One of the topics I often end up discussing is eating horses. As somebody who considers horses to be working and companion animals, people expect me to argue against anyone eating them.
To which my response is often 'I'm not going to let a Hindu person tell me I can't enjoy a hamburger'.
Food taboos are perhaps the most classic example of 'relative morality' on this planet. On Iceland, where it's all but impossible to raise cattle, people often do eat horse (No mystery meat for me while I'm there...I've tried horsemeat and I did NOT like it. At all). My personal morality states that you should not eat an animal that has been treated as a 'human companion'...that is to say, a pet or working animal. I'm not against consuming horses that were raised for meat. Or dogs, for that matter, although I'm not sure I'd want to try dog. Carnivore meat can be funky. (I also won't eat elephant, primate or cetacean meat, although I haven't been in a position of turning any of them down yet).
It's fashionable in some quarters to say all morality is relative, but that's obviously bullshit. Everyone agrees that murder is bad (there might be some disagreement around the edges as to what constitutes 'murder'...some people, for example, believe ANY killing of another human is murder. We call them 'pacifists', usually). Most would also agree that you shouldn't take somebody else's property. Other aspects of morality are clearly relative, including whether you should marry your first cousin...or a member of the same sex.
The question is not 'is morality absolute or relative'...because the answer to that would be 'yes'. It depends on the precise morality you talk about. And I'll continue to eat beef and turn down horse meat...and continue to support the right of others to eat horse if they choose (although I'd rather they ate horse raised for meat...riding horses are fed all kinds of medications that simply should not be in the human food chain).
I agree, particularly with where you draw the line.
ReplyDeleteI don't care, for example, if people eat cats or dogs.
But not MY cats, which have been taught for over a decade that they're people. They are never going to be eaten or be research subjects, etc. They will die on our farm and be buried here.
There is a betrayal inherent in treating an animal as a person and then as less than a person later. I'm not kewl with that.
But otherwise... animals are made of meat. We have cultural preferences because of foods we were raised on, but that's just prejudice, not a moral or ethical choice.
I wouldn't use the word 'prejudice', which implies irrational judgment of other humans. The more correct word would be 'taboo'. There is a very strong taboo in England and much of the United States against eating horse meat, Hindus have one against eating cows and observant Jews and Muslims both will not eat pork.
DeleteInteresting topic. I would not eat horse meat but under a situation where a horse is the only means of survival, then of course who going to rather starve and save the horse. No I believe everyone would eat the horse, or the pig, even a crocodile and even their own pets. As my thought is that man is created to survive at all costs.
ReplyDeleteGiven extreme enough circumstances, civilized men will resort to cannibalism, so...
DeleteI agree with you. I have no problem with eating non-sentient livestock, especially if it has been raised properly and slaughtered humanely. I've also heard that carnivore meat tends to be less palatable.
ReplyDeleteAs sapient omnivores -- why else would God give us canines? -- we are in the position of befriending our animals before eating them. Unlike many people in our modern world, I like to know where my food comes from. My wife grew up on a farm, where she was on a first-name basis with her future meals.
Should I eat less meat for the sake of health and consuming less resources? Sure. But I won't be a good Buddhist, orthodox Jew, or Hindu anytime soon (and I'm arguably a pretty poor Catholic for non-dietary reasons). I respect their beliefs and cultural differences, just as I would admittedly have some initial difficulty eating insects or "Rocky Mountain oysters."
Until I have to eat Soylent Green or the long pig -- and I love Spam -- I'll be enjoying the occasional cheeseburger, fish tacos, pulled pork, or fried chicken....