The first time I heard that a friend was going vegetarian I
laughed and thought it was a silly, although harmless, idea. After all, other
animals eat animals, so not eating animals would go against the very laws of
nature! But does being “natural” really
determine what is right? What is “natural” anyway? Are we, human beings, still a
part of nature? In what sense are our societies governed by natural laws? Would
we want it that anyway?
It is clear that humans have long moved away from the “laws-of-the-jungle”
and “survival-of-the-fittest” as a means of managing our relationships with
each other and the rest of the planet. Through religion and the progression of moral
thought and social institutions, we have created laws and mechanisms which aim
to protect each other from theft, murder and rape, as well as help those that
are struggling. Yet, aren’t murder, rape and theft natural instincts? Isn’t it natural to exploit those that are weak
or natural to leave them to die? The
idea of naturalness being equivalent to rightness is something that we, as a
society, should seek to avoid. Due to
our also natural abilities to
experience empathy and compassion and to reason ethically, we as a society can
choose to create and reinforce a more compassionate and just world. Other animals, particularly those that live
in social groups, also have capacities for compassion, friendship and cooperation.
So it turns out that “nature” is not what we perceive it be anyway.
Most people would agree that we should move away from the
cruel “laws of nature” for managing our affairs, but they may still implicitly
believe that eating animals is not only natural, but also necessary. Therefore,
farming and killing animals for food is a necessary and acceptable use of our power
over other animals. However, upon further
investigation, they would find that millions of people around the world are
vegetarian and vegan and many have been so for their entire lives. For instance, many religious groups have
eaten vegetarian diets for millennia including Jains, Hindus, Sikhs, Hare
Krishnas, Black Israelites and some Buddhists. Most of these groups also refrain from eating
eggs and Black Israelites are vegan. From a western, scientific perspective,
the American
Dietetic Association has stated that we can lead healthy lives on vegetarian
and vegan diets!
Since eating meat and animal products is not necessary for a
long and healthy human life, we cannot say that the act of a modern human killing
and eating an animal is equivalent to a lion killing and eating a buck. Lions must
eat animals to survive, but that is certainly not the case for us. Therefore, we make a choice to kill and consume the
flesh of other animals. Given that other
animals clearly do value their lives, as anyone would know who has had a pet or
companion animal, it is wrong to deprive animals of their very existence and
the opportunity to enjoy their lives for trivial reasons.
In addition, in practicality, there is no painless way to kill
animals, who experience pain and fear just as we do. Lethal injection may be the kindest way to
kill, but it would make their flesh inedible.
The next “kindest” way, might be a gunshot to the head. But how would a
person ensure each and every time that the bullet enters the right part of the
brain to cause immediate death? Also, how can they ensure that the animal is unaware
of being hunted or stalked so that it does not experience fear? The only possible way one might attempt to ensure
a death that is free of pain and fear would be to develop a close relationship
with the animal so that he/she has complete trust in the person who would kill
them, thereby allowing the person to come close to the animal. The person would
then have to hope that the animal doesn’t make any sudden movements before
pulling the trigger. Besides being completely impractical, surely this would be
a betrayal of a trusting relationship between two individuals, akin to shooting
one’s own beloved pet in the prime of their lives? Surely, this goes against all moral feeling
and kindness? Surely, it is a little
psychopathic?
The reality is, that human beings are so far removed from living naturally, that ad hoc attempts to be “natural” are a farce. To feed our massively growing human population, now close to 7 billion people, we must employ industrial methods of agriculture. There is nothing natural about industrial agriculture which depends on scientific research, large machines, genetic engineering, manmade fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, intensive feeding operations, confinement, artificial insemination, antibiotics, etc. To provide meat to a vast number of people at cheap prices requires an intensely mechanistic and economical approach that treats animals as nothing more than production units. Compassion, respect, dignity and ‘naturalness’ are not and cannot be part of this system. From start to finish - birth, growth and death – the lives of farm animals are controlled by external, heartless and unnatural human, economic and scientific processes.
If a person truly believes in the “naturalness” of eating
meat which makes it ethical to eat animals, then they must give up on formal meat
production. Even so-called family animal agriculture, with its management of
breeding, confinement, cutting, separating of kin, killing, butchering,
transporting, packaging and selling, is a departure from the natural process of
hunting and gathering as our long gone ancestors once did. If we wish to embrace a truly natural
lifestyle, then we must become a part of nature again, giving up modern day privileges
including the Internet, washing machines, houses, electricity, running water,
grocery stores, refrigerators and medical treatment. We must live in the bush
and on the land. Everything we use must come from our immediate surroundings and
be returned to them. If we eat other
animals, we must also allow ourselves to be eaten. When we die, we will lie
where we fall and let other animals scavenge off our bodies. Our bones will be cleaned
by insects, worms and bacteria and our flesh will return to the soil as compost.
Yes, then we will truly be a ‘part of nature’ and on equal terms with the rest
of the natural world.