This is my second reply to someone who was saying that, in order to be Pro-Life, you HAVE to vegan, you HAVE to be anti-war to the fullest, and you HAVE to be anti-death penalty. Also, just prior to this, they had said that some Pro-Life websites say that people eat fetuses. I'm not sure how that helps them, at all, but that's what they said...
Are they saying that those people, the Pro-Life people, are eating the fetuses?
A true to goodness pro-life person would be against eating a fetus (I know I certainly am, that's horrid!) If anything, that would be another thing that they would say about how abortion is constantly making babies, especially the unborn, out be less and less human than they really are.
Besides, if you're pro-choice, am I allowed to say that you or others like you are not allowed to be vegan, even if your health depends on it? If you can say that I'm not allowed to be Pro-Life unless I'm vegan, then I can say that you can't be pro-choice unless you are anti-vegan.
Being Pro-Life and eating meat have very little to do with each other. And if anybody wants to pull the "well, religious people (i.e. Catholics, like me) believe that all life is sacred!" card, here's this tid-bit:
The sanctity of life applies to humans and the other animals very differently. We are more intelligent than the other animals, and we are also practically at the top of the food chain. Our bodies were made to digest meat. Also, as Catholics (and other Christians) we believe that God gave us the animals to use, not abuse. USING an animal includes: labor, wearing their skins for warmth/necessary clothing, and eating them. We would not eat our own children because they are also human. Also, there is a difference in the souls. Animals do not have a soul like a human does. It was the humans, Adam and Eve, who committed the first sin, not any other animal. We have the responsibility to help each other rid ourselves of the Adam's sin, that we are born with, and we do that through Baptism. We have a duty to help our fellow humans fully redeem themselves and make themselves worthy of their place in Heaven. Hard to do that if they were killed before they were born, now, isn't it? We DON'T need to that with animals because THEY can't sin, at least, not as we do. We DON'T understand animals as we understand our own kind, so there is nothing we can do for them in that regard.
Now, another tid-bit, in the Catholic calendar, during the Lenten Season (those 40 days before Easter), on Ash Wednesday and all of the Fridays leading up to Easter, they specifically say to abstain from meat. Why would they need to say that if it was already part of our beliefs due to other peoples ideas of the Sanctity of Life that we be vegan? Obviously, we are allowed to eat meat. Just because other people misuse the Sanctity of Life in this regard doesn't mean that that is what it is.
Now, for war.
Those who support our men are not necessarily "Pro-war". It is wrong to support war for the sake of war, yes. War is a hideous thing. But there is NOTHING wrong with supporting our troops, and there is NOTHING wrong with defending our country. Granted, much of what the government has decided to do with the army is rather stupid and pointless, but it is not the armies' fault, they're just following orders, orders that they can't easily ignore without major consequences for more than themselves.
As for the death penalty, I don't know where this came from, really, and I, personally, have not thought much about it, and the only reason why I would think that anyone would be in favor of it would be because someone is far too dangerous to be around (though, that's why they have therapy or solitude, not that solitude is much better.) This last one, I think, we can agree on. However, the above two need to be understood to the fullest.
Pro-Life DOES NOT mean we need to live a mandatory vegan lifestyle.
Pro-Life DOES NOT mean that we can't support our troops at all.
Please, think about these things, and don't tell people that "Because you are this, you HAVE to be that, else you're not this."
This is not true, and if you knew fully what you were thinking about, you would know it.
Are they saying that those people, the Pro-Life people, are eating the fetuses?
A true to goodness pro-life person would be against eating a fetus (I know I certainly am, that's horrid!) If anything, that would be another thing that they would say about how abortion is constantly making babies, especially the unborn, out be less and less human than they really are.
Besides, if you're pro-choice, am I allowed to say that you or others like you are not allowed to be vegan, even if your health depends on it? If you can say that I'm not allowed to be Pro-Life unless I'm vegan, then I can say that you can't be pro-choice unless you are anti-vegan.
Being Pro-Life and eating meat have very little to do with each other. And if anybody wants to pull the "well, religious people (i.e. Catholics, like me) believe that all life is sacred!" card, here's this tid-bit:
The sanctity of life applies to humans and the other animals very differently. We are more intelligent than the other animals, and we are also practically at the top of the food chain. Our bodies were made to digest meat. Also, as Catholics (and other Christians) we believe that God gave us the animals to use, not abuse. USING an animal includes: labor, wearing their skins for warmth/necessary clothing, and eating them. We would not eat our own children because they are also human. Also, there is a difference in the souls. Animals do not have a soul like a human does. It was the humans, Adam and Eve, who committed the first sin, not any other animal. We have the responsibility to help each other rid ourselves of the Adam's sin, that we are born with, and we do that through Baptism. We have a duty to help our fellow humans fully redeem themselves and make themselves worthy of their place in Heaven. Hard to do that if they were killed before they were born, now, isn't it? We DON'T need to that with animals because THEY can't sin, at least, not as we do. We DON'T understand animals as we understand our own kind, so there is nothing we can do for them in that regard.
Now, another tid-bit, in the Catholic calendar, during the Lenten Season (those 40 days before Easter), on Ash Wednesday and all of the Fridays leading up to Easter, they specifically say to abstain from meat. Why would they need to say that if it was already part of our beliefs due to other peoples ideas of the Sanctity of Life that we be vegan? Obviously, we are allowed to eat meat. Just because other people misuse the Sanctity of Life in this regard doesn't mean that that is what it is.
Now, for war.
Those who support our men are not necessarily "Pro-war". It is wrong to support war for the sake of war, yes. War is a hideous thing. But there is NOTHING wrong with supporting our troops, and there is NOTHING wrong with defending our country. Granted, much of what the government has decided to do with the army is rather stupid and pointless, but it is not the armies' fault, they're just following orders, orders that they can't easily ignore without major consequences for more than themselves.
As for the death penalty, I don't know where this came from, really, and I, personally, have not thought much about it, and the only reason why I would think that anyone would be in favor of it would be because someone is far too dangerous to be around (though, that's why they have therapy or solitude, not that solitude is much better.) This last one, I think, we can agree on. However, the above two need to be understood to the fullest.
Pro-Life DOES NOT mean we need to live a mandatory vegan lifestyle.
Pro-Life DOES NOT mean that we can't support our troops at all.
Please, think about these things, and don't tell people that "Because you are this, you HAVE to be that, else you're not this."
This is not true, and if you knew fully what you were thinking about, you would know it.