Get real. Life is 'cruel'. When lions hunt, they kill their prey by biting their throat and letting them suffocate to death. Even maggots of certain flies eat their prey alive from the inside out. So embrace your inner nature. Man was meant to be a carnivore and always has been. The very act of killing itself necessitates cruelty. So stop treating cruelty as though it's such a bad thing.
Turning veg has no beneficial effect on easing the sufferings of this world whatsoever- just a delusion that you're doing something to help.
Let me breakdown your argument and show to you how flawed it is.
You first claim that animals like lions and insects like maggots kill their prey in a painful manner and thus it is justifiable that we humans do the same too. Let me ask you this, lions kill one another over territorial battles, there are plenty of species of insects that are cannibalistic. So what do you propose? That we immediately legalize murders and start eating one another??
There is a reason why we call ourselves humans and not just another animal species. And it is because humanity has the ability to rise against instincts and take deliberate actions based on thought and logic. It is what that separates us from the animal world.
Animals kill to satisfy their hunger, they appear to kill their prey in a painful manner because that is the only way they know how to kill. Nature did not equip them with some instant death weapon via which they can kill prey immediately. Now contrast this with what humans have been doing. The Fois gras is a perfect example.....we torture animals so that they can provide us with some delicacy, though we have all the means and tools necessary to put a quick and painless end to these creatures. This is not about satisfying ones hunger but rather about having a perverted notion about food and how it is to be prepared.
Animals don’t run factory farms where prey is kept in appalling conditions from birth to death. Prey roams the natural world freely until they are target by the predators. Again, contrast this to what humans have been doing in animal farms. Right from the birth of the poor animal it is subjected to immense pain and suffering before it is finally killed, which usually is by some grotesque means.
To justify meat eating and indirectly support animal farms and animal cruelty because of the predatory instincts of the animal world is utterly myopic, puerile and completely void of wisdom and logic.
Your next claim that turning vegetarian does not do anything to ease the suffering of the world. Do you know the amount of food that a cow
eats in its lifetime before it is slaughtered? The lands that are used to cultivate animal fodder, if put to agricultural purpose can feed a population
100 times over. It is well know that pure fertile agricultural land is being wasted to produce animal fodder. Do you know that cattle is a primary emitter of green house gas? A significant reduction in cattle meant for consumption would go a long way in minimizing green house gas emissions.
Do you know how these animals (chickens, cattle etc) are grown these days? Do you know about the myriad growth hormones and chemicals and
antibiotics they are injected with so that they can reach their maximum size faster? Do you know that when consumed these chemicals actually get deposited in our bodies causing cancer and what not. If the world were to reduce its meat consumption it certainly would find itself healthier.
I have given points to counter your argument. Now it’s your turn. Please enlighten me on why I might be delusional.
And for those who would want to explore and educate themselves and make this world a better place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWF9AcnaepA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwmwu--ZsZs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqtfqX-YrIg
These videos address the benefit of vegetarianism from 3 perspectives:
1. Ethical
2. Social
3. Health
