Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear
when you shop at a vegetarian store that was built on land once home to thousands of animals/insects who were slaughtered to build it you are no less responsible.
Where vegetables are grown thousanda and thousands of insects are killed to grow them, you are directly responsible for the death and mistreatment of thousands of insects and rodents, you could only eat handpicked vegetables but you choose to ignore it,
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Go back and read my statement, although brief for a topic like this, I did touch upon the fact that a larger/higher lifeform killing a lower/smaller lifeform is not 100% objectionable by my ethical standards. It is in fact the natural order of the planet we live on. I also used the qualifier that I choose what I can do to adhere to my ethical standards while at the same time maintaining a "normal and healthy" life. Obviously, shaving all my body hair so I don't harbor any dustmites would not be normal. Also, eating only handpicked vegetables or food that in no way impacted any other living creature would be impossible.
In your specific example, a store that sells vegetarian products probably was not responsible for any animals being slaughtered on that land before the foundation could be poured. It seems unlikely that the developer showed up and shot any animal on site. Of course, throughout the course of the digging I'm sure insects were killed, but the intention was not to kill the insects and there was an underlying positive intention for building the store in the first place. The example I used in my post involved an amusement park, but it is similar to this example.
This is also why I don't attack people for eating meat in the first place. It is actually the natural order of the planet we live on for one lifeform to feed on another in order to survive and it's a pretty good system. But I also believe you exercise your true humanity and become human when you
choose to not needlessly harm other living creatures when their is a simple alternative.
As I said, the death of certain lifeforms are acceptable within my own ethical guidelines. For me, there is an easy alternative for not eating meat products that still allows me to maintain a normal and healthy life, so I choose to do so.
BTW, just so there is no confusion, I don't see this as any kind of argument, just a fun back and forth discussion.
