Why I am not a vegan

[Monica]

And Monica, since you agree that one realistic goal is for meat eaters to drastically cut meat consumption, those who have the courage to slaughter (humanely raised/slaughtered) can then be seen as filling a necessary role, and there is no need to demonize them..because eating meat just isn't going to disappear anytime soon.

I have repeatedly acknowledged that not torturing animals before killing them is a vast improvement over torturing them before killing them. But those who 'humanely' (sic) slaughter animals seem to be seeking some sort of approval for what they do, and that is asking too much. The slave 'owners' (sic) who didn't beat their slaves were undoubtedly not as culpable as those who did, but we would never say that slavery is ok just because the 'slaves' weren't being beaten!

Also, I've read multiple accounts of people who quit eating animals because of the atrocities in factory farms, but then started eating animals again when they learned of the so-called 'humane' meat.

'Humanely slaughtered' is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. It's just less heinous than torturing before slaughtering.

Eradicating all factory farms in favor of traditional farms (cows contentedly grazing) won't happen because there simply isn't enough land to do that and still satisfy billions of humans' lust for animal flesh. It isn't profitable nor is it sustainable. So the whole idea of 'humane' or 'grass fed' meat is a minor improvement for a small percentage of animals, at best.

I'm just not going to applaud people who kill without torturing, any more than I would applaud slave 'owners' who didn't beat their 'slaves.' Let the 'slaves' FREE!

People don't consider the value of new viewpoints if they're made to feel bad about themselves (meat eaters in general).

Eating apples is STS!!!

We should then be thankful for those who do the things we're not able to do..positive interpretation, positive energy sent.

Hiring a plumber because we don't have plumbing skills isn't the same as hiring someone to kill for us. When we hire killers to do the dirty work we aren't willing to do ourselves, we are still responsible for the killing. That is the reality, every time anyone buys meat.

But I feel I may have overstepped my boundaries in offering that..my apologies.

Gosh, no apology needed! I appreciate your input!

(Ironic...I get an apology from someone who was never rude to me, but not from those who were. ??)

To move forward, we have to learn how to respect each other and each other's needs, recognizing that we're all on different parts of the path in our journey.

Absolutely! It's a delicate balancing act though, when there are victims involved.