To Meat or Not to Meat: The Decision

I feel very strong and passionate about certain topics such as global warming, the war, human rights, animal rights... these are just a few. I am very concerned about global warming. I try to encourage people around me to recycle and be generally conscientious about their effect on the earth and the other inhabitants herein. I am working really hard to obtain an alternative fuel vehicle. Every time I sit in my regular gasoline eating-war-generating-car I feel this pain of guilt in my head and in my heart. I just cannot take it anymore! However, I admit that I am not at a point in my life where I can just change things as quickly as I would like to.

When I see a movie or read something that effects the way I see the world and causes a change of perspective in my life, I feel responsible to tell everyone. I recently watched the movie, Earthlings (http://www.isawearthlings.com/) written/directed by Shaun Monson, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix and music by Moby. I am going to recommend this movie to every human being on earth. Please consider watching it. Do what you will with the information after you watch it. Be forewarned though, you will never be the same person you were after you see this movie. I haven't been able to think of anything else since viewing it 2 nights ago. If you want to know the real truth, I cried through this entire movie-- it was touching, shocking, and enlightening at the same time.

This is a very sensitive topic for many people: To Meat or not to Meat. I have chosen the no meat route before. I felt very good about it, but I got lazy and slowly the meat came back into my life, still not in excess. Not only do I view being a vegetarian as a responsible way to live without hurting other living things, but it also has health benefits which I enjoy. There are so many ways to get the nutrients we need in our modern world, that meat, or dead animal protein as my doctor calls it, really isn't necessary. My maternal grandfather was a farmer that raised cattle, lambs, chickens as well as crops on the dry farm of the hills in Porterville, Utah. He was a farmer all of his life as was his father before him. My paternal grandfather was a schoolteacher and other things, but moved his family to Shoshone, Idaho when my father was a teenager to live and work a dairy farm.

I grew up with the belief system that animals were mostly for eating. I liked the idea that it is ok to eat meat and as long as you didn't waste any part of the animal, and they didn't die in vain for 1 pot roast dinner. I was fine with that belief system, because somehow I always thought that all over the earth were these sweet little farms or ranches like the grandpas had where the animals were treated well, fed well, given proper veterinarian attention, and the animal as well as their by-products all had a good purpose for humanity. They ate grass or grain at their leisure, felt the warm sunshine on their backs, cared for their young and lived like the barn animals at the Zuckerman Farm in Charlotte's Web. Apparently, with our huge population and growing need for food-- this scenario that I have just described is non-existent. I won't go into detail, because I really want everyone to see this movie and form an opinion for themselves.

The religious aspect is a tough one. I will not go into great detail on this. Everyone must find their peace with God or the equivalent of a Higher Being and how they feel personally about animals and the treatment of animals. I personally feel that God probably is not pleased with the things I saw on this movie any more than I am. If God did create the earth and all things that inhabit it, I don't think that he wanted us to be so cruel to the other living beings on earth just because we are human.

I am not ok living in a world where people can treat animals or humans -- or any earthling-- with disrespect and all the other bad words that go along with disrespect. I don't believe that any living thing should die in vain. I have reconsidered the way that I live, the way that I will eat, the things that I will buy and the things that I will wear. This is not just some hastily made lifestyle change that will last for a few weeks. I am serious about this, I really need my family to read this and to understand my feelings on this topic. We should not be naive about our world and where our food comes from. We should not hide from the truth because we are afraid of the state of the environment. I am going to try really hard to do my part so that I can sleep at night knowing that I am not shirking my responsibility. I think I have said enough for today.

Buy this movie. Spread the word. Stand up for what is right so that you can shun that which is wrong.