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swamp
 
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Default Want to be a vegetarian

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 20:20:23 GMT, frlpwr > wrote:

>Jon wrote:
>
>(snip)
>
>> "vegans", or so-called
>> "ethical vegetarians", engage in a classic logical
>> fallacy: Denying the Antecedent. It runs like this:
>>
>> If I eat meat, I cause animals to suffer and die.
>>
>> I do not eat meat;
>>
>> Therefore, I do not cause animals to suffer and die.

>
>Why do you refuse to be corrected on this point?
>
>The above should go like this:
>
> If I eat meat, I cause farmed animals to suffer and die.
>
> I do not eat meat;
>
> Therefore, I do not cause farmed animals to suffer and die.


As long as we're shooting for accuracy, it should be:

If I eat meat, I cause farmed animals to suffer and die.

I do not eat meat, therefore, I do not cause farmed animals to suffer
and die, and make this point because it helps me ignore the death and
suffering my own diet causes.

Demonizing others is less painful than accepting my own role in life
and death.

>If, at times, vegans or ethical vegetarians forget to include the animal
>qualifer, "farmed", it is because, within the context of typical dietary
>choices (for instance, non-Aleut diets), farm animals are the only ones
>effected.


You know better than that. Farm animals are only the tip of the
iceberg.

>It would make no sense for American vegans to believe their
>diet has any bearing on the suffering and death of, say shelter dogs or
>circus animals.


Makes no sense for *any* non-vegans either. How does a hamburger
contribute to suffering and death of "shelter dogs or circus animals?"

>> The conclusion clearly does not follow: "vegans"
>> cause, through their demand for fruit and vegetables,
>> the suffering and death of animals.

>
>Like most members of modern society, vegans contribute to the suffering
>and death of wild animals; they don't, however, contribute to the
>suffering and death of the food and fiber category of animals.


I've never quite understood why you ar/ev types are trying to recreate
the natural world, or think that any effort on our part would be
successful. The animals aren't going to cooperate, even if the humans
did.

--swamp