[MD] vegetarianism

[Damian Gerow]

I'm going to ignore the 'what we really are' debate here.

Thus spake Jos Laycock (jos5 at hotmail.co.uk) [08/11/06 03:28]:
: S'not correct, depends on how much you think before you eat.

Agreed.

: I see it that vegitarianism is a suppression of biological urges by a 
: cultural morality,

You're generalizing.

I have no biological urges to eat meat.  In fact, eating meat makes me want
to vomit.  Especially when I think about what I'm eating.  And though I may
be a minority, I'm definitely not alone in this.

: There's nothing wrong with vegitarianism provided that the higher morality 
: doesn't threten to pull the rug out from under its own feet. 1st question 
: then is: Can a diet that excludes meat genuinely sustain nutrient intake in 
: a way that is comparable to one that doesn't? and secondly: What if one 

I haven't had meat for about a decade.  I take no suppliments.  Yet I've had
no serious health problems in those ten years: my iron content is fine, I
get more than enough protein, and I have zero problems with B5 (the Big
Three problems that face vegetarians).

In fact, I tend to /not/ come down with whatever seasonal flu/cold bug that
is going around.  I haven't actually been sick in years.

Please drop the 'vegetarianism is healthier' or 'meat eating is healthier'
debate.  Both are wrong: you can eat unhealthily whether or not you eat
meat.

: becomes so crazed with meat withdrawal that all useful intellectual thought 
: becomes impossible?

Wow, uh...  I don't even know how to respond to that question.  If someone
becomes uncapable of intellectual thought due to a desire to eat meat, then
that person should probably be eating meat.

: Have you seen a vegitarian in the prezence of frying bacon?

If a vegetarian's mouth waters in the presence of frying bacon, I'd
postulate that they're not really a vegetarian at all.  Personally, though I
enjoy the smell of frying bacon, the thought of eating it disgusts me.

My personal feelings: there are meat eaters, and there are non-meat eaters.
You can eat meat ethically, and you can avoid meat ethically.  Personally,
I'm not a meat eater, but that's my decision for myself, and not for you.