Eating Animals

WHY DO WE EAT THE FLESH OF ANIMALS?

This is a conversation we have very often when we talk to people on the street. Please read it as if someone is asking you these questions. Please answer the questions yourself before reading the response we have shared

• Q: What do you think about animals?
• A: Most people say they love animals. Some are indifferent and a few say they don’t like them but don’t hate them either.

• Q: Would you hurt an animal intentionally or unnecessarily?
• A: We hope your answer will be a vehement ‘No’. At least that’s what most people say when they respond to this question.
  
  NOTE: If you are vegetarian, kindly check out What Dairy Is All About. The following Q&A is for non-vegetarians.

• Q: If you wouldn’t hurt an animal intentionally, how can you eat the flesh of chickens, goats, fishes, cows, buffaloes, pigs, etc?
• A: Most say, they didn’t think about it that way. After all most people in the world eat animal flesh. Some people say it’s for nutrition (protein, of course!), many say it’s because they’ve been eating it all their lives, a few say their gym instructor or doctor told them to, and yet others say it’s because their religion teaches them that animals are born for us to eat them. Though these reasons may be valid to some extent, the real reason we eat animal flesh is because people all over the world do so and have been doing so for centuries. In other words, we eat non-veg because people eat non-veg. We would be eating lizards, cats, dogs, sparrows, cockroaches or any other animal or insect if that was normalized and people all around the world ate them.
• Q: Now think about this: if someone got a live goat, fish, pig, rabbit or chicken in front of you and handed you a knife, would you take their life to eat their flesh?
• A: 99.9% of people we talk to say they just won’t be able to do that.
• Q: Why won’t you be able to take the lives of these animals?
• A: Some people say it’s not their job, and that someone else does the killing. But most people say they just won’t be able to see an animal struggle to escape, but suffer and die instead.

• Q: So, why can’t we bear to see someone being killed and die in a painful way?
• A: Because God, the power of creation or nature has made sure we have these emotions and feelings of kindness and a sense of justice which we simply cannot ignore. Most people are truly compassionate and wouldn’t hurt others intentionally and yet eat animal flesh contrary to what they inherently feel and think.
• Q: Did anyone teach us to feel this way?
• A: No, no one “taught” us to feel this way. It’s absolutely natural for us to feel that way innately.
• Q: Do lions, tigers or other carnivorous animals feel bad when they catch and eat other animals?
• A: No, they don’t. Many start eating the animal while the animal is still alive.
• Q: Why don’t they feel bad?
• A: Because it’s their food!
• Q: Exactly. God, the power of creation or nature hasn’t put these feelings in a carnivorous animal for a very good reason: if they don’t hunt and eat other animals, they will starve and die.

• Q: So, why do you think we feel bad when we see an animal being killed? Many of us won’t even be able to eat non-veg food if we see the animal being killed in front of us.
• A: I think God, the power of creation or nature is clearly letting us know that animals are not our “food”. There’s also another reason why we eat only some species of animals: it’s legal to do so.
• Q: But, who made these laws? Do you think chickens, goats, cows, buffaloes, fish, ducks, etc. would make such laws?
• A: Definitely not! We humans make these laws.
• Q: Do you think it was kind people who cared about others that made these laws?
• A: We highly doubt it. Only some powerful, heartless, evil-minded people who didn’t care about the suffering of others made these laws and others just accepted them. And then it became a tradition or part of our culture.
• Q: If you were a child at an age where you understood suffering, pain and death, and were not conditioned by society to accept these laws and someone got a live chicken, goat or fish in front of you and told you that they were going to kill it and cook the flesh for you to eat, would you have tried to save that animal or would you have gone along with the person killing it?
• A: We hope your answer is that you would have taken the animal and run away to save it. Most children who have not been conditioned to look at animals as food would do that. Most of us are blessed with an inherent feeling of kindness in us.
• Q: How about cutting an apple, a pumpkin or cabbage or any other fruit or vegetable with a sharp knife? Would you be able to do that?
• A: Yes, very easily. This means that fruits and vegetables are our true food. Not animals who we can’t bear to see dying.

• Q: What do you think a small three or four-year-old child (even a child from a non-vegetarian family) would do if we placed a chicken or little lamb and an apple or cucumber in front of him?
• A: The child would simply eat the apple or cucumber and play with the chicken or lamb. No child would think about eating the chicken or lamb.
• NOTE: The fact is that we are manipulated and brainwashed into eating animals from the time we are very small and don’t really understand anything. In fact, many children stop eating ‘non-veg’ after they see a chicken, goat or other animal being killed. It is only when we disregard our natural feelings of compassion and justice that we can eat animals.
• Q: Do you think the person we pay money to transport or kill these animals have feelings of compassion?
• A: Most people think that butchers and fishermen don’t have any compassion for animals.
• Q: But is that true? They are human beings too, aren’t they? The fact is that they also are compassionate people and believe in justice. However, they can slaughter animals only when they suppress, ignore or kill their feelings of compassion, stop listening to their conscience and take the life of the animal without thinking about it. They simply cannot afford to listen to their hearts or minds.
• Q: When we pay someone to kill animals and ask him or her to survive and run his family by doing this truly heinous act, what exactly are we doing?
• A: We are not only taking the lives of animals but are also committing an atrocity against another human being. The worst thing anyone can do is to ask a person not to feel anything and destroy his core values of compassion, peace and justice. We literally make monsters out of them. Would we be okay with it if someone did that to us? We doubt anyone would say yes.
• Q: Now that you have understood how society takes control of our hearts and minds, what will you do?
• A: We hope the answer is that you will take back control from society and not only stop eating animals and start eating only a plant based diet yourself but will also help others understand about it. We already have hundreds of traditional Indian dishes that are not only vegan but also nutritious.

• Q: Are you worried about not getting enough protein?
• A: Think about this: where do the goats, chickens, rabbits, cows, etc. get their protein from? From plants of course! Remember, there’s protein in each and every plant produce. The amounts may vary and so may the type of protein. But when we eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, pulses and legumes, grains and millets and a few nuts and seeds, we get all the nutrition that we need. We give protein so much importance only because we’ve been manipulated and brainwashed into focusing on it while ignoring other nutrients… and especially fibre. No animal thinks about nutrition or any particular nutrient when he eats. All animals, except humans, eat the right food instinctively, and only humans process agricultural produce and cook food on fire.

• NOTE: As Dr Melanie Joy explains in her Ted Talk “Toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices” (available on YouTube):
• “Every day we engage in a behaviour that requires us to distort our thoughts, numb our feelings, and act against our core values and which enables a global atrocity that can make even the most stoic of us weep in sorrow. We use defence mechanisms to do so without fully realizing what we are doing.
• “Carnism (eating animals) is an invisible ideology that conditions us to eat certain animals, and it is a dominant ideology: its doctrine is like a given rather than a choice, it’s a violent ideology.”
• “But we do have a choice. We can choose not to engage in this behaviour.”