In the world today there are various dietary habits that people have adopted and follow religiously, some more than others. These dietary habits are seen as conscious decisions about what is to be consumed. A diet is a compilation of what an organism consumes and humans are naturally considered omnivores. An omnivore can acquire its energy and nutritional needs by eating various food sources. If we as humans have developed the body mechanics and evolutionary changes to consume meat then why have some religious groups decided to abstain from consuming animal food products? Historically, humans have consumed a wide range of food sources, including animal products. One religious group in particular, the followers of Jainism, have taken vegetarianism to extremes.
The term vegetarian comes from the Latin root “Vigitore” which means strength and health. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary it states that a vegetarian is a person who uses and/or advocates a diet of vegetable foods, eggs and milk may also be consumed, but meat is not allowed. It needs to be noted that in the strict sense a vegetarian should not consume milk or eggs. When the vegetarian diet was adopted in western culture, variations were created to be more specific about the diet’s general make-up and nutritional attributes. The vegetarian categories are split into 5 groups:
Most Indian groups would be considered ovolacto-vegetarians, but strict Jains would be considered a mix between fruitarians and vegans
Jainism is a religion of India that teaches the way of life conducive to harmlessness and renunciation. Jains are concerned with the welfare of the Universe and all of its inhabitants. All life forces should be treated with equal respect and value. Taking upon a vege...
... middle of paper ...
...thics. Union Seminary Quarterly Review , 121-135.
Jain, R. (2009, April , May , June). An Ethical Diet for Peace and Plenty. Hinduism Today , pp. 38-39.
Jaini, J., & Thomas, F. W. (1917). Outlines of Jainism. The Journal of Philospohy , 333-335.
Kalotra, G. (2012). Concept of Aparigrahya in Jainism: A Philosphical Analysis . International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research , 151-161.
Sangave, V. A. (1997). Jain Religion and Community . Long Beach: Long Beach Publications.
Siroj Sorajjakool, M. F. (2010). World Religions For Helthcare Professionals. New York: Routledge.
Smil, V. (2002). Eating Meat: Evolution , Patterns , and Consequences. Population and Development Review , 599-639.
Urubshurow, V. K. (2008). Intoducing World Religions. Online*: JBE Online Books.
V.Jayanthi. (2001). Vegetairanism In India. Peritoneal Dialysis International , S332-S335.
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
Corliss, Richard. “Should We All Be Vegetarians?” Time. Time Inc., 15 Jul. 2002. Web. 11 Apr. 2011.
As believed, vegetarianism had been originally founded in ancient India and was generally formed on ethical and moral issues. There were two religions that were the first ones who accepted vegetarianism. Hinduism made a cow a sacred animal. Over the time, there were other reasons founded by Hindus that encourage them to be vegetarians: Ahimsa principle that obliges not to injure a living creature, a fear of negative karmic impact and dietary purity. Since there was no religious law prohibiting the consummation of meat, the strong commitment to vegetarianism was based mostly on moral reasons. Buddhism had distinctive reasons for supporting vegetarianism. One of them is the first precept that tells not to kill any living organism. In addition to prohibition of killing, there was also a requirement not to participate in the murder and not to be the cause of death of a living creature. However, there was an amendment that if the animal is already dead and the man did not kill him specifically ...
Fisher, Mary Pat. "Chapter 5: Buddhsim." Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005. 150-62. Print.
Meat has become a part of our culture in our country, where it is expected as part of each meal of the day. But the production of the meat raises questions on whether eating meat is ethical in people’s eyes. Studies in recent years have shown that the growing impact of our meat eating culture, has negatively affected different aspects around us. The problem is not about whether people should or should not eat meat, but that we should focus on how the production of meat can have negative affects and how we can limit those problems.
Eliot, Sir Charles. HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. 1921. Vol. 1. London: ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD, 1954. 3 vols. wisdom library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
Realizing the necessity of refraining from meat is especially difficult because people consume it for a long time, and in addition, there is a certain attitude to the meat as to the product that is useful, nourishing and even prestigious. On the other hand, the constant consumption of meat has made the vast majority of people completely emotionless towards it. However, there must be some real and strong reasons for refusal to consume meat and as I noticed they were always completely different. So, even though vegetarianism has evolved drastically over time, some of its current forms have come back full circle to resemble that of its roots, when vegetarianism was an ethical-philosophical choice, not merely a matter of personal health. As believed, vegetarianism was originally founded in ancient India and was generally formed on ethical and moral issues.
A person that avoids any animal products, as in any meats or animal-derived foods is considered a vegetarian. This is the general classification of a vegetarian. It is a challenge to classify a vegetarian; many variations were created to suit certain diets. Lactovegetarians are vegetarians that consume milk and dairy products. Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but no dairy products, and some do consume honey. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians exclude meats and seafood’s but consume dairy products and eggs. The lacto-ovo-vegetarian eating pattern also consists of legumes, seeds and nuts. Vegans are the only pure vegetarians; they exclude all animal derived foods. There are also people that classify themselves as near vegetarians, for example macrobiotic diets. The macrobiotic diet consists mostly grains, legumes and vegetables and limited amounts of fish. There is also an instance where people will adopt being a vegetarian occasionally; this is called being a flexitarian.
The amount of people becoming vegetarians these days is growing. There are a few different types of vegetarians for example; the lacto-ovo vegetarian doesn’t eat any animal products except milk and eggs. Another type of vegetarian is the vegan, they exclude all animal products.
Frey, R. (2013). Moral Vegetarianism and the Argument from Pain and Suffering. In L. Vaughn, Contemporary Moral Arguments - Readings in Ethical Issues Second Edition (pp. 622-627). New York: Oxford University Press.
Is it morally permissible to eat meat? Much argument has arisen in the current society on whether it is morally permissible to eat meat. Many virtuous fruitarians and the other meat eating societies have been arguing about the ethics of eating meat (which results from killing animals). The important part of the dispute is based on the animal welfare, nutrition value from meat, convenience, and affordability of meat-based foods compared to vegetable-based foods and other factors like environmental moral code, culture, and religion. All these points are important in justifying whether humans are morally right when choosing to eat meat. This paper will argue that it is morally impermissible to eat meat by focusing on the treatment of animals, the environmental argument, animal rights, pain, morals, religion, and the law.
Upon reading about the historical and religious background of Ancient India, one can clearly assume that the country was strongly influenced by three main religious teachings: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These three sects in religious thinking have many similarities as all recognize the life-cycle and the need of liberation, they worship one central deity that used to be a human who gained enlightenment and they all recognize the existence of the eternal soul and after-death re-incarnation. However, they also share a lot of differences that mark the underlying principles of practicing them. I will identify the scope of differences and similarities in these ancient religions in an attempt to understand why each attracted followers, why each was shaped a certain way and how they preserved the interest of followers on into the modern times as well.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be
However, many people still refuse to be a vegetarian for different reasons. Some people prefer the taste of meat, and some people believe that they are born to eat meat. Despite that about 2 billion people in the world live basically on the meat diet, around 4 billion people live mainly on a plant-based diet because of food shortage(Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). As everyone knows, the number of population is growing. For example, the total U.S. population doubled in the previous 60 years, and it may double again in the next 70 years (Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). People won’t have enough meat to eat in the future. On the other hand, a well-planned vegetarian diet offers many health benefits. Therefore, people should become vegetarian because it benefits to huma...