On 8/30/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Doug Henwood</b> <<a href="mailto:dhenwood@panix.com">dhenwood@panix.com</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>>Any individual is entitled to believe and act on<br>>the belief that humans should not participate in<br>>a cycle of consumption that involves animals.<br>>However, this idea of morality is culturally<br>
>specific. It would be difficult to argue that<br>>tribal communities who for millennia admired and<br>>emulated the qualities of the animals they<br>>reverently killed for meat were immoral. For<br>>example, can we really claim that the Inuit,
<br>>whose livelihood has depended on the sea animals<br>>they hunted, respect animals less then we do?<br>></blockquote><div><br>
The cultural opposition to vegetarianism is not restricted to fringe
tribes. The Islamic scholar Mawil Izzi Dien, in his recent book
"The
Environmental Dimensions of Islam", goes so far as to assert the
following:
<blockquote>According to Islamic Law there are no grounds upon which
one can argue that animals should not be killed for food. The Islamic
legal opinion on this issue is based on clear Qur'anic verses. Muslims
are not only prohibited from eating certain food, but also may not
choose to prohibit themselves food that is allowed by Islam.
Accordingly vegetarianism is not permitted unless on grounds such as
unavailability or medical necessity. Vegetarianism is not allowed under
the pretext of giving priority to the interest of animals because such
decisions are God's prerogative.(1)
</blockquote>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Vegetarianism may well be a superior<br>>moral position, but, if everyone adopted it, the
<br>>world would not revert to peacefulness as some<br>>writers would have us believe. The world is far<br>>too crowded for universal hunting and gathering;<br>>humans would need to grow crops and would be<br>
>obliged to slaughter, even if they did not eat,<br>>the resurgent wild animals that would compete<br>>for their harvests.<br>><br>>Moreover, on a global scale, vegetarianism for<br>>all is unecological. There are many sustainable
<br>>integrated systems around the world that produce<br>>animals and plants for human consumption in<br>>which eliminating animals would decrease both<br>>sustainability and food output. </blockquote></div><br>
QED.<br>
<br>
Sujeet<br>