Atheists; How supportive are you of animal rights?

I don’t usually comment on these kind of things but I have to this time. I am still in disbelief from all the misinformation so many people believe. To answer your question I am vegan and atheist and believe 100% in animal rights. But I know somewhere in the Bible it says that humans are the caretakers of animals, so even religious people, if it correlates, should believe in animal rights.
I cannot believe someone can write that they believe in animal rights, yet eat meat or animal products. The two are mutually exclusive. Humans do not need meat OR animal products to survive, so the choice to eat and use animal products means you care more about your own wants (not needs or rights) as a human than you care about animal welfare.

jtrusnik: Animals don’t have the rights in the their method of survival, only humans do? Well we don’t need animals to survive; but if we use animals then they can’t survive. That makes no sense. Looking at pets as “you own them” shows me your the type of person that shouldn’t own a pet. People used to “own” slaves and that was wrong. Taking “ownership” of an animal is just as wrong; you share your life with another, not dictate over it. You’re right in a way. Bacteria and plants do not have the same basic rights because they do not have the central nervous systems that allowt them to experience pain. But animals feel pain just as much or more intensely as humans do, and in the same way. Rights are not a consequence of merely being alive, true. But rights ARE a consequence of feeling pain.

HoldenCaulfield: 27 people may be slaves right now, but 58 BILLION land animals (not including aquatic such as fish) are killed every year FOR FOOD in the world. This does not include animals used in experiments, or used for dairy/eggs or used for leather, soaps, etc. People who are for animal rights are not saying they have human rights. They are looking for animals to be treated with at least a tiny amount of decency, instead of being tortured, maimed, used, and brutally killed.

NaturalBornKieler: Your argument is hypocritical. First you say animals kill animals all the time, so like animals humans should be able to kill them. Next you say that humans are not like animals, so they shouldn’t be given rights. Which one is it? And why do animals have to be “like humans” to be treated kindly? The only thing they have to be similiar in is that they feel the same pain we do…and they do.

Gregor: Who decides which animals get to live? Only the cute ones, or the ones we keep as pets? Only the baby animals? Only the ones that feel pain like we do? Oh wait, they all feel pain like we do. You say you are “driven by nature” to eat meat. You are also driven by nature to impregnate every healthy young women you come in contact with. But do you pull every attractive female into the bushes and have sex with her? Do you refuse to use birth control because it’s “against nature”? Didn’t think so. As humans we have the capabilities to do things that benefit our society even if it goes against “nature”.
Most plants do NOT die to feed people. For example, if you pick an apple off a tree, does the tree die? No. Plants do not feel pain. And wait, what feeds the meat you eat? That’s right, plants. So why don’t you cut out the middle man (the meat). If everyone was vegetarian in the world 50% LESS plants would have to be grown to feed everyone than to just feed the livestock people eat. And veganism isn’t about completely eliminating all deaths. That is impossible. The vegan lifestyle is about reducing the amount of deaths as much as possible. And by the way, insects and bacteria don’t have the capacity to feel pain, unlike the animals that you eat. You buy free range chicken and eggs? Do you have any idea what free range means? It means they have access to the outside, but there is no guidlines. Which means, 50,000 chickens will be packed tight into a barn and have to fight for the 1 square foot of outside area that is full of feces. So congrats on the free range but it is not even half a percent better. You don’t buy veal, but you buy milk? Where do you think the veal comes from. A cow has to keep getting pregnant to produce milk, and all her calves are killed for meat. You don’t sound very ethical, but it’s probably because of lack of true information, or just believing what serves your purposes.

Noiamnotagain: Humans do not “need” meat. Wanting and needing are two different things. You may rather not think it, but it’s true. If you have a problem with thinking about what your meat used to be, that means subconciously you know there’s something wrong with what you’re doing. It is great that you donate to worthy causes but that doesn’t mean you’re anti-animal cruelty.

Creation Crusher 3000: Hahahahaha. Like vegans and vegetarians haven’t heard that one 5000 times. Plants don’t feel pain like animals do. And even if you were correct, the animals you eat still eat plants, so meat eaters would still be doing twice the harm of vegetarians.

Brian: What is natural to you? Fruit, vegetables, grain, legumes, and nuts are all very natural to me. Growth horomones, artificial insemination to keep milk production, animals stuffed into cages and chained their whole life never being able to see the sunshine, none of that is “natural” to me. Dogs have “fangs” but then why are you feeding your dog kibble, thats not natural. I don’t believe the crap about vegans having to take protein supplements. Do meat-eaters really have no idea of what nutrional content is in what? Both protein and iron are found in higher amounts in veggies, nuts, beans etc than in a piece of thick steak. I’ve been vegan for over 5 years now and I’ve never had to take even a multi vitamin. I find that multi vitamins are usually purchased by meat-eaters anyways, because they don’t get enough variety in their diet.

GreenKitteh: Just Phuking w/ Ya: Humans breed vast quantities of cattle to feed their tastebuds. Cows did not come into existence to feed people. You care more about what tastes good to you, then the torturing of animals so don’t give me bs about caring about animal rights.

~stuck in California~: You are true in part. But saying we are omnivores by nature doesn’t help. Animals are free and not caged by nature. Whales are not hunted by machine guns in nature. Female cows live 20yrs in nature, not the 2-4 yrs they live as milking cows because they collapse from exhaustion and are killed. There’s many things that have been changed from what nature intended, why can’t you change?

Captain Sarcastic – The Captain: How can you support animal rights yet believe it’s okay how meat is mass produced? What makes something high-up enough to have rights? Monkeys are used in medical experiments. Pigs are one of the most intelligent animals, yet they are caged and beaten. If it’s about conciousness, then would you consider a person with Down Syndrome to have rights? I believe that anything that can feel pain should have rights.

Skalite says: You are vegetarian for ethical reasons but you “couldn’t give up cheese”. That’s pretty much the same to me as meat-eaters saying they believe in animal rights yet they “can’t give up meat”. I agree that what you eat is your choice. But don’t claim your choice to eat dairy but not meat is “ethical”; it is just as bad (from an ethical standpoint) to eat dairy as it is to eat a steak.

Geezah: You make some interesting points, most that I agree with. But you don’t seem to realize that eating meat is JUST like someone beating their dog. The people who work in the meat industry treat their animals horribly, beating and abusing them, then killing them. From that outlook, at least “Spot” was getting beaten as a punishment, the farm animals are being beaten just because they were born. (not saying you should beat your pets obviously though). No one will ever have to survive on meat for survival. The old plane crash desert island question would you eat meat? Well, if all there was to eat on the island was animal, you would die because humans need other food than meat, but could survive without the meat.

Anonnie Mouse: No one NEEDS meat to survive, and hunting for food is not fair. You have a gun, camo, a scope, and fake deer scents. They have nothing, they don’t even know they are being hunted. You can’t be pro-meat yet anti-abuse, the two happen together, regardless of the misguided labels of “free range” as I’ve talked about. The leather used for 90% of North American consumption does NOT come from the cows we eat as many people presume. It actually comes from cows from India who are solely used for their skin, and since it is illegal to kill a cow in India they are forced to travel while food and water is witheld, and they are frequently injured to keep them moving to their destination. 1/2 of the cows die before they make it to where they are going to be killed SOLELY for their skin to make leather for North American products. Almost all animal testing? Name one animal test that proved conclusive evidence for humans and helped in some way. Exactly, none.

Tony: you are going backwards if you are trying to support animal rights. it starts with respect for what we eat.