Arguments For Eating Animals and Against Veganism?

[TheVeganAtheist]

Having been vegan for 12 years and vegetarian for an additional 7 years, Ive pretty much heard every argument thrown at me to defend meat eating and oppose veganism.

Here are some of the more common reasons Ive been given to keep eating animals:
1) animals are bred to be food
2) animals are our inferior and we have been given dominion over them to do as we like
3) animals are missing some human characteristic that makes us ignore their moral worth
4) if wild animals are justified in killing and eating animals, then why aren't we?
5) its natural
6) we have always done it
7) I like it, its my choice and who are you to tell me that its wrong
8) we need meat/dairy/eggs to be healthy
9) vegans are sickly hippies
10) real men eat meat
11) what would we do with all the animals if we all went vegan overnight?
12) we ensure that these animal species won't go extinct
13) plants are alive too, so why do you think its wrong to kill animals but not plants?
14) as long as you treat the animals nicely, then all is okay to use and kill.

Any other arguments Im missing? Which do you detest most? For me, I detest the plant argument, the "its natural argument", and "they will go extinct" argument. Don't get me wrong, they all are horrible, but those particular ones annoy me to no end.

[thebestofenergy]

Having been vegan for 12 years and vegetarian for an additional 7 years, Ive pretty much heard every argument thrown at me to defend meat eating and oppose veganism.

Here are some of the more common reasons Ive been given to keep eating animals:
1) animals are bred to be food
2) animals are our inferior and we have been given dominion over them to do as we like
3) animals are missing some human characteristic that makes us ignore their moral worth
4) if wild animals are justified in killing and eating animals, then why aren't we?
5) its natural
6) we have always done it
7) I like it, its my choice and who are you to tell me that its wrong
8) we need meat/dairy/eggs to be healthy
9) vegans are sickly hippies
10) real men eat meat
11) what would we do with all the animals if we all went vegan overnight?
12) we ensure that these animal species won't go extinct
13) plants are alive too, so why do you think its wrong to kill animals but not plants?
14) as long as you treat the animals nicely, then all is okay to use and kill.

Any other arguments Im missing? Which do you detest most? For me, I detest the plant argument, the "its natural argument", and "they will go extinct" argument. Don't get me wrong, they all are horrible, but those particular ones annoy me to no end.

It's interesting how all of these points have obvious logical fallacies in them or they're misinformed/uninformed.
9) vegans are sickly hippies
10) real men eat meat
Those are probably the funniest ones. After a while, I can't even get angry. They've been repeated so many times that I just lost the will to get upset.
The one that still manages to upset me a little is the 'where do ya get your protein, man??!' (which is included in number 8), and also the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4.. oh wait, every single point.
If I have to decide which is the most obnoxious, I'd go for number 2.

EDIT: I forgot the 'Hitler was a vegetarian' thing.

[Neptual]

"If we stop killing them then they'll rebel and eat us!" I'm serious I've actually head this argument before.

[TheVeganAtheist]

If we stop killing them then they'll rebel and eat us! I'm serious I've actually head this argument before.

sadly ive gotten a similar comment from a family member. I was actually told by an adult in my family that if we don't eat cows, they may evolve and eventually eat us. No kidding, this was a serious comment from this person.

[Neptual]

As thebestofenergy said a common argument is to say that people like Stalin and Hitler were vegetarians therefore we should not do it.

[brimstoneSalad]

Interestingly, Hitler wasn't even a vegetarian.

But, I heard a very interesting argument from one guy: When he heard Hitler was a vegetarian, it inspired him to go vegetarian.

Why?

He said something like "If even a man so evil as Hitler could have enough conscience to be a vegetarian, why can't I?"

Food for thought.

[Volenta]

I've heard someone say that he's actually not worried about what we ought to do with the animals, but more with the people that are currently exploiting, processing and selling them and their products. They wouldn't have a job anymore. And that it would be an economical disaster.

[Neptual]

Interestingly, Hitler wasn't even a vegetarian.

But, I heard a very interesting argument from one guy: When he heard Hitler was a vegetarian, it inspired him to go vegetarian.

Why?

He said something like "If even a man so evil as Hitler could have enough conscience to be a vegetarian, why can't I?"

Food for thought.

I've heard some controversy on whether he was a vegetarian or not, although I'm having a hard time finding a credible source.

[brimstoneSalad]

I've heard some controversy on whether he was a vegetarian or not, although I'm having a hard time finding a credible source.

Yes, unfortunately for all of the propaganda painting him to be a saint, it's hard to find anything reliable.

Though, it might not be fair to say he wasn't vegetarian only because he wasn't a perfect vegetarian.

Accounts like this:

Dione Lucas, a chef at a Hamburg hotel patronised by Hitler, claimed that her stuffed squab was a favourite of his.

Could just be indications that he cheated every now and then- and perhaps just early on. And yet, I've met very few vegetarians, or even "vegans" who I haven't seen or suspected of cheating. Some do it very regularly. There are reports all over the internet of vegans cheating- celebrities mostly (caught eating a hamburger, or pizza)- and yet do we still call them vegans?

It might be a double standard to reject Hitler, and accept celebrities and others on shaky evidence- or even most people who try to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.

We know with reasonable certainty that he was mostly vegetarian towards the end of his life in diet- and that's all historians may be concerned with.

We can surmise that he wasn't very serious about it, because his cook kept putting animal fat and broth in his food, and he would complain but not fire the man.
Who doesn't fire somebody after they do that? Unless they don't really care that much because it's just an image thing (or some kind of psychological coping mechanism). We may never know his motivations in full- he was probably crazy- but motivation may not matter to the applicability of the overall label.

And:

Hitler's physician, Theodor Morell, reportedly gave him "quack supplements" which contained animal components.[10] Injected preparations contained placenta, bovine testosterone and extracts containing seminal vesicles and prostate to combat depression; at the time, extracts from animal glands were popularly believed to be "elixirs of youth".[11]

I believe he knew what was in those injections, and didn't care. They definitely weren't vegetarian injections.

But again, to be fair, we usually recognize medical exemptions (even if it was bogus, they didn't believe that). But we don't recognize people as vegetarian if they eat meat for "medical" reasons. That's a little bizarre, but he didn't technically eat it, I suppose. It's quite disturbing anyway.

That's the same guy who was injecting Hitler with methamphetamine- which in some respects may have contributed to the ultimate authorship of the holocaust (there's ample evidence that Hitler became increasingly unhinged over time- and there are reports also that he may have had neurosyphilis)- creating some kind of perfect storm of mental disorders and substance dependency.

Anyway, the question may be more "where do we draw the line" in considering who is or isn't vegetarian, and if we're doing it consistently, rather than a simple yes or no.

[Volenta]

Why does it matter to people whether Hilter was a vegetarian or not? I don't care and would never even argue about his vegetarianism. It's such a big fallacy (Guilt by Association) to use it as an excuse for eating meat, I won't even take it seriously. They're just exposing their stupidity and lack of debating skills.