Humans should be vegetarians.

I would like to start my argument by stating that my opponent failed to properly follow the rules of this debate. I specified that round 2 would include opening statements, which can be defined as introductory statements that are limited to outlining facts [1]. Therefore, any statement made by my opponent regarding lack of evidence is irrelevant. It is noted that my opponent bears a slightly unfair advantage, although I will still provide rebuttal within the evidence for my claim. 1. Meat eating and the killing of farm animals is morally incorrect. My opponent stated that assuming objective morality would require the appeal to the existence of some type of God. This statement involves religion, which serves as a very unstable argument since the existence of a God cannot be proven or disproven. Therefore, it can't be proven or disproven that God sets any moral standard. Religion is a matter of opinion, and cannot serve as a foundation of morality. Stepping away from the topic of religion, a standard of morality can be set using the authority of natural law, a body of moral principles that serves as a basis for all human actions. Natural law involves respecting animals since they contain memory and emotions, just like humans [2]. Therefore, they also possess natural rights, which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Murdering other animals that bear these rights is nearly equal to killing other humans. 2. Meat eating and killing animals is evolutionary incorrect. There are many ways to argue that humans aren't meant to eat meat. Humans may be natural omnivores, but this doesn't mean that it is natural to eat meat like other animals do. For example, humans don't eat raw meat, which can cause food poisoning since it contains pesticides and bacteria [3]. True meat eaters kill prey themselves and eat it raw. In order to properly digest meat, humans must disinfect it and then cook it. Humans also lack the instincts of a meat eating animal. While driving by a farm, do you look at the animals and naturally feel like killing them with your bear hands? When you kill that animal, would you want to eat it right then and there? If we were meant to eat meat, we would answer "yes" to both of those questions. The only instance when humans might answer "yes" to these questions is when we are forced by means of starvation. True meat eating animals seek and kill prey under any degree of hunger. Humans also lack traits of meat eating animals. For example, our finger nails are round, not sharp, therefore killing animals without man made objects would require time, patience, and strength depending on the animal . Our teeth are not sharp, as well, which explains why it would be difficult to chew through raw meat. Michaelbluejay.com [4] provides more examples of traits that prove humans are biologically herbivores. 3. Meat eating is unhealthy. This argument will link to the previous section regarding humans' lack of meat eating traits. Many of the world's largest fast food corporations, such as McDonalds and Burger King, distribute meat that cause humans a variety of health problems, like high blood cholesterol, obesity, heart attacks, and eventually lower life expectancies [10]. The countries with the highest obesity also tend to be countries will a great amount of fast food chains (which contain unhealthy meat). The United States, Australia, the U.K., and Canada are top 4 countries in the world in terms of the amount of McDonalds, and all of these countries are top 29 in terms of obesity [4,5]. It is true that the quality of meat distributed by these nefarious corporations is prepared poorly. However, if humans were vegetarian, poorly prepared meat would not be an issue, and less health issues would exist. Again, if humans were a natural meat eating species, unhealthy meat wouldn't result in the health issues listed before. 4. Meat eating causes pollution, deforestation, and excessive land use. This argument will provide extremely convincing evidence that the farming of animal species results in pollution, deforestation, and land use that is extravagantly wasteful considering the current issue of overpopulation. First off, trees are cut down in order to clear land for farming. A study from Stanford Univeristy shows that 80% of deforestation is used for the purpose of farming [7]. Furthermore, trees absorb CO2 by way of photosynthesis, and help reduce climate change. The increase of the world's population will eventually require humans to live in smaller spaces. For example, the extremely high population of Tokyo illustrates this concept, as most of these citizens live in high rises. Livestock farming takes up 30% of all of earth's arable land [8], and this land takes away space from humans, which causes the standard of "overpopulation" to be higher. Lastly, the distribution of meat emits methane and ammonia into the atmosphere, and also contaminates soil with pathogens. There is also a data that illustrates there is a correlation between commercialization of animals and the enmission of these gases [9]. I will provide my sources in the beginning of the next round. Unfortunately, I am on a mobile device and for some reason I am unable to work copy-paste. You can verify my sources in the beginning of the next round and will see that they are credible. Sorry for my untimely response and good luck in your next round.