In regards to eating meat

[3DMonkey]

Well, I don't disagree with Shemya's response, but My responses were applied to the hypothetical example as such. Please re-read them coming from that perspective because what I had to say was about such hypotheticals and what their purpose may be.

Thank you for seeing my comment the way I intended it.

I did reread your comments. From a certain perspective, I can see how you would think I was trying to get your personal "revenge" feelings engaged. In a way, this is true, in the sense that I wanted to find an analogous example which those who are human-oriented would "get." It was not meant as a personal attack at all.

It is understandable from an instinctive perspective that humans would have more empathy and connection to their "tribe"--other humans. But I have always been different in this respect; I see all things as equal. I do have different responses to human suffering or death, in that I cannot disregard my physical body, genetic programming, and societal influences entirely; I grieve differently, more deeply and with more complexity, over the loss of my brother than my pet Fluffy, but I don't grieve less (if that makes sense). My compassion has always extended to all life.

To answer your question: As for extending compassion to vegetation, this has been explored extensively in this thread, but I don't mind recapping here. I do feel compassion for vegetation. I wrote a short story about trees as a result of the pain I felt when seeing them cut down in neighbors' yards. All life wants to live. The thing about vegetation is that it is made to be eaten, at least in part. All vegetation has seeds that will propagate by animals eating them. Plants thrive when pruned. All this suggests to me that taking plant life for food is less cruel than taking animal life. We must eat at this juncture in our evolution. Plant life is obviously a gentler, less cruel, and more balance ecologically (because it is more renewable) choice.

I do not condone commercial farming methods for vegetation, in the same way I don't condone commercial farming of animals. Ideally, the farming of vegetable food would be kinder, and with respect (being in communication with the plants for instance). Not poisoning and depleting the soil for short-term profit.

Given a choice between commercially farmed animals and vegetables, I would choose the vegetables. There is so much more cruelty in the meat industry, so much more. This is why I think plant-based diets are a step in the right direction.

I really don't have an opinion one way or the other regarding industries.

My only opinion is about eating, and what you have justified as your choice is nothing different than the method of justification used by other choices in eating. With that in plain sight, there can be no choice "better" than an other's. However one likes to subjectively define "better".