A Carnivore is NOT a Cannibal
11 November 2005
Over the past thirty years or so, the western world has seen a tremendous growth of people that choose to follow a vegetarian lifestyle for one reason or another. However, as I have mentioned before, I am not one of those people.
I am a carnivore and will proudly admit it to anyone who inquires. Though many vegetarians will proudly state the reasons that they are a vegetarian to anyone who asks (and often times even to those who don’t), I don’t think I should have to explain to anyone why I eat meat. Even so, I can explain it rather simply: The fact of the matter is that some animals are raised to provide the population with meat, I like said meat, and therefore I can and do eat it with a clear conscious.
However, unlike some meat-eaters, I don’t really have a problem with vegetarians. If they want to pass on a juicy steak in favor of green bean casserole, that’s fine with me. After all, that just means there is more meat for me! In fact, I have a couple of good friends that are vegetarians and while we may not necessarily agree with one another’s food choices, we respect them and can usually even agree on a restaurant with little fanfare.
I accept vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice and don’t try to convert my vegetarian friends to carnivorism, so I really fail to understand why certain radical vegetarian-promoting groups think that it is necessary to insult my diet by inferring that those of us who choose to eat meat are nothing but cannibals.
For the record, a carnivore is a flesh-eating animal, whereas a cannibal is one that eats the flesh of its own kind. Obviously a cannibal is a carnivore, but that in no way implies that a carnivore is a cannibal.
I know that this particular group is most likely using the negative connotations that the word cannibal has to brainwash unsuspecting teenagers looking for a way to rebel into their political movement, but as an unofficial representative of the People for the Eating of Tasty Animals, I am disgusted at this completely ignorant way of looking at my kind.
Besides, my ancestors didn’t fight their way to the top of the food chain to eat salad. Did yours?
