In the world today there are various dietary habits that people have adopted and follow religiously, some more than others. These dietary habits are seen as conscious decisions about what is to be consumed. A diet is a compilation of what an organism consumes and humans are naturally considered omnivores. An omnivore can acquire its energy and nutritional needs by eating various food sources. If we as humans have developed the body mechanics and evolutionary changes to consume meat then why have some religious groups decided to abstain from consuming animal food products? Historically, humans have consumed a wide range of food sources, including animal products. One religious group in particular, the followers of Jainism, have taken vegetarianism to extremes.
The term vegetarian comes from the Latin root “Vigitore” which means strength and health. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary it states that a vegetarian is a person who uses and/or advocates a diet of vegetable foods, eggs and milk may also be consumed, but meat is not allowed. It needs to be noted that in the strict sense a vegetarian should not consume milk or eggs. When the vegetarian diet was adopted in western culture, variations were created to be more specific about the diet’s general make-up and nutritional attributes. The vegetarian categories are split into 5 groups:
Most Indian groups would be considered ovolacto-vegetarians, but strict Jains would be considered a mix between fruitarians and vegans
Jainism is a religion of India that teaches the way of life conducive to harmlessness and renunciation. Jains are concerned with the welfare of the Universe and all of its inhabitants. All life forces should be treated with equal respect and value. Taking upon a vege...
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Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: The Penguin Press, 2006. Print.
As believed, vegetarianism had been originally founded in ancient India and was generally formed on ethical and moral issues. There were two religions that were the first ones who accepted vegetarianism. Hinduism made a cow a sacred animal. Over the time, there were other reasons founded by Hindus that encourage them to be vegetarians: Ahimsa principle that obliges not to injure a living creature, a fear of negative karmic impact and dietary purity. Since there was no religious law prohibiting the consummation of meat, the strong commitment to vegetarianism was based mostly on moral reasons. Buddhism had distinctive reasons for supporting vegetarianism. One of them is the first precept that tells not to kill any living organism. In addition to prohibition of killing, there was also a requirement not to participate in the murder and not to be the cause of death of a living creature. However, there was an amendment that if the animal is already dead and the man did not kill him specifically ...
Fisher, Mary Pat. "Chapter 5: Buddhsim." Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005. 150-62. Print.
A person that avoids any animal products, as in any meats or animal-derived foods is considered a vegetarian. This is the general classification of a vegetarian. It is a challenge to classify a vegetarian; many variations were created to suit certain diets. Lactovegetarians are vegetarians that consume milk and dairy products. Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but no dairy products, and some do consume honey. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians exclude meats and seafood’s but consume dairy products and eggs. The lacto-ovo-vegetarian eating pattern also consists of legumes, seeds and nuts. Vegans are the only pure vegetarians; they exclude all animal derived foods. There are also people that classify themselves as near vegetarians, for example macrobiotic diets. The macrobiotic diet consists mostly grains, legumes and vegetables and limited amounts of fish. There is also an instance where people will adopt being a vegetarian occasionally; this is called being a flexitarian.
...ld note that all three religions, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, have been the dominant, prevailing religious trends in India for many centuries, and they clearly reflect the culture, history, and spirituality of the country. All three of these religions effectively reflect the views of believers on life, death and honorable conduct. Nonetheless, despite the fact that they are very much related with each other, each has some distinct features distinguishing it from all others, and contributes to the understanding of the religious background in India both at the beginning of the new era of humanity, and in the contemporary period of time.
Meat has become a part of our culture in our country, where it is expected as part of each meal of the day. But the production of the meat raises questions on whether eating meat is ethical in people’s eyes. Studies in recent years have shown that the growing impact of our meat eating culture, has negatively affected different aspects around us. The problem is not about whether people should or should not eat meat, but that we should focus on how the production of meat can have negative affects and how we can limit those problems.
Eliot, Sir Charles. HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. 1921. Vol. 1. London: ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD, 1954. 3 vols. wisdom library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
Is it morally permissible to eat meat? Much argument has arisen in the current society on whether it is morally permissible to eat meat. Many virtuous fruitarians and the other meat eating societies have been arguing about the ethics of eating meat (which results from killing animals). The important part of the dispute is based on the animal welfare, nutrition value from meat, convenience, and affordability of meat-based foods compared to vegetable-based foods and other factors like environmental moral code, culture, and religion. All these points are important in justifying whether humans are morally right when choosing to eat meat. This paper will argue that it is morally impermissible to eat meat by focusing on the treatment of animals, the environmental argument, animal rights, pain, morals, religion, and the law.
As believed, vegetarianism was originally founded in ancient India and was generally formed on ethical and moral issues. There were two religions that first accepted vegetarianism: Hinduism made the cow a sacred animal, something to be respected and admired, and over time, these ideals evolved from mere ideas to commonplace social practices. Ahimsa is the principle that...
Frey, R. (2013). Moral Vegetarianism and the Argument from Pain and Suffering. In L. Vaughn, Contemporary Moral Arguments - Readings in Ethical Issues Second Edition (pp. 622-627). New York: Oxford University Press.
The amount of people becoming vegetarians these days is growing. There are a few different types of vegetarians for example; the lacto-ovo vegetarian doesn’t eat any animal products except milk and eggs. Another type of vegetarian is the vegan, they exclude all animal products.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be
However, many people still refuse to be a vegetarian for different reasons. Some people prefer the taste of meat, and some people believe that they are born to eat meat. Despite that about 2 billion people in the world live basically on the meat diet, around 4 billion people live mainly on a plant-based diet because of food shortage(Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). As everyone knows, the number of population is growing. For example, the total U.S. population doubled in the previous 60 years, and it may double again in the next 70 years (Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). People won’t have enough meat to eat in the future. On the other hand, a well-planned vegetarian diet offers many health benefits. Therefore, people should become vegetarian because it benefits to huma...