Q: Does a meat-seller (not a butcher), say a chicken rice hawker break the First Precept of not killing? He doesn’t kill any chicken though he buys dead chickens from a butcher. What about a poultry-seller who sells live chickens for customers to slaughter by themselves?
A: Technically, the meat-seller does not break the First Precept. However, his trade involves meat, which is considered wrong livelihood under the Noble Eightfold Path. It’s simple why – because his business demands continual killing. The live chicken-seller also does not technically break the First Precept but it also practises wrong livelihood as it involves continual exploitation of sentient lives. The unwholesome karma created in either cases is not any less grave than breaking the First Precept – especially over a long duration of time – because these occupations support killing quite directly.
There is NO can of worms for veganism. If humans go vegan, LESS crops have to be planted – as more than 1/3 of present crops go to feeding meat animals, at the expense of starving humans in poor countries. As such, less insecticide is used too. To create crops for meat animals, close to 50 times more pesticides is needed as more crops are needed in the animals’ lifetimes to fatten them up. We can eat more organic too. No need to go GMO.
About those eating meat as staple, Eskimos have among the shortest lifespans on Earth. Not a good idea. They should try to migrate, though it’s challenging. We decide our action and karma. It’s sometimes a struggle. Let’s do what we can. No one is forcing anyone to stop eating animals.
Here is more on why the world should advance towards veganism: http://viva.org.uk/goingvegan/index.php
Recently scientists are able to grow organs from stem cells. They made a glass mold and grew a windpipe from it. In the future. Scientists may just grow meat without killing. Sounds quite yucky but it will happen sooner than we expect.
Are there any studies to compare from birth to grave of vegan, vegetarian, meat eaters for the following:
– number of happy days (enjoying life)
– number of sick (many different types) days per week
– number of hours of exercise per week
– number of meals per week
– number of cancer diagnosed per 1000 people
– life expectancy
– education achievements – level of education
– sport achievements
– work achievements
– etc…
Hmm, to prove something? To me, such comparison is unnecessary. Rather than focusing on the real issue (killing and exploiting fellow sentient beings), we might be beating around the bush. I understand that to convince certain people, such stats might be useful. I guess different strokes for different folks.
Statistics may inform but it doesn’t really help. It’s the same with smoking. You give stats some smokers will compare examples of uncle smoking till 99 years old and no problem and there young people who don’t smoke get cancer. If humans are fond of excuses, they will always find an excuse that works to their advantage.
The only way people will stop eating meat is when animals start talking like humans or everybody in this world have yinyang eyes. Then the ugly truth will reveal itself.
The animals are oredi talking like humans onscreen becos subconsciously we all know we hope to help animals find their voice to us. But a voice not made in our terms but their terms which they have no way of expressing. The humans of modern world have compromised spiritual for material progression and gone are the days of talking snakes and donkeys. Have we ever considered maybe we are the ones who are spiritually regressing that the special abilities we have previously is no longer accessible to us.
No comparision, then people won’t even THINK about becoming a vegetarian. Majority of people need stats from good/government sources before they are convinced and then start THINKING. So, unfortunately that’s why majority of people are still meat lovers/eaters.
Similar to smoking, if no stats on smoking will kill or cause cancer, than most people will continue to smoke or young/old people start smoking.
Dun you know that meat is also a governmental politics at work especially for economies that depend on exports of their meat which contributes to part of their country revenue? Did not the Taiwanese govt boycott beef from US sometime back which created some displeasure. That includes sale of weapons as a form of trade. So the government you count on cannot be counted since it is of no monetary value to them and their economies. This is a secular world that revolves round the adornment and desires of the flesh as well as the feeding of the flesh of others.
30 reasons to go vegetarian- “Chew On This”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zz-Ubsn-2U
:bloody:
Majority of people are just normal human being. They are greedy, take advantage of others to benefit themselves, don’t care very much about other human beings and don’t care at all abount animals. So, a very difficult task to convince a normal human being to become a vegetarian.
A good overview of the health research is found in the position paper of the American Dietetic Association (2009): http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(09)00700-7/fulltext. It is based on an extensive review of the literature (204 references, provided at the end of the paper). Here’s the opening:
It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.
just to add to what purelanderx wrote about the Chew On This video, I saw another list of reasons to be veg (or at least eat less meat) last night at http://www.giveusahome.co.uk/articles/vegetarianism.htm
It had one I hadn’t seen before, and it really hit home:
“Animals who die for your dinner table die alone, in terror, in sadness and in pain.”
When my meat eating mother died of cancer, she died at home with her family by her bedside.
My meat eating father was less fortunate. He died on the operating table during heart surgery. But his family was with him the night before, and of course, the medical team doing the surgery were there to help him, not to kill him.
So different for the nonhuman animals whom we kill for meat, and so unnecessary 🙁