There is a Buddhist teaching that suggests that by killing an animal you are helping it out of one of the lower states of samsara. I am essentially a boddhisattva by eating meat! This by extension also justifies killing of the disabled, elderly, and terminally ill. Actually it justifies killing normal people too, since they might be reborn into one of the heavens.
There is another one that says by acting immorally (ex: eating meat) you are establishing a reverse connection to Buddha, which is still a connection, so you're still getting brownie points.
All of the major Buddhism sects are populist, so it's hard to really look for them for much guidance. All you need to do to escape the cycle is say 南無阿弥陀仏 one time and you're out anyways regardless of behaviour (in the most popular sect).
ex:
-men can lactate
-women will continue lactating indefinitely after giving birth, until they stop milking (the act of breastfeeding triggers chemical releases which keeps the lactation cycle going. When a woman stops breastfeeding she will stop producing milk). Wet nurses breastfeed the young of others for years without requiring a yearly knock-up.
Did you actually think about what you wrote? Do you think that human women are still pregnant even after they give birth? Even IF cows only produced milk while pregnant, it would be much cheaper and simpler to simply stimulate it with drugs instead of all the expense of insemination, extra food bringing the calf to term, birth, etc etc.
Cows are given drugs to increase the rate of milk production (in farms in some countries), but they aren't kept in some cycle of continuous pregnancy since it's not required. Antibiotics kill bacteria btw, they do not stimulate the production of milk. They are given hormones to increase production.
There is another one that says by acting immorally (ex: eating meat) you are establishing a reverse connection to Buddha, which is still a connection, so you're still getting brownie points.
All of the major Buddhism sects are populist, so it's hard to really look for them for much guidance. All you need to do to escape the cycle is say 南無阿弥陀仏 one time and you're out anyways regardless of behaviour (in the most popular sect).
Quote:For milk: this may suprise you (it suprised me), but cows are not magical milk machines. They do not spontaneously produce milk. Cows, like every other mammal, only produce milk when they are pregnant. Just like in humans.Where did you get this fact? Pregnancy triggers lactation, but it's not the sole trigger.
ex:
-men can lactate
-women will continue lactating indefinitely after giving birth, until they stop milking (the act of breastfeeding triggers chemical releases which keeps the lactation cycle going. When a woman stops breastfeeding she will stop producing milk). Wet nurses breastfeed the young of others for years without requiring a yearly knock-up.
Did you actually think about what you wrote? Do you think that human women are still pregnant even after they give birth? Even IF cows only produced milk while pregnant, it would be much cheaper and simpler to simply stimulate it with drugs instead of all the expense of insemination, extra food bringing the calf to term, birth, etc etc.
Cows are given drugs to increase the rate of milk production (in farms in some countries), but they aren't kept in some cycle of continuous pregnancy since it's not required. Antibiotics kill bacteria btw, they do not stimulate the production of milk. They are given hormones to increase production.
Edited: 2010-06-22, 9:34 am
