Hi Bob,

> Bob:

> Was it the action or their feelings & intent about the action being
considered.  None of us have >the means, nor the right to presume that
Ellie the Killer is not feeling mercy or compassion >when she delegates to
an agent the death of some fellow creature.  & if your killers or mine were
> feeling mercy or compassion while they were slitting my throat, why would
they be  honored thereby?

Mark:

We often have feelings that we later discover to have been hypocritical.
If someone thinks he is feeling compassion for you as he slits your throat,
I would urge him to realize that his compassion is a lie, probably designed
to justify his own actions.  It's not that I feel that he is somehow
"honored" by having this feeling, it's just that I want him to face what he
 is doing with honesty.  He may kill you anyway, but he also may realize
 this isn't what he really wants to do.

Though I don't equate killing an animal with killing a human (in spite of
my apparently ill-chosen analogy of the ETs) I still think it is important
to face the facts of the situation with honesty.  Why?  Because I hope the
meat eater will see the "error of his ways"?  No.  The real reason is that
we are all literally walking around in a trance, and in those rare moments
when we really face the naked facts, including all of our warts and
contradictions, we are out of the trance.  Compared to this, our diet is
really beside the point.

Who was it the other day who urged the vegans and vegetarians to make
themselves heard on this list?  How come you didn't warn me I was walking
into a buzzsaw?  (Present company excepted, Bob!)

Mark