I see so much these days about people boycotting this and that, and people trying to pass laws that adhere to their (sometimes narrow) views about ethical animal treatment. Some of these I agree with, like the brave people who are shown on "Whale Wars". Others I am ambivalent about, like the people who march in front of furrier shops. And still others make me absolutely mad enough to bite nails and spit Rebar, like Vegans and Veggie Nazis telling me how and what I should eat. There are a couple of these who post to a local free newspaper, and their growling, whining and mumbling about forcing our school children to eat a Vegan diet in school finally got to me, and I wrote in. Of course, I got flamed, and one person held these idiots up as saints, for all the stuff they had done to promote Vegetarianism in our area, and the "sacrifices" they had made in this cause. Never mind that I have been promoting the love of Nature for years. Never mind that I have spent a majority of my life teaching Environmental Education, and teaching people of all ages to love Nature, and protect Her in any way possible.
Many of the people the New Age people claim to love are the so called "Native Americans", who actually, if you don't know their Tribal or National affiliation, prefer to be called Indians. Many of these groups produced men and women of great Spiritual acuity, and they ate many kinds of animals, including Bison and deer. All these wannabe veggies and vegans go nuts over "Native Americans", but sort of slide right over the facts that they ate (and still for the most part eat) many species of wild game that these people hold in absolute reverence. If pressed, they will say "well, that is their tradition". Bull feathers. It is my tradition too. My grandfather fed his family during the Great Depression with a shotgun, and I was taught to hunt by my mother's brother. These people will say "we are more conscious than that". Than what? Is the Cougar any less conscious than we when she drops out of the tree and breaks the deer's neck with one great paw? Do we have the hubris to say we are more conscious than she? Do we need to divorce ourselves from Natur Herself in order to be "conscious"? I think not.
You may have gathered that I am what Veggie Nazis call a "meat eater". Oh, I eat all kinds of things, potatoes, squash, beans, corn, other vegetables, but they focus on the meat, and say it is WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!
I have a few questions. If a wolf goes out and pulls down an elk or deer, what do you say? Some of these people will cheer the wolf on. What? What's that you say? "It is the wolf's nature!" Really? And it isn't mine? How dare you tell me what is my nature! Wanna turn the wolf vegetarian? You might be able to manage it, but not with Cougar. Cougar requires meat, and the fresher the better. Once again, do NOT tell me that my nature is different from theirs. That is a type of hubris that has separated humans from their nature for thousands of years, the idea that we are somehow outside the natural process. It has also been instrumental in destruction of Nature, the thinking that we are outside Her laws.
A human eating meat is no different from a bear or raccoon eating meat. We are all omnivores, made to eat almost anything, from vegetable matter to raw meat. Not me. I think that fire was probably an adaptation to eating a variety of stuff and not have it kill us. Fire can purify a lot of things
Amen Alex!! As one who lives among the Eastern Band of Cherokee, they hunt and eat Bear, Deer, Turkey, Boar, as well as fish for whatever can be caught and eaten. I have never heard any of my friends mention hunting for sport, as some other peoples do here, for raccoon. They also happily partake of Mickey D's offerings, the local buffets and restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores. In Spring, many of them can be told of eating Ramps, some by the odor that precedes them if they cannot drink the buttermilk first that keeps the smell to a minimum. Some honor Nature, others just live on the planet like most. It is not a given that being American Indian automatically makes you more in tune with Nature, not any more. The Christian religion has seen to that.
ReplyDeleteBut they are true omnivores, eating all and sundry, as most of us are.
Many folks cannot live well on the vegan or vegetarian diet, and most of those I know that try eat far too many carbs and pure sugars, trying to make up for the energy their bodies are losing out, as they consume their own muscles looking for protein. Very few take the time to learn proper amino acid combining to make protein available for themselves, and fewer still abide by it; it is a tough regime, not for the lazy or fainthearted.
Don't worry, we won't run into very many of them on the trails, as they seldom have the energy to go far, or do much for long.
Happy hiking. Blessings. Aryd'ell
It is extremely interesting for me to read the article. Thanx for it. I like such themes and anything connected to them. I would like to read more on that blog soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's not often that we hear this argument in these days of misperceived human "disconnect". Humans are animals, and everything they do is within the sphere of nature. To believe otherwise is, on one level or another, dishonest and dangerous. The only real disconnect that exists is in our perception of hwat it means to be human.
ReplyDeleteSo, Thank you Alex....and keep telling it like it is, in the face of a culture that pretends to love nature on one hand and continues to spread the myth that humans aren't part of it on the other.
-DF