Good Reason for Vegetarianism

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Jun 15th, 2008

Just returned from a cross country trip and shot these images either in Missouri or illinois. I was shocked when I took this sight in. I instinctively went for my camera and felt compelled to blog about it. 

I guess I'd call myself a flex-flow vegetarian. I try not to eat meat but occasionally fish will fit into my diet. I don't make a big stink about being vegetarian and occasionally I'll be accommodating to those who fix me food without knowing what I eat. It's probably worse to get meat on your plate and throw it away rather than give it to someone else or eat it yourself. Some animal died and somebody might as well benefit from that sacrifice and not throw the meat in the trash.

When I saw this semi driving around 70 mph on the highway, it upset me how all these turkeys were crammed in these tiny little cages. Some of these birds must have been living their lives in these cramped spaces because their feathers were falling off and they didn't look healthy.

One of the turkeys had its neck caught in the cage and it was hanging out of the back of the truck.  :-(

Our human society has been built around values that hold our own kind as a species worthy of self respect, dignity and rights but because most animals aren't as smart or capable as us, they are deemed as lesser beings that we can do with as we please including eat them. The world of animal consumption is a reality most of humanity on Earth are taught to accept and support. Most folks would probably laugh in your face if you told them there was a cow, turkey and chicken holocaust underway. Our efforts to help the world would be better placed at stopping human genocide before we can ever dream of living on a planet where vegetarians rule. 

This logic makes sense but it still doesn't make scenes of animal misery any easier to stomach. Nature can be a cruel place and the world is filled with creatures that live by the law of the jungle where suffering is everywhere. Perhaps the most humane thing future human beings could do is to reengineer these primitive creatures into evolved beings so they could choose to leave our planet and utilize technology to put them at the top of the food chain in the same way that we have. 

But alas, in this world of humane - God-like beings who compassionately transform the suffering of primitive helpless creatures into empowered super beings in control over their destiny, there will most likely arise new activists who will raise the alarm about the vegetable and fruit holocaust.   
;-)