[Sl'askia]

Originally posted by Sydney:
It's absurd that you expect respect but don't give it to those you eat.(1) My sibling analogy was intended to make you see things from my perspective, in that you feel obliged to protect those who are being taken advantage of by pleasure-seekers.(2)

1: I do have respect for those I eat...they enable me to feed my body so I can live for another day. The same with any other meat eating animal.

2: I don't eat meat for pleasure. Yes it tastes good to me, but I consume it for the same reason I stated in number 1

Now...this next part may not seem to belong in this topic...but it will give you and idea of the where and how I stand on this issue. (apologies in advance for anything in the following that offends you)

If meat products have no nutritional value that can't be gained from plant matter, then why isn't there a wide spread push in human society to stop eating meat?
Because the majority of the human race sees eating meat as much a part of our daily lives as it was for our ancestors. Technically...we are not even supposed to be consuming dairy products beyond infancy, as our adult bodies are not designed to be able to digest it, but do we stop in this day and age? No.
The problem is that due to our advancement...humans as a majority are more concerned with living as long as possible...to beat death as long as possible, rather then live as a part of nature as we did thousands of years ago. With the exception of a few scattered human tribes that have followed the old ways for generations, humans are no longer living as an actual part of nature. Instead we are forcing it to bend to our wills, destroying it in the process.
Yes I disagree with how we 'get' the steaks to our table and I would love it to be done in a more 'natural' way. But we are too engrained in the 'unnatural' way of obtaining our food. Not only that but the humans as a race have grown too lazy and unfit to survive out in the wild like the rest of our fellow animals. Too often now the weak has survived to procreate...and our gene pool is polluted and weakened as a result. Yes...we are advancing to a point where we can 'fix' those genetic problems, but my point is that we should have never have had a need to do that in the first place, if we had continued to follow the way of our ancestors. Our intelligence has gotten us this far, but it is also a curse in this regard.
Yes...I am against human progress (as it was hinted at in my 'medicine' example in my first post on this topic)...and I know I am probably one of the very few that believe this way. So, yes...I have a very 'unique' outlook on the human race.
What the hell does this all have to do with this topic? Well my point is that if we weren't so dependent on our own technological advances for everything in our daily lives...we wouldn't be having this discussion. I eat meat because it is what nature intended me to eat as an omnivore. If I were to only eat plants...I would have been born a rabbit or some other 'prey' animal. Yes we are the most intelligent life form on this planet that we know of...but that doesn't mean we should deny our nature, for we are still animals like all the others.
Eat what you want, perhaps when you pass from this life the powers that be will get it right next time and have you reborn as a pure herbivore.
Yes...I most likely offended a lot of vegetarians and vegans with that last sentence, but is true. If we were meant to only eat one way...we would have been made that way. (like the 'if humans were meant to fly they would have been born with wings' bit) Just because we have a brain and a sense of 'morals' doesn't mean we shouldn't act as nature intended. We still do in many instances, though in a 'round about way'. We fight each other over territory and resources for instance.(The only difference is that since we are intelligent we can think of more 'creative' ways to fight for it (oh like guns, bombs, etc...We are even getting to the point were we can send robots in to fight for us.)). We 'migrate' when the whether turns cold in winter...and return when spring comes. (if you don't believe that you obviously never been to Florida and experienced the influx of retires in winter) We are nothing but animals with a large brain, with the unique ability to actually think, create, and modify our environment.
One more thing for this rant:
You invited us meat eaters to go kill our own food. Well, lets be fair now...I invite you to go gather your own fruits and veggies in the wilderness (no...your garden doesn't count). If the only way you will accept our meat eating ways is for us to kill it ourselves...then you go gather your own food like us. If you can't do that...then sit down and shut up about it.
Yes I am being harsh here...but that is in response to your own harshness toward us.

*sits back and waits for the flames*