The practice of humans' purchasing and then eating meat is unethical (Copy #2)

Why do we murder? We murder because we are afraid; we murder because we are angry; we murder who harbor great hatred and we who shoulder great pain. And yet, when I see great anger I am unafraid. When I hear of great hatred my heart is unshaken. When I am told of great pain my soul is not robbed of its tranquility. Though my knees quake and my chest pounds and my mouth cries "O god what horror is this!" my soul would yet remain steadfast; for even while I tremble before suffering, even then I am secure in my hope, and in my hope I am uplifted. And yet one kind of murder sends terror to my very core. It is the most terrible of murders whose presence alone threatens my hope. It is the Murder of Ignorance that alone makes me truly afraid. In the Murder of Ignorance, one may not have even realized the misdeed. In the Murder of Ignorance, all rationality is abandoned. In the Murder of Ignorance, one does business with the Devil, trading her souls for economy. In the Murder of Ignorance, compassion and empathy are packed in dusty brown boxes to be taken out on Christmas. In the Murder of Ignorance, one mistakes an leg for a stick and then snaps the stick, a lung for a balloon and then punctures the balloon, a throat for a rope and then cuts the rope, a body for bread and then breaks the bread. In our most shameful acts in our most shameful histories, the Murder of Ignorance is at the core. It was the Murder of Ignorance that slew the American Indians who were "uncivilized" and "un-Christian" ; it was the Murder of Ignorance that enslaved and killed persons of color because they were morally and spiritually "depraved"; it was the Murder of Ignorance that executed the developmentally-challenged during the Holocaust because they were "inferior," "irrational," and "unintelligent;" it was the Murder of Ignorance the massacred the Jews because they were "less valuable." My opponent claims that the slavery, torture, and execution of 9 billion innocent animal souls each year is justified because non-human animals are "different from" and "worth less than" humans [quotes edited slightly]. My opponent claims that I made a "false analogy" in linking past atrocities to the oppression of non-human animals, and yet my opponent uses the same arguments that were used to justify slavery, the Holocaust, and the colonization of the Americas to justify why animals may be freely massacred. My opponent claims that my analogy between historical instances of dehumanization and the oppression of animals is "false" because "animals are not humans." However, in doing so my opponent unwittingly proves the validity of my argument. The reason I gave a history of "dehumanization" was to point out that what counted at "human" has evolved. It used to be that American Indians, persons of color, women, persons with certain religious ties, and queer persons were all at some time "inhuman." My opponent drops this argument. Furthermore, I point out that claiming that one group is human and one is inhuman is the reason why such horrible crimes, such objectification, such "Murder of Ignorance" if you will, was possible. My opponent drops this argument. Then, by claiming that "animals are not human," Con actually uses this same false justification to allow the massacre of animals based on a ridiculous species-distinction that was used to justify that massacre of others that society now considers "human." It is telling that my opponent used Aristotle's _Politics_ to "prove" that animals are different from and worth less than humans. Aristotle's _Politics_ also points out that slavery is natural and good, and that men have the natural right to lord over the naturally-inferior women [1]. My opponent's use of the _Politics_ further solidifies the analogy between slavery and our species-wide oppression. My opponent argues that one must be able to believe in God in order to be human. Not only is this obviously wrong, but it was the same arguments that Europeans used to justify their oppressive colonization of "savages" [2]. My opponent says that humans know right and wrong and animals do not. My opponent does not give any reason or examples for why this is the case. Animals are certainly capable of good. In many species, animals have a natural compassion for one another [3, 4]. My opponent suggests that the value of animals are different cross-culturally. However, I point out that humans do not have the right to choose animals' value. (My opponent drops this argument). This is an example of my opponent putting a price tag on the souls of others, which was seen during slavery and is a component of the Murder of Innocence. My opponent's argument is therefore an RVI, demonstrating that my opponent's position is unethical and that meat eating is founded on unethical, ignorant, and potentially evil justifications. Important: My opponent claims that this is a debate about eating meat, and not about the mistreatment of animals. There are lots of thing I can say about this claim, but most importantly my opponent CONCEDES that VEGETARIANISM is DETRIMENTAL to FACTORY FARMS. In my opponent's words: "if ignored [if meats is not eaten or purchased]...the meat industry will lose a significant amount of money." My opponent admits that factory farms rely on consumers to purchase their meat. If their meat is not purchased, factory farms will not be able to operate, and the animals will no longer be tortured, enslaved, and killed by the factory farms. So yes, this debate is about factory farms. Additionally, the fact that my opponent thinks that purchasing meat has nothing to do with animals shows just how deceived we can be. My opponent is the victim of a culture that is ignorantly convinced of its innocence. By eating meat, one is purchasing the assassination of an animal, and is also helping the meat industry purchase slaves. The inability of my opponent to see this connection that is so obvious is evidence of a self-deception that allows the continued massacre. My opponent claims that there are alternative, ethical methods of buying meat. In response: A) we are talking about the general practice of eating meat. 99% comes from factory farms [3] (my opponent dropped this argument). B) Even non-factory farms still use poultry whose very weight commits them to a live of torture (my opponent dropped this argument). C) Even in the "best" animals farms, animals are still enslaved and killed. My opponent simply advocates that an extraordinarily small fraction of farms don't torture their innocent slaves before killing them. Because we are not talking about naturally dead animals or roadkill, 100% of the meat purchasing we are talking about is proven to be unethical. I don't need to defend 100% of purchases (only general practice), but I have done so anyway just to make sure that voters are very clear. My opponent's sources: My opponent says some farmers are trying to make factory farms better, and Americans eat livestock. The link does not show improved conditions for animals, but is only concerned with minimizing poop runoff. And simply trying to improve conditions is not enough, because obviously conditions are terrible. My opponent gives no reason to think conditions have improved. My opponent says that organic shows that animals are treated well. This is a myth. See my arguments about the "free range" myth. [5, 6]. Besides that, even the most "ethical" instances of murdering and enslaving animals are still very unethical. I am proposing an end to slavery, not better treatment of slave. I am proposing an end to massacre, not less painful executions. Again, please realize also that these instances of animals not being tortured before death is far less than 1%, so even if all my opponent's arguments flow through I still win that the general practice of purchasing and eating meat is unethical. ------ My opponent thinks that while animals can't distinguish between justice and injustice, humans can. See my opponent's and my entire arguments as evidence for why that's just not true. My opponent says that humans are allowed to live because they are smart. This is what the Nazi's said when they killed the mentally-handicapped. My opponent thinks that global warming and health issues due to factory farming is "irrelevant" to funding factory farms. That's obviously untrue. Paying the people who are one of the main sources of global warming is obviously a bad thing. Paying people who single-handedly cause nearly all outbreaks of Salmanila and E Coli is obviously problematic and unethical. (I should point out that my opponent drops these arguments). My opponent does not oppose (DROPS, and therefore CONCEDES, since this is the last round) my statistics demonstrating the suffering of animals. My opponent does criticize my use of PETA as a source, but does not contend with any specific statistic from PETA; therefore, all of my statistics are uncontested. My links. I have already demonstrated and my opponent conceded that not buying meat destroys factory farms. I need not defend these other links, but I will. 1, 2, and 6 hold true, even if humans are near the same value. My opponent concedes 3-5. 8: not eating meat is good for you [7, 8]. 9 is conceded. 10 is conceded, because meat is indeed messy. 11: not eating meat is healthier [7, 8]. Conclusion: Buying then eating meat participates in the Murder of Innocence. Obviously round 1 was a copy. My title says copy #2 1 http://www.iep.utm.edu... 2 http://en.wikipedia.org... 3 http://www.amazon.com... 4 , 5 http://www.peacefulprairie.org..., 6. http://www.peta.org... 7. http://www.nursingdegree.net..., 8. http://www.health.harvard.edu...