Mentions of vegetarianism
Aug. 19th, 2008 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackFish eggs
After seeing most all varieties of being proselytized at through my life, a friend (fishpi) is to be congratulated for finding an argument to which I really did respond "Hm, yes, you're right, I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm going to change my conviction on that topic."
Specifically, I'd never thought about fish eggs, just assumed without thinking they would be non-vegetarian. Fishpi pointed out in passing that they should be equally as acceptable as hens eggs, and he's perfectly right. (To be accurate, I think he just posed the question.)
Of course, it's completely moot, since fish eggs are always gathered by killing, or at least operating on, a fish. But in principle I changed my mind. (I was particularly touched that both he and I, after this passing mention, went to look up whether fish eggs ever were considered vegetarian over the next week.)
There is a product marketed as vegetarian caviare, which is slightly ambiguous: I think everyone understands that to be a non-animalia substitute, although a more literal reading might lead you to suppose it was humanely-gathered actual caviare :)
Contamination
When I was willing to eat food that's touched meat may seem inconsistent, but when I considered it, it wasn't particularly logical, but nor was it very unusual: it conforms exactly to when I'd be willing to eat food contaminated by, eg., a probably-clean table or floor.
That is, I'd not eat food that's been mixed with contamination, and would always prefer not to eat food that's been touched by contamination. And if I were more scrupulous or fastidious, I wouldn't, but as it happens, I'm happy to just ignore touching if it looks ok.
That's not a golden rule, it's just a self-analysis of how I happen to feel, which changes over time, but if you've ever wondered why on earth I did think like that, that analogy might provide intuitive if not analytical understanding :)
Vegetarian majority
I still notice, in passing, whenever a group of friends chances to be majority vegetarian. Tonight at bridge was 4:3 in favour. It's nice that it's common enough that I rarely do notice, I certainly can't remember very precisely who else is vegetarian.
After seeing most all varieties of being proselytized at through my life, a friend (fishpi) is to be congratulated for finding an argument to which I really did respond "Hm, yes, you're right, I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm going to change my conviction on that topic."
Specifically, I'd never thought about fish eggs, just assumed without thinking they would be non-vegetarian. Fishpi pointed out in passing that they should be equally as acceptable as hens eggs, and he's perfectly right. (To be accurate, I think he just posed the question.)
Of course, it's completely moot, since fish eggs are always gathered by killing, or at least operating on, a fish. But in principle I changed my mind. (I was particularly touched that both he and I, after this passing mention, went to look up whether fish eggs ever were considered vegetarian over the next week.)
There is a product marketed as vegetarian caviare, which is slightly ambiguous: I think everyone understands that to be a non-animalia substitute, although a more literal reading might lead you to suppose it was humanely-gathered actual caviare :)
Contamination
When I was willing to eat food that's touched meat may seem inconsistent, but when I considered it, it wasn't particularly logical, but nor was it very unusual: it conforms exactly to when I'd be willing to eat food contaminated by, eg., a probably-clean table or floor.
That is, I'd not eat food that's been mixed with contamination, and would always prefer not to eat food that's been touched by contamination. And if I were more scrupulous or fastidious, I wouldn't, but as it happens, I'm happy to just ignore touching if it looks ok.
That's not a golden rule, it's just a self-analysis of how I happen to feel, which changes over time, but if you've ever wondered why on earth I did think like that, that analogy might provide intuitive if not analytical understanding :)
Vegetarian majority
I still notice, in passing, whenever a group of friends chances to be majority vegetarian. Tonight at bridge was 4:3 in favour. It's nice that it's common enough that I rarely do notice, I certainly can't remember very precisely who else is vegetarian.
Re: The last refuge of the unimaginative...
Date: 2008-08-19 02:14 pm (UTC)(I think that was more about consistency between different foods, than consistency across time.) And that the point is that you naturally expect someone holding a belief or practice to have considered it (and be annoyed if they seem to claim to X, but not act as if X). But if you think something, people often act as if you have to have all the answers to it, or you don't have a right to think about it at all.
Like, I imagine meeting some remote cannibalistic tribe and trying to explain morals of murder, etc, to them, and them coming up with ethical thought experiments about run-away hypothetical mining carts, and concluding that I hadn't really thought this no-murder thing through, and chucking the whole idea out :)
I don't think this was about me, but if I'm proslytising, (which, as you know, I normally only do when an interesting argument seems afoot), I'd expect to be asked questions about atheism/vegetarianism, etc. But conversely, I'd hope "I'm still thinking about that" to be accepted sometimes.
And I definitely empathise with the relief of for once not being judged :)