The other day, couple of friends and I were going out for lunch. We were walking on the pavement and there were couple of ants on the path. Since a kid, I was always interested in ants. This post isn't about one of the successful species of the earth but a conversation which took place.
I asked them to be watchful of the steps and not to trample / step over them. I was showered with questions, arguments and praises (pun intended). One of them said, "You eat chicken (he meant you're a non vegetarian) don't you feel bad?" Other, "Who on earth has time to watch and be mindful?"
Hmmm think about it. Do they have a point here? Human, the most busiest animal on earth, sweating hard to earn money, kill others, expanding his horizons of knowledge, doing good stuff to other HUMANS. Now where has he got the time for ants? Of what use it? Aren't they right?
No sir, they are not. I say, as long as you do not have a purpose you shouldn't take a life. Am neither a supporter of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals nor People For Eating Tasty Animals, but when you kill a hen, you have a purpose. You may want to call it for survival, necessity, part of diet etc., Good, bad or ugly park it aside, you have a purpose.
Now, you have no purpose when you stamp on / trample / kill an ant which is going about on its own course. You're wasting a life and are not giving it a chance it attain its true purpose.
Basing on the premise above, one argued, "Terrorists also have a purpose then, to kill people. So what if it's a bad one. Do you support it?" To which I replied, "Humans are part of food chain. When they kill an animal they have a purpose. They don't kill an animal after baptizing it or since a particular person of a particular religion is rearing / domesticating it. killing in the name of god or honour killing has no purpose at all. It can never be categorized as a purpose. If I am vegetarian and you aren't the purpose of your killing an animal according to me is bad since it doesn't serve my purpose of satisfying hunger and to you it is good since it serves your purpose. Terrorism has no purpose. It doesn't value life. It just takes away the purpose of life."
The third one then presented two quotes by Leo Tolstoy, "A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite." and by David Brenner, "A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children." So can't you survive without eating meat?
The answer is broad. Man has evolved over a period of time and started farming much later before he started to feed himself with meat (rather raw meat). As human races evolved some became nomads, some farmers, some kings etc, What we eat determines our genetic structure. They say eating meat makes you merciless. So should a king be, merciless in a battle and strong. Aren't vegetarians strong? Could be. That's why the purpose of killing for them could be bad and good for the rest. Now imagine, you're a soldier lost in a forest, how do you survive? By eating snakes, frogs and what not. Now, if you're adamant on not killing you'll die. Do you see a purpose? In the struggle to kill a snake, he might die too. Can you blame the snake? The stronger simply survived. So as Bradley Mille said, " Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child, as it is to the caterpillar." So long as there is no purpose a life should never be taken away.
PS: I donot know the impact of the conversation but they actually watched their steps on our way back home :) Not sure if its because of my nagging or they realised something. I sincerely hope its latter.
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