Stefan Joest <[log in to unmask]>:
>Perhaps the cow makes milk for her calf and expresses her love for her
>calf by that. But she obviously does    n o t    make milk to be stolen
>by us humans...
>She does not share her milk with us. She is forced to do so by us.

Tom:
But if the cow doesn't want us to take her milk, she could resist. That
she doesn't resist, and in fact comes (freely) to the milking shed to be milked
at the appropriate time, suggests that it is not theft. Additionally, the cow
produces excess milk  - more than is needed by the calf. In Ayurvedic
dairies in India, the calf remains with the mother, and only her surplus
milk - over and above that needed by the calf - is taken for human use.

Stefan Joest <[log in to unmask]>:
>If the degree of consciousness grows from plants to animals (and su-
>posedly from animals lower in evolution to more higher species) why
>should we lower our self-identity then? In the contrary it looks we
>should strengthen it!

Tom:
I see your point - but it is a materialistic view. The spiritual view is
that we should identify with the spirit within, not the body. And a diet
of animals hinders us from that process. The spiritual view is that the true
self is the spirit within, not the body. So, identifying with the spirit
is true self-identification, and identifying with the body is not. The
body lasts a few years, the spirit is immortal.

Stefan Joest <[log in to unmask]>:
>Most religious leaders introduced vegetarianism due to hygienical pro-
>blems with meat...
>The religious leaders missed the real point in my oppinion.

Tom:
I am aware that there are reasons to believe that the prohibiton of eating
meat in some religions, may be due to some self-serving motives of the
priest classes. However, the prohibition of meat can be argued on other
spiritual grounds (i.e., minimizing killing, karma), so the "selfish
priest class" argument is of questionable relevance (at least to some of us).

Thanks for your comments!

Regards,
Tom Billings
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