In regards to eating meat

[Diana]

It seemed like a rhetorical question. Physically, it's not possible to butcher a cow with your hands.

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Edit to add: Also, to hearken back to an earlier discussion, the term "meat-eaters" is a yellow-ray term. It's dividing us into groups, a group of meat-eaters and a group of non-meat-eaters.

I think Monica meant: how does it feel to harvest a plant as opposed to slaughtering an animal. "With your hands" just meant to do it yourself rather than buying a piece of packaged meat in the grocery store.

How would you like to refer to meat-eaters in this discussion then? We necessarily have to label the actions in order to talk about them.

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So I am wondering, which part of the plant is "it"?

If I chop a bush off leaving the root, a bush comes back.

If I chop the root off, it will come back.

If I chop a branch off, it can turn into another plant.

Are they all really just ..............one plant?

It's a very interesting question. It certainly supports the idea that plants are meant to be food. Animals come along and eat portions, and they still grow and produce.

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I basically agree with this, except that I would quibble a little and say that I try to choose the foods which will promote health and healing (rather than causing less harm -- ie stating what I want instead of what I don't want). (You'd probably say the same.)

I agree with this. I certainly think that people should listen to their bodies. If an omnivorous diet really promotes health and healing in you, then follow your body's message. In this, I agree with Monkey, and don't want to interfere with another's choices.

But I do not think it's good for the health or healing of the planet, as animal life is part of that equation. And concerning this, I would also do away with zoos and aquariums. Just as I think we should do away with our current prison systems for humans: they should be places of healing, not punishment. I do realize that there are a lot of changes needed to take place between how things are, and where I would like them to be. But the point is to move toward the ideal.