THE best reason to be a vegetarian.

Now I'm not gonna go all PETA-mode on y'all with statistics on health and shit like that. And I don't wanna start a flamewar either.
I know everybody's sick of hearing that.
But I had a friend of mine who said the most brilliant reason for going vegetarian, and honestly it's the only argument that should be necessary . 
Now in my opinion if this argument doesn't work for you, then nothing else will.  
And this is what he said. 
 
"If I, as a human being can sustain myself without having to harm another living being. Then surely I must do so." 
 
Seriously, that's all the reason you need.

I agree, but at the same time... MEAT IS SOOO GOOD!

well thats not going to convince alot of people. ive been a vegetarian since i was a kid, just thought meat was gross and makes me sick to eat.. but humans are survivors and need to kill other beings to survive

Is it at all worrisome to you that your friend speaks like a Sorkin character?

Plants are living beings.

" well thats not going to convince alot of people. ive been a vegetarian since i was a kid, just thought meat was gross and makes me sick to eat.. but humans are survivors and need to kill other beings to survive "

Even if I stopped eating meat personally, that wouldn't stop the butchering since there will always be a demand for meat.

Best reason to be a vegetarian: BACON IS DELICIOUS....oh wait....
 
And also... 
 @kajankua:  
"If I, as a human being can sustain myself without having to harm another living being. Then surely I must do so."
 
So I'm sure the home you live in was not built upon destroyed animal habitats, right? I'm sure none of the luxury items you use (perhaps an iPod, camera or that computer you're using) uses materials that were mined out of destroyed animal habitats, right? 
 
I have no problem with your choice to be a vegetarian but as soon as people like you start acting all high and mighty with your hypocrisy. Just because you don't contribute to the abuse of animals with your eating habits, does not mean the optional luxuries in your life are not hurting animals. Just because you choose to ignore it doesn't make you anymore righteous or moral than me.

"
Now in my opinion if this argument doesn't work for you, then nothing else will.  
And this is what he said. 
 
"If I, as a human being can sustain myself without having to harm another living being. Then surely I must do so." 
 
Seriously, that's all the reason you need. "

 You can also get anywhere you want to go without the use of vehicles to harm the environment.  You can live your entire life without adding to environmental damage by never using electricity.  You can save countless forest dwelling creature's lives by refusing to use wood and pulp paper products, making a house out of mud bricks or other alternatives.   Thus, since you CAN, you MUST, right?  Imposing a moral restriction and trying to make it sound like a logical debate isn't going to sway people who don't hold the same moral value.  I hunt, go fishing, have raised animals for food, and of course buy meat at the super market.  It is not my obligation to uphold your morals.  In fact, I don't care that you don't eat meat, and don't need to try and convince you that I am the only correct person, Im much more secure in my beliefs than to try and force them on someone else.  Maybe you and your "friend" should try being more confident and stop trying to impose your beliefs on other people.
 
TL:DR version:  you're not better than anyone because of what you eat, stop being dicks. 

The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself: 
 
"Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch."
 
That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;)

Here is a great reason for not being vegetarian.

"

Here is a great reason for not being vegetarian.

 
"If I, as a human being can sustain myself without having to harm another living being. Then surely I must do so."    Plants are living beings you twat. I hate vegetarians because they ignore the fact that plants are as much of a living being as animals. You have to eat living beings to live, unless you are a cyborg and powered by electricity, so if you're going to eat plants you might eat animals as well. What a chump. "

The problem with that being that vegetarians still harm plenty of living beings through sustaining themselves. That they harm less than meat-eaters doesn't mean some kind of spiritual sanctity can be applied to vegetarianism. What about the rabbits that get caught in the wheat threshers? What about the cows, the tallow from whom goes into making a huge amount of objects, many of which aren't edible? For a human to truly sustain themselves without hurting any other living being they would have to plant, grow and harvest their own food.
 
Just for the record: I'm not diminishing vegetarianism. Several of my friends are vegetarian and I respect their choices and think that it's a pretty big sacrifice to make in the name of inflicting less pain on the world. But being a vegetarian is about limiting the suffering you cause and being proud of that, not claiming you cause none and sanctifying yourself.

" The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself:  "Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch." That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;) "

That is no reason whatsoever.
 
"I, as a human being, can beat up old ladies for their money. Then surely I must do so."

You hop on a plane and convince a lion to go vegetarian and if you come back alive and with all your limbs I'll never touch meat again. It's natural if the shoe was on the other foot it'd eat me.
I'm not having a go..well i am really. But i do not see the point in trying to save cows. It sits in a feild chewing grass..that's it.

I eat meat every day, and I enjoy every second of it. The thought of those lesser animals quivering at the butcher's knife just before he plunges it into their puny bodies, snuffing out their pitiful existence, makes me intensely satisfied. The meat tastes oh so sweet when I think of their suffering as the juices flow down my chin.

How about this:
 
"If I, as a human being, have - if I'm lucky! - mayby 30-40 waking years to live, two thirds of which I will probably have to spend doing things I don't enjoy or even dislike, how profoundly dumb would it be to reduce my quality of life and my quantity of sensory enjoyment where it isn't even necessary?"

"In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips."

People don't live merely to sustain themselves; I mean you could sustain yourself by just eating bananas or something, but just because you could do it doesn't mean you must do it.
 
BTW, this sounds like some sort of achievement: 

Yeah...i totally didn't hear that 5 billion billion times...

" @blackbeard said:

" The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself:  "Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch." That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;) "

Except that cows are vegetarians.  In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips.  What do humans do? "

I just find that eating meat is cruel.

 
2 reasons. 

1. Plant are living being too. 
2. I limit the strict non killing issue to humanity, and sometimes, I think that even that is very difficult. 
3. You know, animals can be real pain in the @$$ to the planet : haven't you ever see what a herd of sheep or cow do to the subsaharian africa ?

" @blackbeard said:

" The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself:  "Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch." That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;) "

Except that cows are vegetarians.  In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips.  What do humans do? "

" I agree, but at the same time... MEAT IS SOOO GOOD! "

my sister is a vegetarian for ethical reasons and the amount of trouble she goes through to get the nutrients that are needed from meat and the amount I would need to consume to have a full meal just puts me off completely. Nothing vegetarian can beat a nice home made lasagna or spaghetti bolognese 

I'm no expert or anything but wouldn't animals over populate the planet if people weren't eating them? 
 
Also meat tastes good plants are living etc.

"@themartyr said:

" @blackbeard said:

" The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself:  "Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch." That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;) "

Except that cows are vegetarians.  In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips.  What do humans do? "

That's because humans are omnivores. Why do people never learn that? "

Thats a horrible reason to be a vegetarian. A better one would be that the cute blonde in your calculus lecture might get with you.

" Thats a horrible reason to be a vegetarian. A better one would be that the cute blonde in your calculus lecture might get with you. "

But then I cant eat Hamburgers =(

" @gike987 said:

"@themartyr said:

" @blackbeard said:

" The single best reason to not be a vegetarian... and I quote myself:  "Out in nature everything is food for everything else in one way or another. It's eat or be eaten... so enjoy what you can catch." That cow looks mighty hungry and he's headed right us.. ahhhhh! We better get him before he gets us. ;) "

Except that cows are vegetarians.  In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips.  What do humans do? "

That's because humans are omnivores. Why do people never learn that? "

Humans are designed to be frugivores.  Every vegetarian forum always has the most ignorant arguments against being a vegetarian. "

Fuck THAT... I'll eat whatever the hell I want to eat, and to be quite honest, i'm still gonna eat it if it suffered. 
 
We were meant to be omnivores. 
 
And veal is delicious. Fuck you PETA!!!

Meeeeeeh....hamburgers!

People with the excuse that they think it's cruel to eat animals are the biggest hypocrites. You're going to conveniently forget the fact that plants are living things, or you're just ignorant of the fact. Of course, if you're truly set on not harming another living thing, you're going to die of hunger pretty quickly.
 
I'm not saying don't be a vegetarian, I'm saying think of a better excuse if you're going to be one.

Well that sure was a dumb fucking reason.  Man evolved a larger brain due to our ability to cook meat and consume more calories thousands of years ago.  We would all be shit flinging monkeys if it was up to your friend. 

" Plants are living beings. "

" Plants are living beings. "

" @themartyr said:

"In nature, meat-eaters drink water with their tongues. Herbivores (vegetarians) drink with their lips."

Humans are omnivores. "

Meat = Protein = Muscles = Attraction of opposite sex = reproduction = continuation of species
 
(this makes about as much sense as the rest of this argument....eat what you will ppl...all comes out the same)

But if humans are smart enough to kill, with tools, animals physically stronger then us then we should take advantage of that advantage

" @Ryax said:

" well thats not going to convince alot of people. ive been a vegetarian since i was a kid, just thought meat was gross and makes me sick to eat.. but humans are survivors and need to kill other beings to survive "

word. I don't wanna get into the inevitable debate but the fact of the matter is that we need some of the things that meat has as a nutrient. Nowadays there's supplement pills to help vegetarians, and fine by me if you are and you go for that, but it's easier, cheaper, and hell, possibly healthier to just get it from a good chunk o meat  It's a wonderfully Buddhist sort of statement your friend has there. "

" Well that sure was a dumb fucking reason.  Man evolved a larger brain due to our ability to cook meat and consume more calories thousands of years ago.  We would all be shit flinging monkeys if it was up to your friend.  "

" Now I'm not gonna go all PETA-mode on y'all with statistics on health and shit like that. And I don't wanna start a flamewar either.
I know everybody's sick of hearing that.
But I had a friend of mine who said the most brilliant reason for going vegetarian, and honestly it's the only argument that should be necessary . 
Now in my opinion if this argument doesn't work for you, then nothing else will.  
And this is what he said. 
 
"If I, as a human being can sustain myself without having to harm another living being. Then surely I must do so." 
 
Seriously, that's all the reason you need. "

tell ur vegetarian friend ill eat double the amount of meat to balance it out for her ^_^