I consider animals and plants to be the same. Both are living creatures. So subscribing to that idea, I don't see your point.
My reasoning goes beyond whether things are alive or not but to the extent of how sentient they are ... or how closely they resemble us ... remember this is about a philosophical approach to the problem. On one hand I can consider - "if it is edible it should be eaten" and "that I need to maximise my chance of survival" so I can't do that if I hunt my own kind and hence conclude that it is not ok to eat everything that is edible and so on ... The gist of various cascading conclusions will be is that creatures that resemble me the least and are edible are most suitable for me to consume.
Psyah, did you see the thread about "lab-grown" meat? What would be your views about it? Also, I've seen that you are quite knowledgeable about Islam. If commercially available, can a Muslim eat that meat (in normal circumstances)?
Peace IceSoul
I'm not knowledgeable about Islam ... anymore than others here ... and my heart would strongly tell my not to favour "lab-grown" meat ... I'm already eating non-GM and organic food - so this question is a non-starter for me ... I've eaten mycaprotein stuff - Quorn as they call it - it is made from fungi ... it's a bit bland ... but quite honestly I feel I'm harming myself for eating synthesised and manufactured food ... I don't understand how "lab-grown" meat works ... if you explain it a bit more in detail then I might be able to suggest an answer with an Islamic take.
My reasoning goes beyond whether things are alive or not but to the extent of how sentient they are ... or how closely they resemble us ... remember this is about a philosophical approach to the problem. On one hand I can consider - "if it is edible it should be eaten" and "that I need to maximise my chance of survival" so I can't do that if I hunt my own kind and hence conclude that it is not ok to eat everything that is edible and so on ... The gist of various cascading conclusions will be is that creatures that resemble me the least and are edible are most suitable for me to consume.
Ok, so you more likely to eat a carrot vs a chimp. I mean there's no right or wrong answer on this, its just how we rationalize our actions.
For me, yes! Morality does not define what I do but something about eating meat just feels wrong. I avoid meat but can't say I am a vegetarian. Many of the myths about not being able to survive without meat have been debunked. The problem is not people consuming meat, it's how the meat industry has taken over and it's nearly impossible to bring it down without causing much harm to our already existing world. If it weren't for us, cows, chickens, pigs, and other would have gone extinct. So to say it's part of the natural order is so unbelivably wrong.
I can't say who is right or who is wrong but to me eating meat just feels wrong....
^Yeah, genius! glad you figured it out. The first sentence of my post says morality doesn't define what I do... BUT it doesn't mean I am incapable of making good decisions :p
So as the thread suggests, is it moral to kill/take life of another living being (animals in this case) to feed yourself? Same issue with vegetables, afterall they are also considered "alive" in the scientific sense.
Personally, I see no way out of it, since otherwise we'd all starve. Still, I wanted to get some thoughts from the group here.
Now, please DO NOT bring religion into this (ie its ok because Allah/God/Ram said so). There is a reason I didn't post this thread in the religion forum.
Killing it brutally before eating... Hurting it before killing the animal is for sure immoral. However for eating its not immoral, if they get a chance they will eat you regardless moral or immoral.
