when did you last eat meat?I

[ParrotGirl]

I. am. so. bored. I have been stuck in my room all day. I am meant to be practising a speech I am going to do on my trip to sinai, for all the parents as it is our open weekend. And it just occured to me that after 8 years of vegetarianism, i ate meat in the desert.
We had spent two weeks building a well and water storage tank for the bedouin people, and on our last day they killed a sheep for our supper to say thankyou. It was the only thing they could give us and it seemed really disrespectful to refuse it. Most of their other food is vegan, so I had actually eaten better than I do at school, but I ate some of that sheep.
It had had a good life roaming around the desert, and had never been contained. It was born there and died there. I even watched its throught bieng cut with a knife, which was horrible.
Do you think what I did was awful? I mean, it had a good life, but it was still a living creature that only died to give us one supper.
when was the last time you ate meat?

[Tuffenoughtoroc]

No offense. But I don't care if the animals are killed on velvet pillows and got to live for years, they are still murdered. I understand that other cultures may not understand veg*ism, but you can still refuse and be respectful. As for me, I haven't eaten meat in 4years since first going veg.

[animallover7249]

You can't turn back time now, but noone here is going to tell you "oh it's okay that you ate the meat, it was happy meat!" You can't think a bunch of veg*ns are going to help you not feel guilty. Just look to the future, know why you feel guilty, (you obviously do since you're looking for someone to tell you it's okay), and don't do it again. Thats all you can do right now.

[ParrotGirl]

thanks for replying. I guess its true that I am feeling guilty, and was just looking for some way for it not to be so bad. There was such a debate going through my head at the time, but in the end the teacher said that it would be extremely upsetting and disrespectful to those bedouin if we didn't eat it. so I did. I will probably regret it all my life.
What made me really angry was that I wasn't the only on who didn't want to eat it. another girl in the group said that she couldn't eat it after seeing it bieng killed. Where does she think all the meat she eats comes from? Some people dont even assosiate meat with animals and death. I guess thats how vegetarians are different - they see meat as part of a dead body, rather than a burger.

[animallover7249]

I just re-read my post, and sorry if I sounded a little rude. I just wanted to tell you, it's obvious what you were feeling was guilt and you were trying to make it sound better. You can't go back and change things now, so just use those feelings as more power to do better next time.

[Mrrple]

Now, personally I value an animal's life more than human respect.

However, I think in this case it was probably okay for you to do this. Obviously you didn't want to eat the animal, but you did because you really wanted to respect those people. It would be different if you were at, say, a barbecue at a relative's house which included freshly slaughtered animal.

You also acknowledge that you feel guilty. Which shows that you still really care.

[animallover7249]

You also acknowledge that you feel guilty. Which shows that you still really care.

Thats what I was going for in my late night rambles. :p

You care, and you can learn from this experience. :)

[trying_to_be]

I think that their is a differnce between US meat and eating Bedoin meat. I htink it is fine what you did. The animal might have gone to waste if you guys hadn't eaten it, which would have been worse

[Libera Mentis]

I think that their is a differnce between US meat and eating Bedoin meat. I htink it is fine what you did. The animal might have gone to waste if you guys hadn't eaten it, which would have been worse

+1

[Tuffenoughtoroc]

I think that their is a differnce between US meat and eating Bedoin meat. I htink it is fine what you did. The animal might have gone to waste if you guys hadn't eaten it, which would have been worse

Waste? You make it seem like the animal is an object and not a life. And there is no difference between "US meat" and "Bedoin meat" except production methods. Lives are still taken and flesh is still consumed.

[Libera Mentis]

Waste? You make it seem like the animal is an object and not a life. And there is no difference between "US meat" and "Bedoin meat" except production methods. Lives are still taken and flesh is still consumed.

I am a vegetarian because of production methods. I believe that meat factory farmers are obscenely wasteful, and that if you're going to eat meat, you should hunt it yourself, use it in moderation, and maintain balance - like nature intended. (And do not say nature did not intend for us to eat meat. We've evolved to the point that we can, so we were intended to just as much as a grizzly bear is. The only difference is that we throw nature out of balance with our production methods, thus making it wrong and worthy of protest.)

I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. I personally wouldn't have eaten it, but that's because I'm just not a fan of meat in general. You know why you became a vegetarian, so only you know whether or not you should feel bad. I don't know much about the Bedoin people, but since you said their living in the desert, I'd assume you're not talking about the cute little agricultural village. I also don't see how they have very many choices other than meat, living in the desert and all.

[trying_to_be]

I too am anti meat because of the production methods not because its another animal. Its not practical to think that way since veggies are such a minority.

[Mrrple]

Must.... keep... comments.... to ....self....

[trying_to_be]

Must.... keep... comments.... to ....self....

The point of a forum is to voice your opinions.... Please state them so we know. Just saying:


I.... feel.... like.... posting.... like..... this..... without.... any.... real.... comments.......
:)

[Libera Mentis]

Must.... keep... comments.... to ....self....

I'm very open to discussion, I know it is probably my post you are referring to.

[Mrrple]

Well, I've gotten in trouble before for saying crude, mean things.

Which was what I was about to do.

I feel it best if I stay out of this for right now.

[Scythe]

Waste? You make it seem like the animal is an object and not a life. And there is no difference between "US meat" and "Bedoin meat" except production methods. Lives are still taken and flesh is still consumed.

It isn't a life once they've killed it, which I imagine is what (person's name here) is getting at. In the US if you buy meat you are contributing to the demand and paying the companies involved, if you eat something provided to you for free in some kind of celebration, there is no added demand nor is there financial contribution.

[trying_to_be]

Well, I've gotten in trouble before for saying crude, mean things.

Which was what I was about to do.

I feel it best if I stay out of this for right now.

Its the internet, and supposedly for our age level so shouldn't be much of a problem as log as itsnot too crude

[Spree]

You can't turn back time now, but noone here is going to tell you "oh it's okay that you ate the meat, it was happy meat!" You can't think a bunch of veg*ns are going to help you not feel guilty. Just look to the future, know why you feel guilty, (you obviously do since you're looking for someone to tell you it's okay), and don't do it again. Thats all you can do right now.

lol, "Its Happy Meat!"

as for me, I havent eaten meat since... 3 days before thanksgiving of 07.
not long, but i know i will never eat it again.

[ParrotGirl]

well the difference beween US (or UK!) meat is that the sheep in the desert are happy - they are not even contained in fields or barns, the lambs arent stolen away from their mums, they live for a lot longer and they are not transported for hours to be cruelly slaughtered. Their death is quick and they dont anticipate it. The bedoiun say a few words for the sheep, and comfort it. they see it as a living creature (albiet one that they want to eat) rather than a meat machine. They use every part of it -The boys in our group were horrified that one of them had eaten its testicles by mistake. I think that is quite a difference.

i still am extremely sad about it, and what I did makes me sick. I have pet sheep so maybe even have more of a fondness for them than most (although at the moment I am a bit frustrated with Bennet, who I have been trying in vain to catch and worm for three days. even a sick sheep can run pretty fast, and now he knows what i'm trying to do I cant get within 10m of him. i do worry about him though - all you who are religious please say a little prayer for bennet, to help him be caught so I can give him his medicine). I think the whole fact that it died was a waste, but at least the body wasnt wasted too.

[ParrotGirl]

Well, I've gotten in trouble before for saying crude, mean things.

Which was what I was about to do.

I feel it best if I stay out of this for right now.

say what you think. that is why like these boards better than real life - no one just keeps quiet to be polite.

say what mean things you like -I know you are thinking them so it wont make any difference if you say them. I like a good arguement anyway!

Sometimes I think I am not very good at expressing my views though, and people dont always understand where i'm coming from. I dont agree with killing or hurting animals in anyway, but I think that there are different degrees of badness if you get what I mean. like free range meat is better than factory farmed meat, but is still terrible. a life is a life however it lived. But if all meat eaters ate free range meat rather than factory farmed meat it would save a lot of suffering.

actually, I am just waffling on now and there is absolutely no point to what i am saying. We are all doing whats best and eating no meat at all. I think I will just shut up now...

[AutomaticMan]

well the difference beween US (or UK!) meat is that the sheep in the desert are happy - they are not even contained in fields or barns, the lambs arent stolen away from their mums, they live for a lot longer and they are not transported for hours to be cruelly slaughtered. Their death is quick and they dont anticipate it. The bedoiun say a few words for the sheep, and comfort it. they see it as a living creature (albiet one that they want to eat) rather than a meat machine. They use every part of it -The boys in our group were horrified that one of them had eaten its testicles by mistake. I think that is quite a difference.

Both are still equally unethical.


i still am extremely sad about it, and what I did makes me sick. [...] I think the whole fact that it died was a waste, but at least the body wasnt wasted too.

Tell me, if you were in a foreign culture, and they brought out a little boy, who had had a pretty decent life so far, and was happy with it. And they said a few words to comfort him, and he felt safe with them since they'd never hurt him, and so he was relaxed. Then they slit his throat and dismembered him. Then they offered you some of his flesh, and you were told they'd find it very rude and disrespectful if you didn't eat it. Would you choose to be complicit in that murder?

[Spree]

wow, harsh.
nice.