This is really making me angry

[ssra30]

To continue that logic to the absurd level then, to kill a whale, or maybe to kill a person, is no worse than stepping on an ant?

Well, by definition, when you terminate an ant's life, you kill it.
Whether it make you feel more or less guilty than killing a cow, that's your decision. As I said, killing is killing, you can try to justify it that it does not matter, that it matter less or more, but the act of doing it, is the same, whether the animal is big or small, intelligent or stupid. Some people have strong feeling about eating horses. Some people don't. Is one of them wrong and the other right?
Is killing a whale for food better or worse off than killing other more stupid animal for sports?
Some people refuse to eat any animal for thinking that killing is wrong! Is that person morally superior than people who eat meat?
You can make this argument as absurd as you want and take it to any extreme that you wish but in the end, you will have to live with the decision and the standard that you want to set for yourself.
For me, if all else being equal, I think that killing a cow is no worse nor better than killing a whale. However in reality it is not the same because whale is being killed for use among other things, in cosmetic industry. I am not aware of any real vital industry that whale is needed in order for us to survive so their death seems even more wasteful.

 

[SubMariner]

Since this thread is becoming a little TOO heated, I'd like to ask everyone participating in this discussion to take a few deep breaths BEFORE posting to it.

Please remain civil!

Thanks from one of your friendly neighbourhood Moderators.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Ummm, actually no one has posted on this thread for over a week....

Sorry Submariner but had to say it..... it needed some humour anyways

 

[Charlie99]

Actually, I believe it is a subtle ploy by a "Meddlesome Sr. Moderator" that's getting bored and is looking to stir up some trouble to moderate :banana:

 

[Mike Veitch]

Good point Charlie

 

[SubMariner]

Actually, I believe it is a subtle ploy by a "Meddlesome Sr. Moderator" that's getting bored and is looking to stir up some trouble to moderate :banana:

Trust me, there is MORE than enough "trouble" to watch on the board without me having to look for it.

FYI, SB is a BIG place and we don't always notice a thread for a while. So the fact that it has just come to a Mod's attention NOW is not unusual.

Anyways, not to stray off topic, but Happy (early) 4th of July to the Yanks and Happy Canada Day (today) to the Canucks.

 

[paolov]

lets just read the new , well not new, recently released book of MEG (Angel-megaladon)

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

I just read this news story and I am just sick about it.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2005/06/23/1101243-ap.html
Is anyone else aware of this?

Yes, burgers are really disgusting... Whale meat should be treated with respect. -Much better in a good steak!

 

[Ishie]

Doesn't the shark fin in shark fin soup do essentially what corn starch would though?

I'm mixed on the issue. I can't say I would eat marine mammals since they fascinate me and I feel very close to them, but that's the same reason I wouldn't eat a dog or a horse, yet while it would upset me to see either slaughtered, I can't pose the latter two as too much of an ethical problem, particularly since both are domesticated animals.

I'm decidedly against eating endangered species. This becomes more difficult with any type of marine animal because it's very hard to estimate their numbers and the ocean is so vast with such a complicated food web that it's difficult to determine what the overall impact will be. Less so on land since we understand interactions better and can more directly see the impact.

That being said, it can't be fair to claim anything in the ocean *might* be endangered but we just don't know, so you can't eat anything.

When it comes to non-domestic animals, I feel a greater disinclination to eat animals that have long lives and slow breeding processes because if threatened, it's far more difficult to up their numbers. I believe many species of large sea bass fall into that category. This is also the reason I don't see an *ethical* problem with eating the abundant species of monkeys, but do with the apes. Apes are threatened and breed very slowly. Of course, I would never advocate eating either since both (particularly old world monkeys) are closely related to us to a degree that makes consumption of them exceptionally dangerous as far as disease transmission.

The cruelty of capturing a whale is pretty bad, but probably pales in comparison to the life led by veal-calves, which I eat.

I sincerely dislike the practice, but I'm not sure if I can ethically condemn it beyond "I don't like it".

Shark finning is wasteful, cruel, and depletes the numbers of creatures that are an intrinsic link in the food chain, so I'm more rigid about condemning that practice.

 

[Ishie]

Oh, whoops, sorry to rebirth the thread guys. Thought it was more recent. Ignore the above.