Vegetarianism also contributes to the death of animals. Rabbits, mice, birds, gophers, and other ground life are always killed during harvest. Not all of them, but a significant number.
What is the alternative you're proposing?
Everyone going vegetarian is not the answer to our environmental problems
Who is claiming it is?
Modern slaughter techniques minimize the suffering of animals: US slaughterhouses must conform to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) which mandates that livestock be stunned unconscious before slaughter.
They're still being killed, and there are lots and lots of docos online that show what happens behind closed doors. Plus a lot of meat is imported anyway.
But the real point to be made is that even if vegetarianism isnt saving the world it's a more moral choice than supporting an industry which tortures and kills animals.
How significantly more moral it is depends on your level of compassion for animals. Thats all it comes down to.
The protein replacements necessary for a vegetarian diet have a larger impact on the environment (if you live in the US) than eating locally produced meat does.
Source? Are you talking about supplements or are you talking about chick peas.
Eating meat is not cruel
Imagine an intelligent species which has had a lot longer than us to evolve. Imagine their intelligence makes us look like animals in comparison.
Is it ok for this species to make us live and die in cages and harvest us for our meat, on account of their higher level of intelligence?
it is completely natural in the cycle of life: This is the one that I am most passionate about, for two reasons:
1) Every living organism on earth dies at some point, so that other organisms can live. Eating meat is participating in the cycle of life.
This would be a good point if you were a hunter, and if you were going to be consumed by something other than bacteria when you die. Eating mcdonalds is not part of the cycle of life.
We're humans, we're out of the food chain and have the ability to think and make moral decisions like not killing sentient beings for no good reason.
2) I feel that the modern arguments for vegetarianism from a moral perspective incorrectly puts a higher value to animal life than plant life. Plants respond to threats, and may also be capable of fear.
They dont have a brain or a central nervous system you are scraping the barrel here. If you cant eat meat and you cant eat plants you fuckin die anyway so like sorry plants if you can magically feel fear but im eating you anyway.
I don't know how well plants understand pain compared to a chicken personally, but I'm pretty sure a vegetarian does not either.
the thing about morality is that you're born with it. you're born feeling that it is wrong to kill your mother. unless the world fucks up your brains wiring really bad your first instinct when you see a chicken for the first time isnt to kill it, and you immediately understand the enormous difference between a plant and a chicken.
if you dont see those differences when you look at a chicken and some grass theres nothing I can say.
I find it very pretentious for someone to declare that the life they choose to contribute to the death of, is morally superior to the lives I choose to contribute to the death of.
you really believe there arent significant differences between plant life and animal life? is that what you're saying?
A vegetarian is okay with contributing to the death of smaller animals like mice and birds, as well as any and all insects.
theres a massive difference between being ok with it and not being able to do anything about it isnt there?