We must campaign for humane killing of animals
Some people base their vegetarianism on the Buddhist First Precept or the Christian 6th Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill". One recent letter writer said that this edict was unqualified, and then proceeded to qualify it himself by applying it only to the
If the edict is truly unqualified we must carry it to its logical conclusion and apply it to the vegetable world too, for nowhere is the cyclical nature of life better illustrated than in the vegetable kingdom. Seeds, nuts, bulbs and tubers are living things with the potential to grow and reproduce. When we boil up our pot of rice or chop up an onion we are interfering in this eternal cycle and killing the plant. Even the leaves are living things, producing nutrients a plant needs to mature and reproduce. If we go into the forest and chop down a majestic tree, perhaps hundreds of years old, in order to build a house or make a table or chair, we are killing it.
Carry this logic to its ultimate conclusion and we should all become Breatharians (living without eating). That would kill two birds with one stone (if you will excuse the expression) by rapidly reducing overpopulation.
Of course, people will say I am being ridiculous. But I use this to illustrate the fact that life is a compromise. If I chose to compromise more or less than you, depending on your viewpoint, so be it. Just leave me alone and let us both get on with our lives.
And to those people whose vegetarianism is based on the ill-treatment of animals, I say we must all campaign for the humane farming and killing of the animals most of us will continue to eat.
David Brown
Rayong
