On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:43:33 -0000, "pearl" wrote:

What's absurd is your attempt to equate a natural predator/prey
relationship with your mere wish to eat 'meat'. In that case, yes,
the differences are such that they make the comparison absurd.

Yes because no nonhuman predators deliberately provide the
experience of life--good or bad--for their prey as humans do, so
the biggest reason for absurdity in trying to make a comparison is:

· The meat industry provides life for the animals that it
slaughters, and the animals live and die as a result of it
as animals do in other habitats. They also depend on it for
their lives as animals do in other habitats. If people consume
animal products from animals they think are raised in decent
ways, they will be promoting life for more such animals in the
future. People who want to contribute to decent lives for
livestock with their lifestyle must do it by being conscientious
consumers of animal products, because they can not do it by
being vegan.
From the life and death of a thousand pound grass raised
steer and whatever he happens to kill during his life, people
get over 500 pounds of human consumable meat...that's well
over 500 servings of meat. From a grass raised dairy cow people
get thousands of dairy servings. Due to the influence of farm
machinery, and *icides, and in the case of rice the flooding and
draining of fields, one serving of soy or rice based product is
likely to involve more animal deaths than hundreds of servings
derived from grass raised animals. Grass raised animal products
contribute to fewer wildlife deaths, better wildlife habitat, and
better lives for livestock than soy or rice products. ·