Atheists, is there anything religious that sticks with you to this day?
I am Ganesh, an Indian atheist and I don't eat beef. It's not like that I have a religious reason to do that, but after all those years seeing cows as peaceful animals and playing and growing up with them in a village, I doubt if I ever will be able to eat beef. I wasn't raised very religious, I didn't go to temple everyday and read Gita every evening unlike most muslims who are somewhat serious about their religion, my family has this watered down religion (which has it's advantages).
But yeah, not eating beef is a moral issue I deal with. I mean, I don't care that I don't eat beef, but the fact that I eat pork and chicken but not beef seems to me to be weird. So, is there any religious practice that you guys follow to this day?
edit: I like religious music, religious temples (Churches, Gurudwara's, Temples & Mosques in Iran), religious paintings and art sometimes. I know for a fact that the only art you could produce is those days was indeed religious and the greatest artists needed to make something religious to be funded, that we will never know what those artists would have produced in the absence of religion, but yeah, religious art is good nonetheless.
But yeah, not eating beef is a moral issue I deal with. I mean, I don't care that I don't eat beef, but the fact that I eat pork and chicken but not beef seems to me to be weird. So, is there any religious practice that you guys follow to this day?
Also, I am not having as much effect on the environment by eating meat. I eat once or max twice every month. Not every day like some americans (soap opera americans)
The american expectation is to have meat with every meal. Bacon/sausage with breakfast, ham sandwich with lunch, then a roast or steaks for dinner.
Americans will literally view a plate of food without meat as a snack. Like, its not a meal unless there is meat. Meat is very inexpensive here because soy and corn are heavily subsidized. All animal products are roughly half the price of what they would be without the subsidies.
nah I love meat! Can't live without it. I thought I would eat factory manufactured meat, but that sounds like just a bunch of fucking chemicals bunched into one. I thought they would just grow meat like in the lab, but no. Pretty misleading ads out there.
Its true eating meat is nice, but it's terrible for the environment. At least consider eating less meet. You are lucky - there are many very tasty vegetarian Hindu meals.
Amen to very tasty vegetarian Indian meals! We have a shit ton of those and they make life worth living.
Also, as I mentioned, I eat meat once/twice every month so it's not that big of a dent on the environment. Also, I live a life devoid of luxuries which westerners take for granted, pretty sure my carbon footprint is comparitively low
Sure you can! Everyone who goes vegan or vegetarian manages to do it, and so can you!
And nobody goes vegan or vegetarian does it because they dislike the taste of meat - it’s because of the same reasons you wrote about the cows - it’s because we see animals as creatures which do not deserve to suffer just for our pleasure.
Everything you mentioned about why you don’t want to eat cows is just as true for all the other animals. Chickens are really friendly, playful and affectionate little guys! Pigs are smart and sweet, and have their own personalities.
All food is just a bunch of chemicals bunched into one.
I know what you mean though, and while, as far as I know, some manufactured meat is actually just grown in a lab, there's a lot of stuff needed to keep cell cultures alive outside of a body that I wouldn't really want to eat or have around my food, so it'll be something to watch out for when it's widely available.
Still morally and environmentally better though, in most cases.
Highlighting this just because I happened to scroll down and came across this. Everything that constitutes matter is considered Chemical. The "X has lots of Chemicals while our product Y is chemical free" is a pseudo-scientific marketting tactic that Naturopaths and Ayurveds commonly use, at least from the Indian Context as I live here. Other than that, have whatever you desire. A person only has one life after all.