Suppose a species of deer who are persons evolved. And suppose one of the deer discovered that meat tastes good. Would it be permissible for the deer to kill animals from non-person species for meat?
The answer is contained in your question. It's OK for persons to eat non-persons. Personhood is the root of morality.
The real question is how to tell a person from a non-person.
Some vegetarians still eat fish, or eggs. I personally feel guilty for eating plants, since those were alive too. But you gotta face it - everybody has to eat somebody.
I am not sure myself. It may be that only those persons whose nature involves carnivorous feeding on conscious animals are permitted to eat conscious animals. Non-conscious animals -- maybe insects? -- are morally-speaking not incredibly different from plants.
"Suppose a species of deer who are persons evolved. And suppose one of the deer discovered that meat tastes good. Would it be permissible for the deer to kill animals from non-person species for meat?"
Duh, of course it would. I do it all the time. In fact, I spent last Friday and Saturday doing just that goose hunting on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Goose hunting in a Polar Vortex is lots of fun. My call was freezing and my fingers were trying to freeze to my gun, but lots of fun all around. Had some geese come in real perfect and all I had to do was just put my bead on the birds! The best thing I did was switch from Black Cloud BB shot with the 1 1/4 ounce load to the Kent Faststeel No. 2 shot with the 1 3/8 ounce load and I used a Carlson's Modified Waterfowl choke in my Remington 11-87.
Now some of the meat eating and animal hunting deer might take a chance at taking down a deer hunter or two. There are some animals out there who hunt the human hunters that are hunting them. This has been seen with Polar bears and Grizzlies. A hunting party would be tracking the bear only to find that the bear had been tracking and hunting them the whole time! One of my friends, Father Zigmunt, had done pastoral work in Alaska. He said that when a priest went out on the circuit, he never went alone, and some one always went with him. And both of them had guns because of the bears.
As for vegetarians feeling guilty eating plants - life eats life. The only thing to feel guilty about is not saying grace over your meal and thanking God for the food on your plate!
Now about animals eating persons. Here is a story:
An atheist was walking in the woods when a Grizzly bear pounced on him. As the Grizzly was about to kill and eat him, the terrified atheist cried out "God help me!"
God appeared on the scene, perplexed that some one who doesn't believe in His existence would ask Him for help. So God asked "If you don't believe in me, why are you asking me for help?"
"This bear is trying to eat me." replied the atheist.
"And what do you want me to do?" asked God.
"Save me." said the atheist
"Do you want me to make you a Christian?" asked God.
"No." replied the atheist.
"Then what?" inquired God.
"Make the bear a Christian." the atheist begged.
"Very well." replied God, and He turned the bear into a Christian.
The bear put the atheist down, and put his paws together and began to pray "Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts . . ."
Now vegetarians are such kind hearted people. They love animals and would never think to hurt them. They see us hunters as such cruel and evil people. According to them it would be good for all humanity if humanity were all vegetarian. After all such nice, non-violent, compassionate people like Mahatma Gandhi were vegetarians. There is this vegetarian described by the a magazine article of the German New Thought movement many, many, many years ago:
"Do you know that your Führer is a vegetarian, and that he does not eat meat because of his general attitude toward life and his love for the world of animals? Do you know that your Führer is an exemplary friend of animals, and even as a chancellor, he is not separated from the animals he has kept for years?...The Führer is an ardent opponent of any torture of animals, in particular vivisection, and has declared to terminate those conditions...thus fulfilling his role as the savior of animals, from continuous and nameless torments and pain."
I just got back from hanging out with some fellow members of the Matttapany Rod and Gun Club who were cutting up a deer. I ran this post past them. The consensus was that the evolved meat eating deer should hunt redneck hunters because they taste like beer. :-)
I would think so. I'm not sure but it wouldn't surprise me if they've already discovered that certain species of insects taste good.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is contained in your question. It's OK for persons to eat non-persons. Personhood is the root of morality.
ReplyDeleteThe real question is how to tell a person from a non-person.
Some vegetarians still eat fish, or eggs. I personally feel guilty for eating plants, since those were alive too. But you gotta face it - everybody has to eat somebody.
This reminds me of the dolphins in Taiji, Japan.
I am not sure myself. It may be that only those persons whose nature involves carnivorous feeding on conscious animals are permitted to eat conscious animals. Non-conscious animals -- maybe insects? -- are morally-speaking not incredibly different from plants.
ReplyDelete"Suppose a species of deer who are persons evolved. And suppose one of the deer discovered that meat tastes good. Would it be permissible for the deer to kill animals from non-person species for meat?"
ReplyDeleteDuh, of course it would. I do it all the time. In fact, I spent last Friday and Saturday doing just that goose hunting on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Goose hunting in a Polar Vortex is lots of fun. My call was freezing and my fingers were trying to freeze to my gun, but lots of fun all around. Had some geese come in real perfect and all I had to do was just put my bead on the birds! The best thing I did was switch from Black Cloud BB shot with the 1 1/4 ounce load to the Kent Faststeel No. 2 shot with the 1 3/8 ounce load and I used a Carlson's Modified Waterfowl choke in my Remington 11-87.
Now some of the meat eating and animal hunting deer might take a chance at taking down a deer hunter or two. There are some animals out there who hunt the human hunters that are hunting them. This has been seen with Polar bears and Grizzlies. A hunting party would be tracking the bear only to find that the bear had been tracking and hunting them the whole time! One of my friends, Father Zigmunt, had done pastoral work in Alaska. He said that when a priest went out on the circuit, he never went alone, and some one always went with him. And both of them had guns because of the bears.
As for vegetarians feeling guilty eating plants - life eats life. The only thing to feel guilty about is not saying grace over your meal and thanking God for the food on your plate!
Now about animals eating persons. Here is a story:
ReplyDeleteAn atheist was walking in the woods when a Grizzly bear pounced on him. As the Grizzly was about to kill and eat him, the terrified atheist cried out "God help me!"
God appeared on the scene, perplexed that some one who doesn't believe in His existence would ask Him for help. So God asked "If you don't believe in me, why are you asking me for help?"
"This bear is trying to eat me." replied the atheist.
"And what do you want me to do?" asked God.
"Save me." said the atheist
"Do you want me to make you a Christian?" asked God.
"No." replied the atheist.
"Then what?" inquired God.
"Make the bear a Christian." the atheist begged.
"Very well." replied God, and He turned the bear into a Christian.
The bear put the atheist down, and put his paws together and began to pray "Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts . . ."
Now vegetarians are such kind hearted people. They love animals and would never think to hurt them. They see us hunters as such cruel and evil people. According to them it would be good for all humanity if humanity were all vegetarian. After all such nice, non-violent, compassionate people like Mahatma Gandhi were vegetarians. There is this vegetarian described by the a magazine article of the German New Thought movement many, many, many years ago:
ReplyDelete"Do you know that your Führer is a vegetarian, and that he does not eat meat because of his general attitude toward life and his love for the world of animals? Do you know that your Führer is an exemplary friend of animals, and even as a chancellor, he is not separated from the animals he has kept for years?...The Führer is an ardent opponent of any torture of animals, in particular vivisection, and has declared to terminate those conditions...thus fulfilling his role as the savior of animals, from continuous and nameless torments and pain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler_and_vegetarianism
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from hanging out with some fellow members of the Matttapany Rod and Gun Club who were cutting up a deer. I ran this post past them. The consensus was that the evolved meat eating deer should hunt redneck hunters because they taste like beer. :-)
ReplyDelete"It's OK for persons to eat non-persons."
ReplyDelete"Non-conscious animals -- maybe insects? -- are morally-speaking not incredibly different from plants."
I'm just so grateful that at least in this country I am legally considered a person and that I'm not in a coma.