REASONS TO STOP EATING MEAT

4 COMMON SENSE REASONS
TO STOP EATING MEAT

www.wakingtimes.com - The debate over the pros and cons of vegetarianism will continue forever, as different people have different needs and differing views on health and nutrition. There simply is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to the nutritional and health effects of reducing or quitting the consumption of meat and meat products, and what feels right and works for some, may not for others. Typically, this debate is centered around the nutritional pros and cons of eating meat, but in this day and age there are several other key reasons to take a second look at eating meat and animal products. 
Over the past few years, the public has learned a great deal about the meat industry and the evolution of its practices in getting farm animals to your plate, while continuing to maximize profit. Let's see if we can answer some new questions:

1. What kind of meat is it? - A significant portion of the ‘beef’ sold in Europe contains horse meat, and it was found in many ‘beef products’ at popular eateries like Burger King and Taco Bell.
2. What kinds of chemicals have been added to this meat? - It’s no secret that the meat industry overuses antibiotics, vaccinations, painkillers and growth hormones to maximize profit. These chemical residues are passed on to you when you consume treated meat.
3. Is this meat even fresh? - The time between an animal’s death and your meal can be shockingly long in some cases, as the global business of importing and exporting means food sometimes travels thousands of miles just to get to your plate.
4. Was this animal mistreated? - The current state of factory meat production is horrifyingly inhumane and grotesque. Animals are confined to torturous, un-natural conditions, beaten, abused and often sick.

Sarah Free, author of this article, explains that if slaughterhouses had glass walls the meat industry would collapse overnight, yet the cognitive dissonance associated with this makes it all too common to ignore the treatment of animals for our consumption. Common sense dictates that in order for food to nourish the body, it has to itself have been nourished and well-cared for, yet the gruesome holocaust against farm animals continues. Manufacturing processes which create the infamous ‘pink slime‘ found in up to 70% of processed meats, use industrial chemicals like ammonia gas to make the meat smell better and look more palatable. It is even said that investigators in South Africa recently discovered human tissues in meat samples from many provinces, indicating a widespread situation of high contamination. Apart from the above reasons, we must realize that animals are our younger brothers and sisters. They have incarnated in the bodies of animals and their consciences are not evolved and therefore they can not develop a relationship with God nor can inquire about the self. We, having a higher intelligence to seek transcendence, must take care for and protect them. If instead of doing it, we make them suffer and then we eat them, instead of raising our consciousness we will have regressed. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Embodied souls pass through many species of life, but only as human beings do they accrue karma, as only in that condition is one's free will fully manifest. With free will comes responsibility. (...) Humans who misuse their free will have to lose their free will, at least for a time. Chapter sixteen of the Bhagavad-gita says that such human beings will have to take birth in lower species of life. Thus some souls in human dress later wear the dress of an animal and the degree of suffering or enjoyment they have in animal life is directly related to what they did in human life. Animals cannot create new karma because they are completely controlled by their nature. Similar to criminals being incarcerated by the state, souls wearing animal bodies serve out their karmic sentences until they are again eligible for a human form of life, where they will have another chance to act responsibly and progress toward liberation.

Śrīla Bhakti Vedanta Tripurari Mahārāja :
“Animals and Karma” - Śrī Caitanya Sanga
Vol. VIII, No. 3 - Mar. 17, 2006.
http://swami.org/index.html
http://www.swami.org/pages/sanga/

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/