{"id":202,"date":"2010-01-09T14:37:38","date_gmt":"2010-01-09T14:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/?p=202"},"modified":"2010-01-09T14:37:38","modified_gmt":"2010-01-09T14:37:38","slug":"vegetarianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/?p=202","title":{"rendered":"Vegetarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you one of those growing number of people who have decided
\n that meat eating is wrong whichever way you look at it – either
\n morally, ethically, economically, spiritually or for health
\n reasons? If the answer is no, consider the following facts:<\/p>\n

Moral and Ethical reasons<\/h2>\n

In 2000 in the UK 700 million
\n innocent animals were slaughtered to satisfy the human palate.
\n Mankind goes on perpetrating these obscenities on the defenceless
\n creations of God and yet expects peace and happiness for itself.
\n Gandhiji said the following about cow protection but the same
\n sentiments apply to all animals – “Cow protection to me is
\n infinitely more than mere protection of the cow. The cow is
\n merely a type of all that lives. Cow protection means protection
\n of the weak, the helpless, the dumb and the deaf. Man becomes
\n then not the lord and master of all creation, but he is its
\n servant.” The next step in the progress of human
\n civilisation has to be the liberation of animals from the tyranny
\n of mankind.<\/p>\n

Economic reasons<\/h2>\n

When around 10 million people
\n are starving in the world today, most of the fertile land in the
\n USA and other European countries is used to grow crops to feed
\n animals, which are in turn consumed by human beings. This is an
\n absolutely wasteful way of feeding ourselves; e.g. for every 16
\n pounds of grains fed to cattle only one pound of meat is produced.
\n It is estimated that a 10% reduction in meat production will
\n result in enough grain to feed 10 million people.<\/p>\n

Health and nutritional reasons<\/h2>\n

Most of the modern killer
\n diseases are associated with the over-consumption of fats, mainly
\n animal derived. As early as 1961, the Journal of the American
\n Medical Association said: 90 – 97% of heart disease can be
\n avoided by a vegetarian diet. Meat is suspected of causing a host
\n of cancers such as cancer of the stomach, cancer of the breast,
\n cancer of the bowels, leukaemia and many others. Death by food
\n poisoning is also an ever present threat to meat-eaters. The high
\n level of cholesterol in eggs means that they must be avoided
\n completely if one wants to avoid heart disease. Nutritionally
\n speaking, vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains are an excellent
\n source of protein and are easier to assimilate than those of meat.<\/p>\n

Spiritual reasons<\/h2>\n

For every single action that we
\n perform there is a reaction. If we cause pain and suffering to
\n other living beings, then in this life and in the next, we will
\n in turn suffer the consequences of our impious activities. In the
\n Vedas it is mentioned that one who kills a cow will suffer the
\n same fate for as many lives as there are hairs on the cow he
\n killed. The reactions of karma equally affect those who kill,
\n deliver, sell, prepare, cook, serve and eat the meal. There is no
\n escape from the stringent laws of nature for anyone who aids and
\n abets the animal slaughter industry. Indeed all the major
\n religions advocate the ideals of vegetarianism:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Annushasen
    \n Parva, Mahabharat<\/strong> says “Undoubtedly all
    \n those human beings who prefer meat to several forms of
    \n food are like vultures.”<\/li>\n
  2. The Manusmrti<\/strong> says “All supporters of meat eating are sinners.”
    \n It further states, “One whose meat I eat will eat my
    \n flesh in the next life.”<\/li>\n
  3. The Christian Faith also
    \n says in Genesis (1.29)<\/strong> “Behold, I
    \n have given you every herb-bearing tree in which the fruit
    \n of the tree-yielding seed, it unto you shall be for meat.”<\/li>\n
  4. Guru Nanak<\/strong>,
    \n Founder of the Sikh Faith, said “My disciples do not
    \n take meat and wine.”<\/li>\n
  5. Lord Buddha<\/strong> said, “Meat is food for sub-human beings”.<\/li>\n
  6. The Acharang Sutra<\/strong> of the Jain Faith said, “All creatures desire self-preservation,
    \n hence no creature should be slaughtered.”<\/li>\n
  7. Gandhiji<\/strong> said “I do feel that spiritual progress does demand
    \n at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow
    \n creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Features of different entities’ diets: <\/p>\n

    \n
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Meat eater<\/th>\nPlant eater<\/th>\nhuman<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    Licks and drinks<\/td>\nSucks and drinks<\/td>\nSucks and drinks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Sharp, pointed front teeth to tear flesh<\/td>\nNo sharp, pointed teeth<\/td>\nNo sharp, pointed teeth<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Has claws<\/td>\nNo claws<\/td>\nNo claws<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Intestinal tract only three times body length, so
    \n that rapidly decaying meat can pass out of body quickly<\/td>\n    		Intestinal tract 10-12 times body length. Fruits do
    \n not decay as rapidly as meat so can pass more slowly
    \n throuogh body<\/td>\n    		Intestinal tract 10-12 times body length. Fruits do
    \n not decay as rapidly as meat so can pass more slowly
    \n throuogh body<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Small salivary glands in the mouth (not needed to pre-digest
    \n grains and fruits)<\/td>\n    		Well developed salivary glands, needed to pr24 September, 2008 #EndDate –>oped salivary glands, needed to pre-digest
    \n grains and fruits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Acid saliva. No enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains<\/td>\nAlkaline saliva. Much ptyalin to pre-digest grains<\/td>\nAlkaline saliva. Much ptyalin to pre-digest grains<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    No flat back molar teeth to grind food<\/td>\nFlat back molar teeth to grind food<\/td>\nFlat back molar teeth to grind food<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    They can see during night<\/td>\nCannot see during night<\/td>\nCannot see during night<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Can kill the prey without aid of weapons<\/td>\nDo not kill to eat<\/td>\nCannot generally kill without the aid of weapon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    They can digest raw meat easily<\/td>\nDo not eat meat<\/td>\nCannot digest raw meat easily<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Behaviour is generally voracious<\/td>\nBehaviour is not generally voracious<\/td>\nBecomes voracious by eating meat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Do not eat grass<\/td>\nDo not eat meat<\/td>\nShould not eat meat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    No skin pores. Perspires through the tongue to cool
    \n body<\/td>\n    		Perspires through millions of skin pores<\/td>\nPerspires through millions of skin pores<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    <\/center>\n <\/div>\n\n

    <\/td>\n

    		<\/td>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Are you one of those growing number of people who have decided that meat eating is wrong whichever way you look at it – either morally, ethically, economically, spiritually or for health reasons? If the answer is no, consider the following facts: Moral and Ethical reasons In 2000 in the UK 700 million innocent animals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegetarianism"],"views":9755,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iskconuk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}