A Universal Ethic for All Mankind
"I have since an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will
come when men will look upon the murder of animals as they look upon the
murder of man," is a quote attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci. Ethical
considerations moved Benjamin Franklin, who became a vegetarian at age
sixteen. Franklin noted "greater progress from that greater clearness of
head and quicker apprehension." In his autobiographical writings, he called
flesh-eating "unprovoked murder."
The poet Shelley was a committed vegetarian. In his essay, "A Vindication of
Natural Diet," he wrote, "Let the advocate of animal food... tear a living
lamb with his teeth and, plunging his head into its vitals, slake his thirst
with the steaming blood... Then, and only then only, would he be
consistent." Shelley's interest in vegetarianism began when he was a student
at Oxford, and he and his wife Harriet took up the diet soon after their
marriage. In a letter dated March 14, 1812, his wife wrote to a friend, "We
have foresworn meat and adopted the Pythagorean system." Shelley, in his
poem "Queen Mab," described a world where humans do not kill animals for
food.
"The vegetarian movement," wrote Tolstoy, "ought to fill with gladness the
souls of all those who have at their heart the realization of God’s Kingdom
on earth."
"I have no doubt," wrote Henry David Thoreau, "that it is a part of the
destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave oft the
eating of animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each
other when they came in contact with the more civilized."
"Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends." -- George Bernard
Shaw
Mohandas Gandhi wrote: "It is necessary to correct the error that
vegetarianism has made us weak in mind, or passive or inert in action. I do
not regard flesh-food as necessary at any stage." Gandhi wrote several books
in which he discussed vegetarianism. His own daily diet included wheat
sprouts, almond paste, greens, lemons, and honey. He founded Tolstoy Farm, a
community based on vegetarian principles.
In his Moral Basis of Vegetarianism, Gandhi wrote: "I hold flesh-food to be
unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we
claim we are superior to it." Gandhi felt the ethical principles are a
stronger support for a lifelong commitment to vegetarianism than reasons of
health: "I do feel," he stated, "that spiritual progress does demand at some
stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction
of our bodily wants."
"...the whole point of life is to harmonize with everything, every aspect of
creation. That means down to not killing the flies, eating the meat, killing
people or chopping the trees down."
--George Harrison
Describing his reaction to a visit to a slaughterhouse, Canadian tennis
champion Peter Burwash wrote in A Vegetarian Primer: "I'm no shrinking
violet. I played hockey until half of my teeth were knocked down my throat.
And I'm extremely competitive on a tennis court... But that experience at
the slaughterhouse overwhelmed me. When I walked out of there, I knew I
would never again harm an animal. I knew all the physiological, economic,
and ecological arguments supporting vegetarianism, but it was firsthand
experience of man's cruelty to animals that laid the real groundwork for my
commitment to vegetarianism."
"If you could feel or see the suffering, you wouldn't think twice. Give back
life. Don't eat meat."
--Kim Basinger
"The meat industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars lying to the
public about their product. But no amount of false propaganda can sanitize
meat... a living nightmare for animals."
--Chrissie Hynde
Like pacifists and/or pro-lifers, vegetarianism in itself is merely
an ethic, and not a religion.
As an ethic, vegetarianism has attracted some of the greatest figures in
history.
The Table of Contents to Rynn Berry's 1993 book, Famous Vegetarians and
Their Favorite Recipes: Lives & Lore from Buddha to the Beatles lists:
Pythagoras: "An ancient Greek religious teacher." Gautama the
Buddha: "An ancient Indian savant and religious teacher." Mahavira:
"The historical founder of the world's oldest vegetarian religion---the
Jains of India." Plato (and Socrates): "Pythagorean philosophers
who are the founders of the Western philosophical tradition." Plutarch:
"An ancient essayist and biographer, famous for his Lives of
notable Greeks and Romans.
Leonardo da Vinci: "Italian Renaissance man; Leonardo is one of
Western Civilization's greatest geniuses." Percy Shelley:
"Scientist, classicist, aesthete, Shelley was probably the most gifted
English Romantic poet." Count Leo Tolstoy: "Nineteenth century
Russian author, Tolstoy is considered to be the world's greatest novelist."
Annie Besant: "Nineteenth century English social reformer and spiritual
leader... at once a feminist, a labor leader, a theosophist, a freethinker,
a devoted mother and a founder of the planned parenthood movement. She is
one of the most remarkable women of modern times."
Mohandas Gandhi: "Indian civic and spiritual leader; inventor of
the hunger strike; architect of Indian independence; father of modern
India." George Bernard Shaw: "Celebrated wit; peerless music and
drama critic; essayist and dramatist of genius." Bronson Alcott:
"American transcendentalist philosopher; father of Louisa May Alcott;
founder of the first vegetarian commune, Fruitlands." Adventist
physician Dr. John Harvey Kellogg: "World-class surgeon, pioneering
nutritionist, and food inventor extraordinaire. Kellogg invented peanut
butter, flaked cereals, and the first meat substitutes made from nuts and
grains." Henry Salt: "Venerable figure in the vegetarian movement;
author of such vegetarian classics as Seventy Years Among the Savages,
and Animal Rights."
Frances Moore Lappe: "Author of Diet for a Small Planet,
Lappe's two million copy 1971 bestseller put vegetarianism on the map, and
awakened Westerners to the nutritional and economic benefits of a vegetarian
diet." Isaac Bashevis Singer and Malcolm Muggeridge are described as the
first major literary figures in the West to turn vegetarian since Tolstoy.
Brigid Brophy: "Noted for her formidable intellect, Brigid Brophy
is an English novelist, biographer, and critic of the first rank. She is the
first major woman novelist to become a vegetarian."
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): 501 Front Street,
Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 622-PETA
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