“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men. “ – Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
Most people’s relationship with the cow, the pig, etc. is a predator/prey relationship. This page is my explanation for why mine isn’t. I am a vegetarian, and have been since 1986. I eat eggs, and drink milk. I don’t eat meat, including poultry or seafood. I have a variety of reasons for not wanting to change this about myself, but one primary reason for becoming this way in the first place. If you want to hear about it, read on.
Before continuing, I want to make it clear that while I may present myself in a “persuasive way” it is not my goal here to change anyone else’s way of life. When I write or speak about this, it comes from the heart, and you may feel that. Please do not take offense, none of this is an attack against those who choose to eat meat. However, please also respect the fact that regardless of any arguments anyone makes against me, I will not change this about myself. Please do not email me about “why I am wrong” or anything like that. Short of drastic negative consequences to my health, I would not change even if everything I believed turned out to be false. This is an issue of the heart for me.
Many years ago, at the age of fourteen, I had an epiphany. It suddenly dawned on me that meat was optional in my life, and that every time I chose to eat it, I was choosing for an animal to die. I love animals very, very much. I am the type of person who carries bugs out of the house. The moment I really GOT it, I instantly knew that I was not going to eat meat anymore. That was seventeen years ago (as of the most recent update of this article) and I feel the same way today.
The analogy I think of, when considering the issue is this: suppose you went to an ice cream store. There were two flavors you were debating between… both of them your favorites. You look behind the counter and see a room full of puppies in the back. The manager tells you that if you order flavor A, nothing happens, you get your ice cream and enjoy it. But if you choose flavor B, they go back and kill one of the puppies. Just about nobody would choose flavor B. The difference just isn’t worth it. Well this is how it is for me every day. Every hamburger I see is the choice to kill a cow rather than eat something else. Every pepperoni is a pig that died because I didn’t choose mushrooms or onions on my pizza. For me, it just isn’t worth it.
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