Why I’m a Vegetarian
All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all.
If that’s true, I should like to meet this God of ours and take Him to task over the food chain. It has long been my opinion that a 21st century version of the manna he supplied to the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert would be far better than the relentless and merciless feeding of one species upon another. If it’s true that His original plan to have the lion lying down with the lamb changed because of the delinquent behaviour of some early humans, I don’t see why the rest of the animal kingdom should suffer for it.
Alfred Lord Tennyson put neatly into words the apparent conflict between love as the basis of the Christian religion and the callousness of nature.
Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed.
(Tennyson’s quote comes from a group of cantos entitled, “In Memorium A.H.H.” (1850). This quote comes from canto LVI. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 3rd Ed.)
The cat killing a bird pays no more heed to its victim’s feelings than the bird does when it lights upon a worm. As far as one can tell, we, God’s highest creation on Earth, or so we are told, are the only predators to be aware of the sufferings of the creatures upon which we feed. Few would argue nowadays that these experience neither fear nor pain. Some progress has been made in terms of humane treatment of animals, but there is a long way to go. Callousness abounds in many quarters, from the slaughter man who only bothers to follow the correct procedure for stunning the cattle when an inspector is around to the angler who leaves his squirming catch to choke to death on the river bank.
As the only vegetarian in my family, I have to accept that my nearest and dearest will coo over the cute, spindly legs of the lambs we see on our country walks before dinner and then sit down cheerfully to eat one with mint sauce. Throwing bread to the water fowl at Studley Royal does not stop them ordering duck with tamarind sauce at the Thai restaurant. Whether they would change their ways if forced to kill and prepare the lamb or duck themselves has never been put to the test. Actually, unless they were on the brink of starvation, I rather doubt if they would. A packet of sausages, shrink wrapped from Sainsbury’s is one thing; an innocent creature with big eyes and vocal chords, quite another. Unlike our much cherished cats, cuddly and docile with us but the scourge of local wild life, the male Cobbetts are not obligate carnivores. Their diet is a lifestyle choice. The same is true of the neighbours who complain about our cats. They entice visiting wagtails and finches to their bird tables without feeling the need to eat them. Why would they, when a couple of chickens are already revolving on their barbecue?
If there were to be a dramatic reversal of roles, I have no doubt that many of the creatures who arouse my compassion would have no compunction in eating me and it would HURT. This brings me back to my desired conversation with God. If it is necessary for most species to be a food supply for others, why must they be composed of sentient beings. I saw a science fiction film recently in which a small robot destined for gladiatorial combat asked if he could have his pain sensors switched off. Maybe God might give some thought to that idea!