You know, Father Terrence, it is really hard to decide what to eat!! I eat every trembling carrot, and slurp every bit of yummy yogurt, with gratitude and reverence.
However, I cannot subsist on crisp mountain air and filtered water (although I am sure some people at Ask God are wishing that I would try long enough for me to see the pearly gates and hear the lush harp music playing in the background).
Therefore, a reasonable compromise seems to be eating plants, but not animals. Plants may have feelings, but animals have beating hearts, complex emotions, and suckle their young the same way we do. I certainly think becoming vegetarian is an individual decision. I can just say that I believe it is beneficial in terms of developing a more pacifistic, calm and accepting way of life, and therefore has great merit in the sense of living on a higher spiritual plane. |
