Originally Posted by
Yieu
I personally don't advocate veganism, though I do recognize that it is practical in most places in the world. I don't think it's wrong to have honey, milk, or wear wool because they can be obtained with minimal or no harm to the animal and don't require killing. I also think that for most people, lacto-vegetarianism is easier and more practical, because dairy is healthy and would contain anything someone might be worried about missing from animal products, though those nutrients can also be found in plant sources.
One of the reasons I find libertarian and similar philosophies interesting is the non-aggression principle. To me, the NAP is basically the moral value of ahimsa, or non-violence to all species in word and deed, so I feel that it meshes nicely with my faith. To me, the libertarian non-aggression principle (ahimsa) is the reason not to cause harm to other humans and animals except in self defense. It is basically extending the golden rule to all of God's sentient creation. In this sense, lacto-vegetarianism can be seen as either neutral, libertarian, or conservative.
There are aspects about the vegan movement that I don't agree with that make it seem like more of a political movement or a boycott based on agreeing with a particular set of beliefs, and some of those aspects could be seen as left-wing by association of those who tend to take to the beliefs I suppose. For example, I don't think there is something wrong with taking milk from another species "because it wasn't meant for us", and I don't think it's wrong to use animals for labor if they're treated well, and I don't make terrible comparisons to "rape" to refer to animal husbandry. These are some of the aspects of veganism that I feel are more of a personal opinion than a universal ethic or religious moral, and part of why I feel lacto-vegetarianism is more practical in general for most people. I have encountered vegans that are so radical that they even hate vegetarians, but I know they're not all like that, and I think they are doing something positive by abstaining from flesh.
Well, I actually don't think of myself as a vegan either and I don't always call myself one. (Even though I eat a vegan diet and I avoid leather, fur, etc.) I don't agree with vegans on a few things, because many of the hard-core vegans have ideas that are unbiblical. The only problem is, there's not really a word for vegan from a Christian perspective.
I definitely agree with you on the nonaggression principle, but respectfully, I disagree with you on dairy. I think many people are unaware that there is actually a lot of harm involved with dairy, starting with the calf being torn away from his mother, usually at day one of his life. Then the male calves are either discarded like garbage or raised for veal and killed at a young age, without giving them a chance to move around because their muscles need to be soft. The female calves are raised to be milk machines, forcibly impregnated over and over and completely exploited until they're too tired to go on, and at that point they're usually killed for cheap hamburger meat.
Here is a quote that I think is powerful and eloquent:
"I became a vegan the day I watched a video of a calf being born on a factory farm. The baby was dragged away from his mother before he hit the ground. The helpless calf strained its head backwards to find his mother. The mother bolted after her son and exploded into a rage when the rancher slammed the gate on her. She wailed the saddest noise I’d ever heard an animal make, and then thrashed and ...dug into the ground, burying her face in the muddy placenta.
I had no idea what was happening respecting brain chemistry, animal instinct, or whatever. I just knew that this was deeply wrong. I just knew that such suffering could never be worth the taste of milk and veal. I empathized with the cow and the calf and, in so doing, my life changed."
- James McWilliams
And here are some videos…
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