Angels, Dominion, Responsibility

For my Christian readers who share that God gave us dominion over plants and animals for food, so they don't buy into the whole vegan thing:

Psalm 8 (From the New International Version ©2010)

LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 1You have set your glory
   in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
   to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars,
   which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?[c]

 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.

 9 LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

“… made them rulers over the works of your hands.” Should you take this seriously? If you do, than the job comes with the responsibility to treat “everything under your feet” with respect; they are the ‘works of God.’ The bible doesn’t tell you to be vicious and cruel in the treatment of God’s creatures, nor to look away at the injustices perpetrated by others on your behalf. It says you are just “a little lower than the angel” and that you are “crowned with glory and honor.” How honorable is it to be nonchalant in your use of animal flesh that makes it to your kitchen through torture and cruelty? Your disregard of whether or not the animals you choose to eat were treated humanely is not glorious or honorable, it’s selfish and it’s easy. Look away and the horror isn’t really there. Don’t make the hard choices.

I’m not advocating that you not eat meat. I’m suggesting that you open your eyes to where your meat comes from and then make a choice to either eat meat that was allowed to live as it was intended to live or not eat meat. It takes work. It’s not easy. For me it was easier to just go without meat.

Maybe you can’t fathom a meatless world. I get that. Just do the work to make sure the animals you’re eating were treated properly. It’ll cost more. Maybe you can make up the difference by eating some meatless meals, or less meat at each meal. You decide. You’re the one that’s just a bit lower than an angel. 

Moving Forward

This baby, almost-but-not-quite-total vegan needs to move forward to totally vegan. I realize that I have to learn how to say, "No, thank you." when I'm with friends who have tried, but not quite hit the vegan mark. For me, that's difficult. It's also difficult for me to say no when the deed has already been done. If there's a casserole that has dairy or eggs in it, I usually eat some of it. I'd like to think that it's out of being polite, but that's not the whole truth. It also tastes good.

Which brings me to something that really bugs me about people. Upon hearing that I am a vegan, a lot of people ... a lot ... say, "Oh, I love my meat. I couldn't give up turkey at Thanksgiving, or my cheeseburgers, or my bacon and eggs, or my milk, or how in the world could I live without my cheese?" I tell them that I started slowly, with red meat first, then poultry, then dairy and eggs, and then seafood. I also confess that I still think about how good a cheeseburger would taste, but that when I actually think about biting into it, all desire drops away, but that it wasn't that way in the beginning. They don't hear it. They just don't hear it. All they are thinking at that point is that they will never give up their burger or turkey or bacon or cheese. You can't make them. Nobody can make them. Don't come any closer!!! Wow! 

First of all, do they think I hated the taste of fried chicken? Steak? Cheeseburgers? Ice Cream? Well, I DIDN'T DAMN IT!!! I loved fried chicken. It was probably my favorite food on the planet. Why do they think it didn't take stamina and resolve?? (As I said above, I still fight some things a full year later.) I hate that they judge my compassionate, healthful decision as having been easy for me because I didn't have as much 'like' to give up. ARGHHH!!!

So, no matter whether they see the videos (I'm convinced they close their eyes at the gory parts) or they read the books or articles about factory farming, they still casually march to the grocery store and buy their torture in a package, take it home, cook it up, and gorge. How can anyone do that? Once you know, how do you divest yourself of responsibility? Just curious.

Back to how I move forward. Clearly I'm not moving in circles that have the same ideals. So, for my New Year's resolution I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and actually go to the Vegetarian and Vegan Meetups in my area. I need to add some vegan and vegetarian friends to my social circle. I need friends who understand my choices and who can share vegan experiences. I'm not giving up the friends I love, just adding to the cirlce!

So, that's it! I followed through on last year's resolution. Made a mid-year resolution to work out and get healthy and followed through on that, so I am confident that I can follow through on this one too.

Happy New Year!!

bacon

A friend updated their facebook status with a single word, "bacon," following it up with, "I almost worked myself into a frenzy this morning....lying in bed and thinking of bacon and eggs, with some hot sauce...big cold glass of orange juice, and a slice of potato bread toast. MAN."


I wanted to add the following comment: "I was lying in bed thinking of the videotape of pigs in gestation crates banging their heads against the bars so hard they bleed just before they go insane from the boredom that humans, whose appetites for bacon versus the humane treatment of innocent creatures, foist on them. Pigs are intelligent, social creatures that humans have no business torturing so that they can eat their flesh." I didn't. I just put a single word: sad.


It's also sad that I don't push harder. That I don't stick my neck out there willing to take whatever abuse people want to heap on me for making the humane choice. Instead, I will send her the link to my blog, rather than face public scrutiny. I need to grow a pair!

"Awareness is bad for the meat business. Conscience is bad for the meat business. Sensitivity to life is bad for the meat business. DENIAL, however, the meat business finds indispensable." ~John Robbins, Diet for a New America

Understanding the Real Cost of Your Choices

I wasn't going to write tonight, but an article in the news caught my attention and I am compelled to share it.

I turned 18 on October 20, 1967. Talk about a good time! Peace, love, sex, drugs, rock & roll, black light posters, weed, speed, and Boone's Farm Apple Wine, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Ten Years After, and Woodstock. Demonstrations, revolution, we believed we could change the world!

I had friends that fought the Vietnam War and that fought in the Vietnam War. My generation expanded the use of drugs like no other. At what cost?

Fast forward to today. I get that it's cool to smoke dope and talk smart, but as in my generation, many of the young people that do so profess to be peaceful, socially conscious, and motivated to improve the world ... make a difference. They look down on the stodgy, less aware people and show a marked disdain for the rich.

Many of these people look upon American corporations like McDonald's and Wal-Mart as the devil for the shameful way they treat the environment, employees, and suppliers. They wouldn't be caught dead carrying their garbage in a Wal-Mart bag.

Hemp, organic food, backpacking through Europe, and diversity ... these kids could be described as 21st century hippies.

Back to the news article. The heading read, "Mexico cartel stitches rival's face on soccer ball." How's that for a graphic read? I had no problem with an instant visual. You? You feeling peaceful?

The article goes on to inform that more than 15000 people have been killed in the past three years, following a crackdown on cartels. Reporters are murdered (typically in gruesome ways) with alarming frequency just for reporting on drug trafficking. I don't see how this is making the world a better place.

You get a vote. Everytime you buy or use drugs, you're choosing to support torture and murder. You get a vote. From the moment you are informed, you are choosing to support drug lords who have no respect for life. None. Their idea of a day's work is to rape, mutilate, and murder anyone who gets in their way. Be an informed consumer.

Please, understand the real cost of your choices.

On the surface this doesn't look to be a post about my vegan journey, but it is. The reason that I choose to eat a vegan diet is because of the horrific way we treat our animals in life and in death. I understand the cost of eating meat in today's world. I get a vote.

January 5th, 2010 ... A Good Day to Become a Vegan

Let me introduce myself: My name is Nancy and I'm 60 years old. I have two rescued Standard Schnauzers (Lena & Mike) and was recently adopted by a stray cat (Gypsy Sue).

I've toyed with a vegan diet for some time. It started innocently enough when I decided to give up red meat for health reasons. Instead of beef and pork, I began to rely on fried chicken. (Now that's healthy!) So after a few weeks, I decided no meat or poultry but I'd still have dairy, eggs, and seafood.

I was in dire need of some good recipes so I went searching the Internet for ideas and found myself on websites that educated me about the horrific practice of factory farming. I couldn't imagine seeing the fear and confusion in the eyes of my critters that I saw in the eyes of the farm animals in the undercover videos I came across. Videos are available at http://www.peta.org/ or http://www.farmsanctuary.org/.

After viewing many videos and reading many books I had no trouble giving up meat. I still allowed myself occasional seafood, eggs, and dairy, though I tried to police the origin of them all. My concern was primarily their lives. Talk about a ridiculously time-consuming task! It's too much! How can I guarantee that Bessie is treated well? If a farmer responds to an email asking about conditions, how do I know it's true? And, for heaven's sake, dairy cows must be pregnant ... yes? If I believe in a woman's right to choose, how can I not believe in a cow's right to choose? Okay. That's crazy. What happens to the baby? I wish I didn't know. I can't stand it! I'm a mother. Do Not Touch My Children!!!

And seafood. Criminy. Mercury. Disease. Messing up the natural population with farming populations. Quotas, line caught, nets, trolling. STOP!!!

So, here I am, educated about the horrors inflicted on innocent creatures by humans. I don't want to inflict pain and suffering on any creatures, much less brown-eyed, sweet-faced cows or intelligent, adorable pigs, nor do I want to pretend I have no impact when I choose to visit McDonald's or buy a pound of ground beef at the local market. I can only see the burned beaks of chickens when friends tell me they stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.

I have a friend who can't (won't) watch the videos because they're too painful, but will blithely go through the drive-thru at Popeye's to bring home dinner. I don't even know where to go with that. At least look at what you're doing before you drive-thru.

Back to today, January 5th, being a good day. Today I went totally vegan. I am done justifying and playing around and feeling guilty. I'm tired of feeling like crap because I eat a crap diet. I'm done. I am a Vegan. Today. January 5th, 2010.

I like the feel of it. It feels fresh and clean and freeing. I don't care to be involved in the abuse of wonderful, amazing creatures. It's like stepping up and living my values, and that feels good. I'm sure there will be times when it's more difficult than others, but I think I can get by those times. I can just look in Lena's big brown eyes or Gypsy Sue's brilliant green ones.

My son recommended I blog about the journey I'm on and I decided to take him up on it. I will honestly share my thoughts, successes, and struggles in this blog. I'll be sharing some websites and information I come across, along with recipes that I love. I'll try to remember where I got the recipes I share.

So, there you have it. Day One is in the bag with nary a craving for cheese or yogurt! I had a fantastic breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and banana. Lunch was a Gold Yukon Potato sliced onto eight-grain bread and topped with my amazing-anything-goes barbeque sauce. Between lunch and dinner I had some carrots and celery, and a banana for a snack. Dinner was Corn Chip & Salsa Soup from Dr. McDougall's website (http://www.drmcdougall.com/), a tasty blend off salsa, black beans, corn kernels, homemade, nonfat corn chips, and freshly cubed avocado ... Wonderful!