I am vegan because it is a much healthier diet. Of course I would like to see everyone adopt it but I don't preach it. If the topic comes up, it comes up, great. Reasonable people will disagree. Regardless. A few months ago I realized how religious jews and christians most likely have at least a subconscious disdain for this diet because meat is so infused in the bible. When it comes to science religion is bad. But I am living in a world where some religions are bad for diet. Just another reason to reject religion as far as I am concerned.
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Agreed, although you should be careful, since you are a vegan. I'm not against it, but you should watch your diet closely, because it's harder to get some certain proteins and vitamins without meat. I'm not vegan although I humored the idea. Ever since I've become an atheist I've been watching my diet closer and have become a healthier person, so I can testify to your OP
I grow a great deal of my food. What I am most concerned with is ridding my diet of pesticides. I've a large green house (8x15'), and 15 raised beds that are 3x15'. I start everything from saved and organic seed. My neighbor has three bee hives and the bees love my place. I grow food for my household and the birds in our area. Additionally, I don't eat very much meat at all. I actually dislike the taste of it. But I do like cheese and eggs. We will be setting up a coop next season. Humans just don't need as much protein as folks typically think we do. My favorite proteins are beans and legumes. I also make some of my own cheese.
But bacon...omg, bacon!
Just to clarify,will that be a coop for chickens or hyphenated for people to cooperate? ;-)
Coop...for yardbirds, not co-op. :-)
I don't eat much meat, but at one time or another I've sampled just about everything that's forbidden in the Old Testament, including shark, snake, crocodile, frogs, snails, pork, and bugs. The bugs were large grasshoppers cooked in soysauce and sugar, a delicacy in Japan. They also eat bee larvae, though I haven't tried that yet.
Has anyone heard of William Buckland, the Dean of Westminster? He claimed to have eaten every kind of animal on Earth, including human. The human meat was supposedly the preserved heart of Louis XIV of France.
I realized there is a connection between biblical literalism (and not so literalism) and low meat consumption. If you buy that whole evolution crap then you will have the crazy idea that our ancestor's diets can inform how we should eat. Those communist plots are everywhere!
Yes I said LOW meat consumption and I am a vegan. The case can easily be made that for a long time our ancestors did not eat much meat.
I'm going to say that the association of meat and the bible is rather forced and a contrivance of imaginative assertion, not unlike the whole of the bible itself, so we have yet another example here of more of the same.
It's also funny how nutritionists come in coats of many colors. Seems you can shake one out of the nearest tree who possesses just enough conversational information on the topic to sound convincing. To make the statement that herbivores are healthier than omnivores is to say that the latter are suffering some form of malnutrition. This is in alignment with us-versus-them scenarios the world over that beg for unbiased qualification but can only get fanboys and girls instead who do not possess the expertise to speak intelligibly on the topic. They can't because even if in possession of certain academic credentials, every person is different and broad-brushing their nutrition is wholly out of context and privilege with those credentials.
Of course, we have experts readily available who will pretty much whore themselves out to the highest bidder for statements either for or against certain nutritional targeting schemes. "Nine doctors out of ten agree that (name your cause)..."
Free market economies are great for this where truth in advertizing isn't legally at risk, and/or regulators can be per$uaded to turn a blind eye.
@Pitar,
You can not deny that there is a connection between health and diet. When we eat we must make a decision as to what we are going to eat. The question is "what is going to inform our decision?" If we eat simply what we want with no regard to health, we will all most certainly wind up in poor health. I can vouch for that myself. I love cake and ice cream. If I could have that for the rest of my life...well it would be a short life no doubt.
It is very easy to be cynical and say experts are in the pocket of this or that group. It is another to sort out the credible sources from suspect sources and good information from bad.
I have science from multiple good sources inform my diet. More accurately my wife has that approach and I listen to her and the evidence. Every indication is that she knows what she is talking about and has her and my interests at heart.
Although I was brought up on a farm style nutritious diet including all types of meat, I've been a vegetarian (including cheese and eggs) for 37 years. I tried vegan for a few years but eventually felt I needed more protein. In fact, there weren't a lot of good veggie products in my vegan days. Today there is a veritable feast of meat substitutes.
I have never cared what the bible says about food. In my perfect world, I simply would NEVER subject the earth or its hungry people, or animals, or my own body to the cruel ravages of a meat-eating economy. But I do see how many people on this planet must eat meat, due to their circumstances.
My problem is that I know I'll live to be more than 100, however I don't want to do so. There is such a thing as being TOO healthy, yano.
My only real contribution to this conversation is that since dropping the faith, I have certainly made a complete change in my lifestyle with regards to diet and exercise. I don't imagine this is uncommon once some drops the delusion of the afterlife.
I looooove meat. Love it. Love it, love it love it. But I had to cut back my intake substantially. These days a meal generally consists of 1 part lean protein and two parts green veggies.
What I really try to avoid are starches/sugars, especially after 2 pm.