I love animals. They're delicious!

You know, raw broccoli is still alive when you eat it. It probably cries out, too.

So what's next? Beef? Pork sausage? [sic] Will Whole Foods stop selling cheese if they think the cows are under duress?

No, what they'll do in each case is discontinue the use of the services by the ranch, farm, or dairy that produces the products and find others willing to comply with their standards.

Good heavens, Terry - the [sic] was not necessary.

And I find your comment utterly humourless as well.

You know, the way I figure it, if God had not wanted us to eat animals, He wouldn't have made them out of meat.

You know Mr. Schultz, I agree. It was humorless.

I just read Crunchy Cons recently, and hence have become a Whole Foods patron for produce and meat. As a convert to crunchy conservatism, I'm in a zealous stage, and zealots are typically humorless and hypersenstive.

Please forgive me.

And for the record, I despise PETA. They're second only to the ACLU in terms of disgust I have for organizations.

They did research recently in one of the Scandinavian countries and found that lobsters are incapable of feeling pain because their brains are too small.

Way to go Terry!! Whole Foods sells every kind of meat where the animal was humanely raised meaning not factory farmed including poultry. The meat from there is the best. The animals are also fed organically hence no mad cow worries.

Carroll Scott

My sister and brother, the lobster!

This could also play havoc with insectivores if word gets around.

They did research recently in one of the Scandinavian countries and found that lobsters are incapable of feeling pain because their brains are too small.

I heard the same thing about politicians and telemarketers. <rimshot>

After having posted the comment below a topic or two above I noticed this topic and felt that it might have been more suitable to have posted my remarks here. I'd appreciate the indulgence of the blog owners permitting the dual post. In any event here it is:

There is a curious and primitive tendency among certain of us to treat the pain of non-human life as though it were meaningless and to see our relation to it solely as exploitive. The Church's own official teaching on vivisection is strangely vague and lacking in self-assurance. Many make the case that this attitude stems from a deficient theological anthropology, which is almost certainly correct, one which places man at the pinnacle of creation and over against it rather than with Christ at the center of creation and responsible for it. Surely, God Himself provides in the end for the redemption of all life that does not specifically exclude itself from His loving embrace. And that includes Fido, quite justy. Given the sin of man and what it costs God, a decent case could be made for the moral superiority of animals in any case. In light of God's love for the world and not for man alone, to find entertainment or pleasure in the pain or death of an innocent animal - here on this forum or elsewhere - is to join in the very crucifiction of God the Son. The time's come for something more than arrogance when considering this question, perhaps even a little maturity.

John Lowell

btw, Whole Foods supports Planned Parenthood and the killing of live humans. Hmmm. I wonder if Christians should perhaps deal with lower quality produce and meat, and stop supporting wolves in sheeps clothing.

I found this thread interesting. The person who equated man with the rest of creation has a good point in that cruel treatment of animals is wrong. However, to state that animals have a moral superiority over humanity is quite a stretch. Animals cannot sin because they do not possess free will and intellect on the same level as humanity. We were made in the Image and Likeness of God. That doesn't mean we look like God; it means that we possess an immortal soul, an intellect and free will. We can choose to do good or evil, while animals---even quite bright ones---rely on instinct to help them survive.
Mankind was placed over the created world not to abuse it or its creatures, but to be its stewards. When Adam was made, he received the Breath of God that the rest of creation has no record of receiving, and he named the creatures, which gave him dominion over them. He and his progeny were to care for the earth and its lifeforms. After the fall, the animals were fearful of mankind, but his dominion remained, along with his responsibility not to abuse it.
I eat meat, poultry and fish in moderation and make sure it doesn't go to waste as much as possible. If an animal is raised for food, to waste it is wrong. However, it isn't automatically sinful to eat what we hunt, fish or buy for that purpose. Not everyone can get by on a vergetarian diet(our oldest daughter had a medical problem as a child in which the only protein she could consume had to come from animal sources). If we are to eat fleshmeats, let's do so judiciously and not wastefully.
As for the store supporting abortion and artificial contraception, that strikes me as very hypocritical in light of their concern for "life". It seems that life only matters to them when it's not human life.
Yours in Christ,
Patti