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| A Contented Cow |
Of the two, the latter plan seems way more in keeping with a “Thou shalt not kill” approach. Not only will such bioengineering prevent the killing of countless animals, but it will also prevent a huge amount of environmental destruction. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) puts it this way: Would you ever open your refrigerator, pull out 16 plates of pasta, toss 15 in the trash, and then just eat one plate of food? How about leveling 55 square feet of rain forest for a single meal or dumping 2,400 gallons of water down the drain?
The environmental impact of eating “factory-processed” cows and chickens (and even their milk and eggs) is the lethal equivalent of these PETA examples. Same with the usual-style processing of turkeys, fish and pigs… The mass production of animals for human consumption has been hugely responsible for negative impacts upon climate change, distribution of resources, soil erosion, water and air pollution – and very bad karma.
According to Michael Ohlsson, one of Buddha’s preliminary instructions for contemplation while eating was to “think about where the food came from” - and in doing so, to contemplate all the implications thereof. Many of today’s Buddhist sects regard the killing and eating of meat to go directly against their ideal of exercising compassion for all sentient beings.
The bioengineering breakthroughs that are now occurring in a Charleston, South Carolina laboratory might therefore be at least a step in the right(eous) direction. Although messing with embryos seems messy to some – it may be a whole lot tidier than the average slaughterhouse scenario.
Resources
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41338274/ns/technology_and_science-science
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-and-environment.aspx
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/Buddhist%20Diet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_in_religion
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