I’m a vegetarian, and I have been my whole life. To me, life is precious. Recently even I’ve stopped killing ants, and have just taken to cleaning more diligently.
What I don’t understand is how somebody can eat meat without a care in the world, but then get upset if they step on a snail or run over a squirrel. Like just because you’re seeing it, now it matters to you? To me that’s worse than people who just don’t care. I have a level of respect for people who say “I eat meat because I don’t care about the lives of animals” and then just as callously kill something with their hands.
But if you eat meat and you’re upset by an animal’s death just because you see it or cause it, that’s so much worse to me because it’s like you acknowledge that the death is bad, but you don’t care as long as you don’t see it. It’s willful blindness to your own values. At least the callous person is internally consistent.
To be honest I have almost the opposite reaction. If I kill something on accident, then I’ll feel a bit bad, but at least it was an accident. At least I didn’t willingly and knowingly choose to contribute to a system of slaughter every day for lunch.
Out of sight out of mind is such a stupid justification for feeling okay with yourself.