[I just read the post that started this series, fasting for life, and realized, to my horror, that I hadn't posted what I said I was going to post. So I've decided to do it now (although simply editing out the offending statement would have been easier)]
When I started these posts I did so with the intent of giving me an easy out whenever someone asked me why I was a vegan. I could simply point them to this blog and be done with it. I never intended to make it a jeremiad. However, this post will probably, more than any other, tend in that direction. Consider yourself forewarned.
A vast majority of animals used to feed Americans are tortured. Period. True, there are so called "Happy Farms" that reportedly attempt to raise animals used for food humanely but they are in the minority (I will be posting about these farms down the road). For the most part I am fairly comfortable concluding that the meat you are eating or the milk you are drinking came to your plate and cup only after a long, grotesque life of unbelievable torture.
For a good commentary on the meat industry you may want to check out "Glass Walls" (note: that the images are very disturbing and some strong language is used so it is not recommended for young children. Older children should have their parents watching with them).
I became vegan because I saw two things: animals being tortured for our pleasure, and Christians who claim to be filled with the love of Christ not caring. Torture, hedonism, dinner. A strange juxtaposition of words. The number of Christians I have come across who simply don't care astounds me. I would prefer an argument over indifference. Indifference is probably saddest of vices suffered by believers, especially as it is usually the result of (sometimes willful) ignorance. If a little girl ran into the church screaming, "A man is outside hurting a little kitty!" I have not doubt the building would empty as all the able bodied men and women ran to stop this crime. But tell these same god-fearing people about the torture of cows, pigs and chickens and they will brush you off and reprimand you for interrupting that same little girl's meal of chicken nuggets and ice cream.
It is easy to miss the connection between what is on the plate and where it came from. As terrible as it sounds, one could just as easily replace what is on the plate with human remains and no one would be the wiser (in fact, this may have already been done by one Canadian farmer/psychopath). We don't care. We don't want to care. We feel better about our food when we don't care.
That's the majority of omnivores. Hunters know exactly where their food is coming from. Most of the hunters I have met and the ones I've hunted with (obviously before my diet change) were as humane as possible and tried their best for a quick, clean kill. But there is always a potential for things to go horribly wrong. I remember one incident where the hunter shot a deer; only it wasn't a clean kill. The animal was partially eviscerated and he and his buddies were able to follow the trail of blood and intestines for half a mile before they had to give up. Here we have a different problem. One a bit more hair raising. How can people (and this goes for factory farm workers as well) actually participate in the torturing of the animal and not be affected? Have we become that cold?
This brings me to my final thought, and the one that just may keep me up at night. I am afraid that even if people were given all the information and statistics and were to watch all the videos (including the one above), the typical man or woman going by the label 'Christian' would simply shrug and politely ask me to pass the chicken.
