I love being vegetarian. I feel more energized and more connected with animals than I ever did while eating meat.
If you can?t seem to stop eating meat but want to, you can still make changes. It doesn?t have to be all or nothing. You can cut back on eating meat or choose organic and free-range animals. Don?t dwell on the guilt though. Instead, be confident that you are doing what you can, and (if you wish) endeavor to be different yet again.
Don?t feel guilty for eating meat? No worries. I can?t think of anywhere that says you have to feel guilty or even that eating an animal is wrong. It?s up to you. A word of caution though. Don?t use lack of knowledge as a way to not feel guilty. I?ve known a few meat eaters who say things like ?don?t tell me that about factory farms because I don?t want to loose my appetite for meat.? That has nothing to do with guilt or beliefs; that?s choosing ignorance so one doesn?t have to accept responsibility. Be informed and make a choice.
