Ever get those carnivores that insist it's ok because...

[Sidney Cozzoi]

I have found some have a set of beliefs that have taught them that it's ok to eat of animals for various reasons.
One of the recent ones came from someone who claims his christian religion has taught him he is superior to animals and that they were put here to feed us. To him I refer to works like "How to Serve Humans" and more recently to this radio play i came across
The Hungry One
Anyone else have compelling sources/arguements for those who share that belief?

[Liam Nolan]

We're not actually superior really, there's a reason why animals get caged and killed (I mean apart from for food products) and that's because they can still kick our human behinds and we're scared of them. Hell, even a cow could kill us if it so wanted to.
But more specifically religious, I grew up a Catholic and I was always given the impression that all living things had a soul. It kind of makes sense if you think that we weren't always so efficient of enslaving everything around us. It's very easy to think that we're superior and they are mindless lumps of flesh who are there to serve us because we don't have a lot of contact with animals apart from domestic animals.
In a bizarre way, the theory that animals are there to serve us is kind of a modern concept - or at least it is in it's current form. Maybe before we thought that they were there and we needed them to survive, and certainly in the bible it states that the whole universe is there to serve us humans. But the theory that God specifically made animals for us to eat is really rather modern - we have less of a respect and regard for any form of life now than we ever have done. Way back in the day we worshipped everything around us, then that became a reverence of nature and life right up until 20th century western culture (I can't speak for any other cultures).
I probably don't need to give examples of when we worshipped nature and the world and such, you would only need to google the roman or greek pantheon to find out. But many prominent movements and people have centred around this ideology. For example Leonardo Da Vinci (who was also a vegetarian), the Romantics (the literary ones), much of science up until the C19th, pretty much most art and most religions (Buddhism foremost, I'd say) and so on and so forth.
Sadly, since the dawn of industrialised civilisation we seem to have lost this gradually - it's just us few who still care.

So in answer to your question, I didn't really come up with anything useful. But a Christian who says they are a Christian is a hypocrite if they continue to consume animal products as far as I am concerned - God teaches love not slaughter.

[Shinobi Bombay]

Well, Being a Catholic,I have to deal with this crud all the time.In spite of the fact that our church teaches otherwise,at least as far as the eating them part is concerned.Show him Genesis1:29.Food was in shortage after the flood,so God said humans could eat animals.But,that was not the original intent.Here's a quote from St.Jerome.

[QUOTE]The eating of meat was unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have the strings and stinking juices of animal meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling sensual people in the desert. Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer allowed for us to eat animal meat.[/QUOTE]

of course if he is a protestant then he won't pay attention to the words of the people who started Christianity, anyway.

[Sidney Cozzoi]

Awesome response! Thanks for the reference info!

[Clementine]

Hello, I realize that I am on here with a lot of catholics, and my family(ancestors) was catholic but switched to jehovah's witness, so that is how I grew up, I personally became agnostic for my own personal reasons, but I remember when i was younger and reading the story of adam and even, and how the fruit and vegetable were the given choice of food, my concept of it all when people slam me with the bible( I am younger so I get more ignorance "god made cows to eat", "have you even opened a bible to make that assumption?") I advise them that If I were to play the religious aspect the concept of eating meat was only ok after perfection demise, and corruption had brewed. So even though I am agnostic, if you truly feel the need to be perfect you would not eat meat, also uphold the role to take care animals.

[Jeremy]

The bible, not necessarily so called "christianity" defends vegetarianism. It also shows us that eating meat all of the time is self indulgent. I challenge everyone here to search the scriptures to prove me right or wrong.