Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!hoptoad!amdahl!amdcad!decwrl!ucbvax!rutgers!bellcore!wind!tr From: tr@wind.UUCP Newsgroups: alt.flame Subject: Animal rights hypocrisy Message-ID: <3823@bellcore.bellcore.com> Date: Wed, 25-Nov-87 08:54:28 EST Article-I.D.: bellcore.3823 Posted: Wed Nov 25 08:54:28 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 29-Nov-87 06:49:59 EST Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com Reply-To: tr@bellcore.bellcore.com (tom reingold) Distribution: alt Organization: Bellcore, Morristown, Noo Joizy Lines: 48 Rhonda, if some people who advocate "animal rights" are hypocritical, does that mean that the very concept is intrinsically hypocritical? No. Your sister got sick from a vegetarian diet, you say. What does that show? That it makes everyone sick? I doubt it. Many people thrive on such a diet. Some people can't tolerate it because metabolisms and body chemistries DIFFER among people. So what does this say about vegetarianism? Nothing. Brent, if they are "just animals" then you wouldn't mind my killing your pet dog. You don't have one? Ever had a friend who did? Would he mind? Should he? I would advocate a moderate view. Let's acknowledge the fact that animals are part of nature's balance and we should consider it carefully when we mess with that balance. Sometimes it is necessary! But to advocate doing it whenever the hell we please shows incomplete thinking. Rhonda, you are right when you say people shouldn't spurt blood on your coat because they think it's amusing. But that fact alone does not seem to imply your right to kill (or be responsible for killing) limitless numbers of animals. Here is an exmaple of what a moderate view might be: Eat moderate amounts of meat or none. When you eat it, consider that someone who values his life as much as you do yours, gave it up, surely against his will, fighting as he went down. Consider also, what it would have been like if you yourself had plunged the knife, not some distant, unknown meat packer. Buy leather shoes with the same consideration. (I do because nothing else protects my feet as well). Allow medical experiments with animals because they afford us our lifestyle, such as vaccinations, etc. I would not suggest the above as hard and fast. I would expect anyone reasonable to adapt it to someonhis taste. INVESTIGATE your point of view, don't just dogmatize it! Reflect on it and re-evaluate it. You may want to change your mind some day. I say this to both you who don't care how many animals you eat and those of you who think no animal should be sacrificed for the lives of many humans. Tom Reingold INTERNET: tr@bellcore.bellcore.com Bell Communications Research UUCP:!bellcore!tr 435 South St room 2L350 SOUNDNET: (201) 829-4622 [work] Morristown, NJ 07960 (201) 287-2345 [home]