I haven't had enough coffee today to sort out and tone down the many different things that popped into my head this morning after spying this piece while perusing vegan-related news stories and opinion pieces this morning. I guess that all I can really say about it is that it's a prime example of someone's wearing her asshattery on her sleeve. Prompted by a lecture at her school by Bill Nye The Science Guy, University of Texas at Austin student Laura Covarrubias wrote an article for her paper The Daily Texan to share how she became what she dubs a "meat-eating vegetarian".
A supposed vegetarian of five years who'd cut meat out of her diet for what she calls "self-righteous" environmental reasons, she decided to reintegrate it into her diet, insisting that she "didn't cave", but that she figured that since she's doing a two-month stint in West Africa this summer where she figures she'll need to eat meat, she claims that she wanted to give her digestive system time to adjust. Furthermore, her doing so left her changing her mind completely about eating animals:
"Now, after a month of eating animals, I have come to only one solid conclusion: Meat tastes good. Five years of abstinence resulted in an amazing sensation on my tongue when I finally succumbed, and eating that Chik-fil-A sandwich for the first time in years was the sweetest moment of my life. No matter what PETA tells you, there’s just something in animal flesh that even the best tofu or veggie burger lacks.
So now I am the vegetarian who likes eating meat. In order to combat the accompanying guilt, I’ve been applying the Buddhist concept of the Middle Path to my dilemma. This approach lies between the austerity of vegetarianism (and the torturous nature of veganism) and the indulgence of regular, thoughtless meat eating. It is the happy medium followed by the Dalai Lama himself, who graciously treats each infrequent serving as a delicacy. This is the same path that Bill Nye endorsed during his lecture, and it is the path that will make the most headway in both protecting animals rights and reducing global warming."
Who would have thought that the real key to protecting animal rights is to eat them? You heard it here first, folks!
7 comments:
Good grief. :o/
No kidding.
Ewwww, poor thing! Imagine thinking that the day you
ate a Chik-fil-A sandwich was the sweetest moment of your life? ...and so you have to let your tastebuds rule your mind; sublimate what ya know is true... But mental gymnastics can't make it true. Somebody tell her: Denial ain't a river in Egypt!
People always concoct ways to rationalize their selfish behavior, but drawing a parallel between herself and the Dalai Lama is a bit absurd.
Jeeeeeesus...
First of all, it's silly to assume that vegetarians just don't like meat. I grew up on animal products such like every Twinkie-eating American, and I like meat. I just choose not to eat it. I have the choice. The animals don't, and even though they taste good sometimes, as an ethical foundation it would be wrong for me to eat them. Why is that so hard to understand?
And as an actual Buddhist, I was pretty disgusted to see her reference the Middle Way and the Dalai Lama as excuses to eat meat. That's pretty far out there.
Chandelle, I completely agree. Why is anyone even shocked by this? This Laura girl is another one of these 2009 "former vegetarians" who decide that their wants and whims come first when it comes down to it. You can tell from what she writes that she's a dolt and completely clueless on this subject.
I'm just so tired of these selfish people trying making themselves feel good about their indulgences by concocting BS rationalizations, and then must post an article about it.
I really wanted to contact her to give her my two cents, but alas, no email or contact info can be found.
Janet, you could always try a simple letter to the editor of the Daily Texan?
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