would you eat root vegetables had you known that the plowing process killed dozens of animals?

do insects count? i mean, if you had roaches/bugs in your house would you call out the exterminator?

what if you caught a parasite? would you use a delouser?

how far do you go? where does it stop? is there a cut-off point?

Oh chut it u!

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

i am not a vegan, and not yet a vegetarian (borderline vegetarian... i eat fish and occasionally chicken)

my stopping point is the number of legs as silly as that sounds. 4 legs, even if they freak me out, is to be cherished. if they have more than that and they are in my house, i will get rid of them. same goes for no legs.

I like veal.

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

let's not forget about the harvesting of honey. bees are mistreated during that process.

i understand vegetarians. i was one. i was also a vegan for a portion of that time. yet, i still don't get veganism. every living thing needs to do its part and contribute its part. perhaps killing the cow is wrong or spraying the bees is cruel but letting them add to the world with their milk or honey seems ok to me.

SassyBritches said:

i don't eat honey either.

but god help a bee that is in my house, cause i will get rid of it.

cborgman said:

i respectfully disagree this is reminescent of a certain spider/fly thread that was started some months back i never could, and still can't, see the point of killing certain animals just because of the number of legs they have. i can mos def understand it being a matter of personal opinion and all, but these animals have a right to live just as much as the next one...don't they?

i'm assuming you meant 'kill' since you didn't specify.
i think that no matter what you do you're going to inadvertently hurt someone or something...but i don't think the line can ever be a solid one. its is up to us to make intelligent decisions

waits for the flame-broiled attacks

summerdawn said:

no, i agree with you... and i sometimes kill em, sometimes take em back outside, depending on how big and how scary they are.

and i do accept they have as much of a right to live as anything else, but if they are in my house... i dunno. i just freak out. i chased a strange cat out of the house a couple of weeks ago. i love cats, but it kinda freaked me out that the strange cat just came in the house.

cborgman said:

i completely understand your point. damned 's

summerdawn said:

no, i love cats... i think the strange cat just followed my cat in the house.

i would kill a person for breaking in my home...i would kill an insect for doing the same! lol.

SassyBritches said:

i hope to god i would never have to kill a person, and i am terrified of guns and hate to have them in the house... if i was sure the person breaking in was coming to kill me or someone in my house...

this is too much hypothetical...

cborgman said:

lol...save the hypothetical for another thread (like, say, in love and relationships?)...lol..

Chris I bet your cat saw you gently shoo-ing a centipede outside then went and told all his kitty friends that it's open house. So then the other kitty came over to see.
Seriously I hope you feed the poor things next time. Did it look skinny?

I'm vegetarian for health and wellness. At the same time I do love animals. If I come across a bug or creepy crawly of some type I take the same approach as Chris does. Depends on how scary the things is.

conch5184 said:

probably. my cat is friends with all the neighborhood animals.

i didn't feed it, it seemed healthy. i am betting it is one of the neighbors cats, cause it was too tame to be wild.

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

Your first question brings up what is known as the "collateral deaths" problem. I agree that it's a weakness of vegetarianism/veganism. Here's an interesting article on it:

http://courses.ats.roches...stHarm.htm

and a reply:

http://courses.ats.roches...stharm.htm

The collateral deaths problem is why I get annoyed at vegan products being promoted as "cruelty-free." Less cruel? Probably. But not cruelty-free.

As for insects infesting my home, I believe that the principle of self-defense would justify me exterminating them.

My partner and I have a running debate on whether honey is vegan, BTW. (She eats honey, but is otherwise vegan. Me, I'm working toward a vegan diet that excludes honey.)

matt said:

i hate to 'what if' things to death but what if we had a spider in the house...a daddy long-legs, for example. they're a non-poisonous spider...would you kill it then or would you be able to carry it outside? what about a fly? couldn't you just cover the food or shoo it away??



the honey situation...that's tough i'm not a vegan, but am about 80% vegetarian ('borderline' like chris said). i don't know if i'll ever be full-on, but i feel better about the choices i've made.


to all...

cborgman said:

That's not a borderline. There is a lot more to it.

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

This is the exact reason, why I always let people find out themselves that I'm a vegetarian. I have no problem at all being a vegetarian, it's just people like you that make it a pain sometime. Getting asked stupid and ignorant questions like that is a pain in the ass. Pure discrimination. I'm sure many vegans feel the same.