Love animals

Such lovely eyes… Such a cute little face…

Deep down in our hearts, we all know that the killing of an innocent animal is wrong no matter whatever the reason is. But, still, some people have convinced themselves with weak excuses, that there is nothing wrong with eating the flesh of these innocent creatures. “Where do you get your protein?”, “I didn’t kill the animal”, the list can go on and on. We look down on our past generations, especially the ones that sacrificed humans to their supposed gods, supported slavery and tortured people who had a different opinion about religion. Similarly, our future generations will look down on us because of the brutal way we shed innocent blood just to satisfy our appetite.

Here is a list of short, good and inspiring animal rights and vegetarianism quotes by some famous men of the planet.

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. –Pythagoras

Meat is for sub-human beings. –Buddha

The body which is burdened with meat is afflicted with diseases. –St. Basil

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of the whole human being. –Abraham Lincoln

Until we stop harming other living creatures, we are still savages. –Thomas Edison

For me, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. –Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. –Albert Einstein

There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is. –Isaac Bashevis Singer

The Bible’s emphasis is on the good treatment of animals, and not just the forbidding of cruel treatment. –Rev. Billy Graham

If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is stop eating meat. –Paul McCartney

Biblical excuses

BIBLICAL EXCUSES
The Bible supports vegetarianism. But, still, lots of so-called Christians use passages from the Bible to defend meat-eating. Let's see how their weak excuses or arguments can be countered.

Genesis 3: 21: God clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins.

This excuse really makes me laugh. Because nowhere it says that God killed any animal.  So, it can mean either of two things-

1. God used the skins of animals that were already dead.
2. If God can create animals, why can’t he create animal skins without killing animals?

As we all know, there was neither any violence nor any killing in the Garden of Eden. It is also really hard to imagine a Father kill his “lesser intelligent” child to clothe the “more intelligent” one.

Mark 7: 18: What one eats cannot make him unclean.

What Jesus said is perfectly true. All foods are fit to be eaten, and that is exactly the reason they are called “food.” But, those innocent animals, they are not food. For lions and tigers, they may be, but not for us. Animals are our brothers and sisters, as St. Francis said.  And, to eat our brothers and sisters would be cannibalism. So, Jesus meant that all “food” was fit to be eaten. He didn’t say that animals were food. Nor did he say that animals were meant to be killed and eaten by humans. Again, the reason we should promote vegetarianism is not because meat makes us “unclean”. Vegetarianism should be promoted to reduce suffering.

It is really sad how people misinterpret the words of the Bible to suit their selfish needs.

Luke 5: 2 – 11, John: 5- 8, Jesus helping his disciples in fishing.

Now, I won’t call this a pathetic excuse. It really is confusing. If Jesus was a vegetarian, why was he aiding his disciples in fishing? So, here is the true explanation.

In the Gospel of Luke, it shows that even the animals are co-operating with Jesus to prove his divinity, which he wanted to show to the fishermen, to make them his disciples. None of the passages show that the fish were actually killed. Instead of killing and eating the fish, Jesus asked the fishermen to give up their barbaric profession once and for all. The passage also says that they left their nets which make it clear that the fish were released back into the water.

It is also funny to note that Jesus filled their nets with so many fish, that their nets were about to break. (If their nets broke, the fish would be free.) This obviously implied that fishing was wrong and not in line with the message of Jesus.

As for the Gospel of John, a similar event takes place after the Resurrection. Here, the event is not to be taken literally. This passage is actually showing them gather disciples, which are compared to fish. Since Jesus earlier promised that he would make them “fishers of men”, we can be sure that killing fish to satisfy our appetite is not the point of this story.

Even if you want to take this literally, then, remember that what Jesus and his followers, who lived near a fishing community, ate 2000 years ago is no license for you to kill and terrorize God’s creatures today. Eating flesh for survival can sometimes be excused. But eating it for your appetite can’t be.

But this story can’t be taken literally in the first place because none of the other Gospels, even ones not included in the Bible, talk about Jesus helping his disciples in fishing after the Resurrection. So, undoubtedly this passage is talking about fishing disciples, not killing God’s innocent creatures.

Some passages in the Bible can be used to justify flesh-eating (even though they can be easily countered), but no passage in the Bible or any other scripture can be used to justify the cruelty that is going on in the slaughterhouses.

Matthew 8: 4, Mark 1: 44, Luke 5: 14: Jesus asking the leper to offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered.

We all know that the prophets and Jesus opposed animal sacrifice. And opposing animal sacrifice was the very reason Jesus was crucified. But, this is the only passage that brings doubt into our minds. Why did He ask the leper to offer a sacrifice, which we can come to know by looking at the Old Testament, was an animal sacrifice?

First of all, Moses asked people to be faithful to God. He never “ordered” anyone to offer any sacrifice in the first place. That’s exactly what Jeremiah 7: 22 says. And, of course, Jesus knew that. He knew that Moses never commanded any kind of animal sacrifice. So, why and what did Jesus ask the leper to offer? I’ll be coming to that; hold on.

Secondly, the ancient Hebrews saw leprosy as a sign of sin. Of course, this was wrong and Jesus knew that. And, since Jesus cleansed the man Himself, ritual cleansing was unnecessary. So, why offer an unnecessary sacrifice, especially one that was never commanded?

The answer is simple. This story takes place early, much before Jesus was wanted by the authorities. So, it proves that by asking the man to obey the law and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded, Jesus wanted to avoid offending or angering the religious authorities. So, this passage does not show Him approving animal sacrifice, but it shows how wise and thoughtful Jesus was.

Jesus knew that the man would not offer an animal sacrifice, and it went just as He expected. From the Gospel of Mark, we come to know that the leper didn’t offer any sacrifice. Instead, he started telling people about Jesus.

Romans 14: Didn’t Paul say that vegetarians are “weak” in faith?

This is an interesting question.

Paul said that a person who eats only vegetables is weak in faith. It can be taken as “vegetarians are weak in faith”. But, if it is to be taken that way, it would mean that people like John Wesley, Rev. Albert Schweitzer and so on were “weak.” Majority of the world’s best scholars, writers and philosophers were and are vegetarians, and to say that they are all “weak” wouldn’t be very nice. So, what was Paul trying to say? By checking Corinthians 8, we can get an idea of what Paul was trying to say in this passage.

Many of the early Christians were afraid to take meat that was offered to idols. But Paul believed that those pagan Gods didn’t exist. So, the food wasn’t defiled. So, he meant that the people, who abstained from flesh because it was offered to the idols, were weak. Check Corinthians 8: 7. He didn’t mean to say that people who abstain from flesh because of ethical, health or environmental reasons were weak. The ones who abstained from flesh because it was offered to idols were vegetarians because of the “wrong” reasons. That’s why Paul condemned them.

Later, in 14: 21 Paul himself said that we should abstain from meat if it seems to upset our brother or makes him fall. And, true animal lovers get upset when others kill innocent animals for food. And, because of meat production, millions of our brothers and sisters are starving. So, even if you are not an animal lover, in order to avoid upsetting your animal lover brother, and in order to end world hunger, it is your duty to become a vegetarian.

Christianity is about kindness, love and compassion, yet there is nothing loving and compassionate about factory farms and slaughterhouses.  So, we shouldn’t parody the Bible by using it to defend the disgusting cruelty that is going on in the slaughterhouses. Let’s remember what Tolstoy said, “As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.”

LSF rules

Welcome to the Lemmasoft Forums. By registering, you must abide by our rules, whether you like them or not. The rules are as follows-

1.      You must not be an animal rights activist.

2.      When the administrators take an action, you must accept it as just and logical. You can’t protest.

3.      You must not create any articles about love and compassion, or about world peace.

4.      You must be someone who supports the brutal killing of the innocent animals in the slaughterhouses.

5.      Visual Novels that doesn’t show how “awesome” the Ren’py engine is, are allowed, but not appreciated. (Porn VNs are an exception.)

6. All members in LSF are equal, but some are “more” equal than others.
7. When an argument takes place, our administrators are not going to take sides as long as taking sides are not beneficial to the engine or the community.
8. If any of our administrators “think” that a VN is a pornography VN, it will be removed to the “porn section” even if it is not. And its creator is going to be banned, even if it was a mistake on his part.
9. If anyone starts a thread about a topic which our administrators do not like, the thread is going to be immediately locked. Anyone protesting will be immediately banned.
10. If you want to create a religious VN, it must be full of animations and extraordinary features which will make our engine popular.
11. Advocating equal rights for women, homosexuals or animals is not allowed.
12. If you release a new project, and someone gives you unreasonable or offensive “critique”, you will have to accept it as “constructive” whether it was constructive or not. If you don’t, you will get banned.
13. Using vulgar words is allowed, as long as you are not “rude.”
14. Obey all the rules and accept that our community is “friendly” and “decent” whether you think so or not.
15. If you want a make a joke, you must make sure that the joke is funny enough to make PyTom laugh like crazy. If it doesn’t make him laugh, it will not be regarded as a joke, but as an offensive statement.
16. Trolling is allowed as long as it is done by a puppet of PyTom. If it is done by someone else, the post will be deleted and the user will be banned.
17. Respecting someone’s “personal opinion” is more important than the life of a living creature.
18. Your personal opinion must not be displeasing to the taste of our administrators.
19. If you want to comment whether you like a piece of artwork or not, you will have to give proper details about “why” you don’t like the artwork, and “how” it can be improved. In other words, you must be a Master of Fine Arts to feel free to comment. Or else, if you say that a piece of artwork needs a little improvement, you will be banned even if the artwork was disgusting and horrible.
20. Obey all the rules and don’t feel free to contact us if you have any kind of trouble.

That’s all. Keep the community “clean”, report “rude” posts that might cause “damage”, report “spam”, and report “off-topic” posts and we might even make you a new moderator, because we are always looking for more.

More about animals

I find it quite pathetic that out of ignorance, sometimes people say that Christianity and vegetarianism don’t get along well. It’s rubbish. Vegetarianism is an important part of Christianity. The life of an animal is as precious as that of a human being. We are all children of God. How can one child be more “precious” than the other?

Let’s see what great and famous Christians have to say about vegetarianism and animal rights.

Animals are my brothers and sisters. –St. Francis of Assisi.

As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.- Leo Tolstoy.

Since the time I gave up flesh and wine, I have been delivered from all physical ills. –John Wesley

It is far better to be happy than to have your body act as a graveyard for animals. –Clement of Alexandria

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living creatures, man will himself not find peace. -Rev. Albert Schweitzer

This list can go on and on. Majority of Christian scholars and reformers were and are animal lovers and vegetarians. Eating meat is a great sin because we are killing an innocent animal just for our appetite. By choosing not to eat meat, just imagine how many innocent lives we can save.

Let us all follow the Word of God, and show compassion to all our fellow creatures, and live in harmony with them.

Pathetic Excuses

Most idiots have lots of pathetic excuses to defend their habit of meat-eating. Here, I provide counters for their cheap excuses. The basic argument for vegetarianism is that meat-eating causes additional and unnecessary suffering for all creatures. Since this argument is irrefutable, those greedy idiots turn away from it and look for different kinds of excuses. The ironic thing is that even those lowly cheap excuses (that aren’t even worth countering) can be easily countered. I have countered them just to show how they can be countered. Don’t get the wrong idea, though. Vegetarianism is not about winning an argument with a meat-eater. It is about showing love and compassion to all creatures.

Vegetarian food is not as tasty as meat.

Reply: It is pathetic that you are willing to sacrifice innocent animals to satisfy your desire for meat. But, your excuse is completely flawed. To know what I mean, try visiting your nearest fancy vegetarian restaurant. You may find that some items are even three times tastier than meat.

You can’t stop killing animals. Just by walking on the footpath, you kill innumerous insects. So, why bother?

Reply: It is true that you can’t stop killing but it is also true that going vegetarian will minimize the killing. The death of the insects is something you can’t prevent, but the brutal killing of those innocent animals with innocent eyes is something you can.

I don’t see any difference between humans eating pork and a tiger preying on an antelope.

Reply: If you really can’t see the difference between a human being and a tiger, then you have my pity. Also, if you were to kill an antelope for food with your own hands, I doubt you would be able to do it.

If we don’t eat cows and pigs for food, their population would increase. We need to kill and eat them!

Reply: Do you eat cats and dogs? No. Then, why doesn’t their population increase? The world should have been full of cats and dogs by today!

Also, not animal population, but human population is the problem today. So, are you going to kill yourself? I doubt it.

Humans have four canine teeth, the purpose of which is to tear meat.

Reply: Gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys are all known to possess canine teeth. But, they are fully vegetarian. It is said that some chimps eat insects. But still, they don’t use canine teeth to tear them apart. Again, it is irrelevant to compare the eating of one or two insects with the brutal killing of billions of innocent creatures. It should also be remembered that Panda bears have more canine teeth than humans do, but they are completely vegetarian.

Even by surrendering to this pathetic argument, you can’t change the fact that we don’t need to eat meat to survive. So, why cause additional suffering to innocent beings just to satisfy your desire for flesh?

Why blame me? I didn’t kill the animal.

Reply: You did. Indirectly, that is. Paying an assassin to murder someone is not very different from paying a butcher for killing an innocent animal.

Hitler was a vegetarian.

Reply: This argument is completely cheap, pathetic and ridiculous. People who use this argument are simply trying to grasp straws to support their desire for flesh. Mahatma Gandhi was a vegetarian. Albert Einstein was a vegetarian. Leo Tolstoy was a vegetarian. The list can go on and on. Do you really want to equate Hitler with such great people?

History is full of mass murderers and serial killers. And, majority of them were meat-eaters. So, would that mean all meat-eaters are bloodthirsty murderers and serial killers?

And lastly, since all other  excuses failed…

But… but plants have feelings too, don’t they?

They don’t. Even if they do, that’s not the point here. The point is that eating plants is necessary for survival. While eating animals is not.

Also, when we cut a tomato or a carrot for dinner, does it scream aloud in pain like the poor little lamb does when it is led to slaughter?

People eat meat for only one reason. And that is- Meat is tasty. We all need to understand that if we want to make the world a better place, we need to stop eating meat. You may think that it is too late to change your lifestyle. But, it’s not. It’s never too late to turn away from sin. Let’s all show love to God’s creatures and stop killing them for our selfish needs. Becoming a vegetarian is not difficult. Or, if you think it is difficult, you can start by reducing the amount of meat you eat, and by consuming lesser and lesser animal products. Always remember that you CAN make a difference. By removing meat from your plate, you are not doing me any favor, but you are helping this world become a better place.

Whatever you do, you should do it for the welfare of this planet.

(Though I doubt that narrow-minded gluttons and their cronies are going to understand this point of view.)