I've spent the last year or so eating animal products. I blame this on a number of things. The first and foremost being my struggle with depression (Actually, bipolar II). I got to a point where I didn't want to have to think about what I ate because I simply could not think about much of anything. There are other reasons, but this is the most important to me and the most effective when explaining my decision to other people. But...I've come to realize there is no truly good reason for my decision. I just had a change of mind, of which I cannot really explain. I've thought and thought about it, but I simply cannot come up with a good enough excuse. And, for me, this is a problem.
How could I do it knowing what I know about animal suffering? Cognitive dissonance. I simply turned off that part of me that knew better. I turned off the compassion. If one is good enough at this (and I think most people are, or at least can learn to be) any guilty pangs one normally feels can be quashed. Each time that niggling in the back of my mind started to surface, I mercilessly shoved it back into the dark recesses of my mind until it could do nothing effective.
I suppose a lot of people do this. I know friends and family who admit they have seen the videos and read the articles, but continue to eat animals anyway saying something like, "I don't want to think about it". I use to judge these people as cruel, uncaring (when it comes to animals) and ignorant. I'm reminded of the passage in the Bible, "Do not judge lest you be judged". Know I know what those people are thinking and how they are able to do what they do in the face of the data. I've become one of those people.
I've also found it difficult to decide why I should stop eating animals. I was a Christian. The church branch I was a part of believed in regular fasting. The fasting promoted was basically a vegan diet. Except for a few occasional exceptions on certain days, one was to only eat vegetables, fruit and bread. A plant based diet was built into the church practice. But, maybe because of the depression, I bounced back and forth between atheism and religion as I began to learn outside of my religious upbringing. This caused me to try to fast and then to abandon the practice in an irregular cycle. It was very frustrating.
The difficulty with veganism by religion (at least my religion) was that eating animals wasn't looked at as being wrong. Not harming animals was simply the byproduct of the fasting. The fact is the Bible, and Christianity in general, not only allows the consumption of animals, but it justifies it. In some places, primarily in the Old Testament, it commands it. Animals were once killed by the tens of thousands every year simply to be burned to ash for the purpose of the absolution of one's sins. It is true that in the New Testament, supposedly instituted by Jesus and his followers, the killing of animals in place of the believer in payment for his or her sins is no longer commanded. But that is the rub: no where does the Scripture command or even suggest the killing of animals for any other reason. Besides the sacrificial system, the Old Testament's views on animals still stands.
All of this is to say, if you use the Christian religion (maybe even most religions) in an attempt to justify veganism or condemn the harming of animals, one is doomed to a very confusing time at best. Even religions like Hinduism seem ineffective against the eating of animals, even the sacred cows. True, a great number of Hindus are, at the very least, vegetarians. But a good many are not. Either because they particular brand of the religion allows it or, which is more likely, the adherents simply don't care any more about the injunction. Something common to all religions, including Christianity.
Not eating animals is best done from an adjustment of our morals based on enlightenment values, especially that of reason. We know from both observation and science that animals suffer. They do a lot more analogous to humans, but they especially suffer. We can look at the data, look at the animals and make an informed and accurate decision concerning their suffering. It is true that even children have a natural aversion to animal suffering and eating animal flesh appears to be, although I am not an expert in this, wholly a learned behavior. But as adults we have every responsibility to use our capacity for reason to understand the situation and do something about it. So why don't we?
I am going to be thinking more about this over the next few days, but I am going to go back to veganism. This time not because of religion but because I know that the suffering of animals is a real thing and because not hurting them is the reasonable thing to do.
Where is compassion in all of this? That is important too, but I don't know if one can get to that point without knowing at least some of the facts. Compassion as a gut reaction can only get someone so far. At least, that is the case for me. What about empathy? As far as pain goes, I suppose I can feel for the animal to a certain extent. But realistically, it is impossible to truly put yourself in the place of animals because of their inability to communicate in any detail what they are truly feeling. I am not a cow or a pig or a chicken, even though I am an animal. Any sort of empathetic reaction I have will simply be the result of anthropomorphize the animal and I am not convinced that is a good way about this. I may be wrong here, but I think reason and compassion are the only way to steadfastly hold to one's position, the right position, when it comes down to it.
These are my thoughts, right or wrong. But they will help me better to understand the plight of the animals and do something to reduce their suffering, including gong back to a plant based diet and stick to it for the rest of my life.
