Originally Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Written by: Metal Lex
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 13, and at one point in time, I was vegan (for 2 years). I have never once tried to impose or project my beliefs of animals’ rights on anyone else. In fact, I didn’t become a vegetarian because I felt bad for animals, I became a vegetarian because I have an allergy to meat, or flesh if you will. After countless doctor visits and blood work, I finally was told that meat entirely debilitates (sp?) my digestive track. If someone wants to have an intelligent, credible conversation with me about my beliefs, I have no gripe. All opinions of mine are based on some form of truth. I feel that your words should be impeccable, so if I’m making a case for vegetarians, then I better have some data, or credible sources to support my claims. While I was driving to San Fran, I happened to pass a slaughterhouse. I had forgotten it was on the way, but I was quickly reminded from the stench of cow manure that permeated the air for 10 miles. As I turned my head to the left, I could see thousands and thousands of cows, bulls, and calves, stretching 3 miles, maybe even more. Even from 300 yards away, you could see the rib cages on some cows, others were noticeably malnourished. I have spoken, philosophically so to speak, with many carnivores. Often times they raise the argument that animals were created for man to hunt. I really believe, that in the cosmic scheme of things, it was not intended for thousands of cows to be bread for the sole purpose of slaughtering them. And if it was fully intended, I don’t believe that these animals were meant to live in such repulsive conditions. If you choose to eat meat, then I feel you should be able to take that ax to the animal’s head, kill it, gut it, and then eat it. For every ounce of meat that is thrown down the garbage can or disposal, that’s one creature’s life that is lost. It’s almost the same for capital punishment. You support it, then support it by injecting the lethal dose into the vein. I’m tired of people not being accountable for their opinions and beliefs. If you’re going to eat the cow, then where’s your fucking bow and arrow? Where’s the time and energy it takes to raise that cattle, the food, etc. Lastly, it’s obvious that the world is over-populated. I’m sorry if there aren’t enough cows to feed the world, but that doesn’t mean we should breed more to keep up with the surplus of people. The more people, the more cows that are killed, and the more holes in the ozone (no joke). This in no way is a plea to anyone to become a vegetarian or a vegan. I didn’t become one because of animal rights, but as I was driving past the slaughterhouse, I realized that now, there’s something more to it than just allergies for me.
