Brian:
First of all, I don't think I ever said I have never killed anything before. I
have, I didn't like it, but that was a personal ethical decision, not one I
feel I have the right to impose upon all of humanity. If a person chooses to
hunt to feed him/herself, and truly understands the food web and how we fit
into it, and it not merely killing for pleasure - how can *I* not be respectful
of that? (notice the emphasis - I - if you don't want to respect them, fine by
me)
And, while I have adopted a vegetarian lifestyle for personal ethical, moral,
health, environmental, and spiritual reasons, I believe that it is not
unnatural for humans to eat meat occassionally. Our teeth are constructed so
that it is possible for us to eat meat, our digestive systems are set up so
that we can digest meat, we need many of the nutrients that meat provides us
with (granted, I know that it is possible and even easy to find these nutrients
elsewhere), and as participants in the life cycle, we shouldn't feel guilty
about participating in a *natural* way. I just don't think that factory
farming and raising animals in an inhumane way solely for the purpose of
slaughtering them is natural.
And, we may not be cats, but does it matter? On the grand scheme of things, we
are just like cats - an insignificant but valuable part of the life cycle
(contradictory though it may seem). Humans are merely animals, just like a cat
or a dog or a carrot (whoops! carrots aren't animals. Silly Tj.) or a fish.
So to kill like a cat, with the grace of a cat - even as humans is not
necessarily wrong.
Just my opinion, of course :)
Tj.
