THE MEAT-EATING DEBATE THE MEAT-EATING DEBATE  |
| A rabbit from the survival course, Bohinj 1996 (photo: Skorc) |
This animal was butchered, cooked and eaten by the scouts.
This was done just for the purposes of learning how to survive in
nature... Is this arrogance, having pleasure, animal torture with
no excuse? Or is it a common thing, something that goes on all
the time, except we do not have to look at it. Rabbit meat in a
gravy would smell good to everyone. Well, not to a vegetarian.
The photo would probably make a vegetarian feel sick. But is
vegetarian way the right way or is it only a fashion thing? Is
there a difference between killing a rabbit and killing a
mosquito?
Think about it. Write
to us and keep track.
Gasper Pajor, Ljubljana:
I was one of the participants of this course and two hens and
one rabbit died under my knife. Why did I kill those innocent
creatures? No, nobody forced me to do that, on the contrary, I
volunteered to the small group who did the bloody work while the
others were sleeping.
Two facts made me to do so; I'm a scout, not an egoist, and I
want to do my best to help the group (I can't imagine girls who
played with the rabbits a day ago, to do the killing) and,
secondly, I wanted to learn something new. Nobody of the tree
volunteers had killed and cleansed a hen or a rabbit before. But
because we were in the survival course we wanted to perceive also
the 'animal' part of the course.
Maybe it seems to somebody that is not right to kill the animals
but it has to be stressed that those animals were bred for eating
and they would not survive if they were set free.
Dom Caristi, Iowa, USA:
It seems to me that the farther removed an animal is from
humans in its evolution, the more acceptable it seems to use it
for food. Human meat cooking would probably smell good, too, but
most people prefer not to be cannibals. What about apes, gorillas
and monkeys? Most people probably find those animals too close to
humans to be used for food, although some would probably find no
problem with it. All but the most devout of Hindus would find no
problem killing insects or bugs because they are so far removed
from us.
I don't think vegetarians are a "fad" which will pass
after some time, but I also believe there is evidence that humans
should consume meat (look at our teeth, for example).
