Vegetarian philosophy question?

Question

People are vegetarians for many reasons.  
Some people choose that path for health reasons.  
Some people object to the amount of grain that could be feeding starving people is used to make burgers and choose to personally abstain.  
Others are against raising livestock on factory farms.  
Still others are against the utilization of one living being by another when not absolutely necessary...and we no longer need furs to stay warm and have enough food without meat to feed the world.

Over the years I have had many vegans and vegetarians ask about hunting or want to go hunting.  Usually it is people who have chosen to be vegetarian for one of the first three reasons (less meat equals better health, farm raised meat is a resource waste, farm raised animals live in bad conditions)

But sometimes they tell me they are vegetarians because they are against eating animals, but they want to hunt and they will either not take the animal that is hunted, or they will give the animal away.

This makes absolutely no sense to me.  I figure someone who is a vegetarian because they are against the killing of the animals  wouldn't mind if I was walking through the woods and found a squirrel  that died of old age and cooked it up for eating.  I always figured it was the KILLING part.  Would the vegetarians really be happy if we kept on sending millions of cattle to slaughter each year, but just never ate the meat? (just let it rot or something?)

Can any of you enlighten me?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I don't get it, either.

Anonymous · Answer

They are vegetarian and yet they like killing animals? Wow, talk about hypocritical. I am vegan because factory farming is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my life. The poor animals are abused and tortured for a lifetime before they are slaughtered. Hunting is not much better, it is chasing animals for the pleasure in shooting them. I couldn't imagine feeling pleasure if I took a life. I guess if they are dietary vegetarians and do it for the health reasons, I see their reasons. But anyone who does it for reasons related to animals has one messed up way of thinking logically (or illogically in this case).

I Love Bees · Answer

Maybe they are against eating meat for themselves personally but not for other people. If they are against eating meat period, I don't think they would be giving it away for other people to eat. And then maybe they are against keeping animals on factory farms where they are sick and miserable, but not against hunting a wild animal. I'm a vegetarian and I don't protest sustainable, legal hunting (though leaving it to rot is a total dick move), but I dislike factory farms.

I'm just speculating. You would have to ask them about their reasoning.

I'm just speculating. You would have to ask them about their reasoning.

Scocasso ! · Answer

Very good question.  They sound a bit mixed up to me.  They don't want to eat animals, but want to hunt and kill them?  Very strange.  For me, I stopped eating animal products because I studied human biology, starting with the human digestive system, how it works, and what kind of food would be best for me i.e. which food is my body best 'designed' to utilize.  I studied what happens when a food is eaten, from start to finish, and meat was the first thing I took out of my diet because it became VERY obvious that the human body really cannot digest meat very well at all - in fact, it just rots in there.  So, for me, it wasn't about killing animals etc., but upon further look into my diet and the ramifications  it has on the world around me, it did become one of the reasons along with the environment, etc.

Anonymous · Answer

A true Vegetarian..... or at least one who does it for the right reasons..... refuses to eat meat because of the horrible things done to the animals.  I would tell you, but trust me, you don't want to know.  I am a Vegetarian, and in my opinion hunting, slaughtering, torturing, and murdering living creatures is not worth a meal of meat or a nice soft fur coat.  I don't know what messed up Vegetarians you've been talking to, but hunting is no different that killing in a slaughter factory.  There are some Vegetarian and Vegans who do it for their own health purposes.  I know from experience that not eating fatty meats and such leads to a healthier life style, but if a so called "Vegetarian" asks to go hunting, they do not deserve the title, and are a disgrace to Vegetarians who do it for the right reasons.  Also, about the eating animals that are already dead...... dead from natural causes or not, would you really want to eat the bloody flesh of a once living creature?????

Anonymous · Answer

I can't speak for others... but have never heard of vegetarians being ok with hunting.  Even before I became vegetarian and then vegan, I thought there is something wrong with someone who can kill another being for fun (yup, JUST MY OPINION).  

What you say makes no sense... if someone is against eating animals, why would they be ok with killing them?  Sorry, I really have doubts about you meeting so many veg*n and coming to these conclusions.

I could not even imagine being friends with someone who hunts because it goes against one of my fundamental values.

I am interested in reading other posts.

Vegetarian philosophy question?

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