Abortion, sex, death penalty, veganism, religion, and a whole bunch of other fun topics! -Part 2
If you want to split hairs about it, once a sperm sell meets the egg, the
two unite and become an embryo. At this point, does it have feelings?
Whether it has feelings or not is not the point. The point is that at the moment of conception, a human has his/her identity. Genetically speaking, everything that makes a human a human is there. Talking about the differences between embryos and fetuses is just an exercise in semantics. "Embryo" and "fetus" are just terms used to describe stages in a child's pre-birth development. The title "fetus" does not somehow magically bestow life (and the right to live) upon the child. The point I am making is that if you take a man and compare him with himself at the moment of his conception, he is genetically identical...he is the same organism that he was then. If you believe that a person's right to live is based on his/her ability to feel pain or think for him/herself, then by that logic, someone who is comatose has no right to live and should have the plug pulled on them. The reason we don't do this is because we respect human life, regardless of an individual's ability/inability to express its suffering.
Secondly, there is an extremely fine line between hunger for desire and hunger for a feeding. Not
to ostracize you, but you say you only eat for survival, never for desire.
I never said that I NEVER eat for desire. I eat food that tastes good to me, but the ultimate purpose is survival. I acknowledge that I can fulfill this purpose without taking the lives of animals, so I have chosen to live off of plant sources, instead.
Pretty much everything you eat is a living or once living organism. The only thing I think that doesn't fit this, is eggs, beans, peanuts, and
milk (According to one vegan, milk is unhealthy). There is no way one could
maintain a healthy diet on these items.
I never said that I don't want to eat anything that was once living. I simply said that I choose not to eat animals because I think it is highly likely that they are self-aware and can experience pain similar to the pain I feel. I empathize with animals...I feel compassion for them. However, if I have no alternatives, I WOULD eat animals for survival.
Speaking of unhealthy, pretty much everything we do is unhealthy in some way or another. It is impossible for
one man to live his whole life completely and totally healthy.
Ok, that's fine...but what is this in response to? I never said that one can try to live "totally" healthy. I think there are many things one can do to live healthier, but I realize it's impossible to live totally healthy.
If you're looking to see absolute reality, why would you have faith in something that hasn't proven it's existence?
I believe there IS proof of God's existence. It's called the "first mover" argument. I don't believe the universe made itself. Since no one knows how the universe came into existence, everything we believe about it is a matter of faith. Believing in the big bang takes as much faith (possibly more) as believing in God.
Yes, your definition of religion is accurate but there are several. The most commonly
used one seems to be the one that describes it as a belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the
universe. What a mouthful! The definition of supernatural is; a power that
seems to violate or go beyond natural forces. Is this reality in any way?
What is reality to you? Is reality simply the things that you can experience with your five senses? I think it is naive to believe that nothing exists beyond what we can detect with our senses. I have come to the conclusion that there must be things beyond what our senses can detect. In fact, I believe our senses may even deceive us at times. When I speak of "reality" or "truth," I am trying to think beyond what my senses tell me because I acknowledge that my senses are limited and may even be deceptive.
To me, believing that something supernatural can directly affect your life
seems like a pathological disease.
Why is it "a pathological disease" to want to explore things beyond the conventional sense of "reality"? I think the thirst for knowledge is a virtue.
