the great vegetarian debate

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

Be Mindful while you go about your day.

That includes in eating, and in what you eat.

Please folks... let's not get into the Kammic consequences of dicing a carrot....

[nekete]

Although a vegan, i am with Ajahn Dhammanando on this issue. Some things are more important than maintaining a dogmatic adherence to one's dietary preference t at every single meal - developing gratitude, sympathetic joy at another's meritorious action of offering Dana, and renunciation of one's own wishes and desires are cases in point.

No, sir. A dietary preference is when you prefer lettuce rather than cabbage, or apples rather than pears, or orange juice rather than a banana, or cooked food rather than a raw food. That's a preference. Being vegetarian it is not a dietary nothing. It's a state of being referring to nutrition.

[Ron-The-Elder]

nekete: "Being vegetarian it is not a dietary nothing. It's a state of being referring to nutrition."

Not sure what you are saying here, nekete.

If you wouldn't mind, could you please review the following definitions and then clarify your meaning?

Thanks!

noun
vegetarian  
1. a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl, or, in some cases, any food derived from animals, as eggs or cheese, but subsists on vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain, etc.
adjective
2. of or pertaining to vegetarianism or vegetarians.
3. devoted to or advocating this practice.
4. consisting solely of vegetables: vegetarian vegetable soup.


Origin:
1835–45; veget(able) + -arian

Related forms
non·veg·e·tar·i·an, adjective, noun

Can be confused: vegan, vegetarian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.

World English Dictionary
vegetarian (ˌvɛdʒɪˈtɛərɪən)

— n
1. a person who advocates or practises vegetarianism

— adj
2. relating to, advocating, or practising vegetarianism
3. cookery strictly, consisting of vegetables and fruit only, but usually including milk, cheese, eggs, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

vegetarian
1839, irregular formation from vegetable (n.) + -arian, as in agrarian, etc. "The general use of the word appears to have been largely due to the formation of the Vegetarian Society in Ramsgate in 1847."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

Although a vegan, i am with Ajahn Dhammanando on this issue. Some things are more important than maintaining a dogmatic adherence to one's dietary preference at every single meal - developing gratitude, sympathetic joy at another's meritorious action of offering Dana, and renunciation of one's own wishes and desires are cases in point.

No, sir. A dietary preference is when you prefer lettuce rather than cabbage, or apples rather than pears, or orange juice rather than a banana, or cooked food rather than a raw food.

No, that would be a CULINARY preference.

Definition of culinary in English:

Line breaks: cu¦lin|ary
Pronunciation: /ˈkʌlɪn(ə)ri /
ADJECTIVE

Of or for cooking, in cuisine:

Examples:
culinary skills
culinary ingredients
savour the culinary delights of the region

That's a preference. Being vegetarian it is not a dietary nothing. It's a state of being referring to nutrition.

being a vegetarian is having certain culinary preferences, and shunning others, on health, taste or moral grounds.

I would surmise the misunderstanding may be because English may not be your first language.
But being a vegetarian is most certainly a 'dietary preference'.

[Spiny Norman]

But being a vegetarian is most certainly a 'dietary preference'.

I agree. And so is eating meat.

[Ron-The-Elder]

NoBS..."being a vegetarian is having certain culinary preferences, and shunning others, on health, taste or moral grounds."

Add to this medical / psychological reasons to prefer a diet primarily of vegetables, fruits and nuts, such as cardio-vascular diseases, various cancers, animal protein phobias, or being a zoo-o-phile.

[DNS]

being a vegetarian is having certain culinary preferences, and shunning others, on health, taste or moral grounds.

Huh? Shunning others? That is not the definition. Sure, some vegetarians shun others; and also some omnivores shun others, but I don't think it qualifies as a definition of vegetarian; perhaps the definition of 'vegan-nazi' in the urban dictionary sense, but not the traditional definition of vegetarian.

[DNS]

or being a zoo-o-phile.

I hope that is some kind of joke?

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

being a vegetarian is having certain culinary preferences, and shunning others, on health, taste or moral grounds.

Huh? Shunning others? That is not the definition. Sure, some vegetarians shun others; and also some omnivores shun others, but I don't think it qualifies as a definition of vegetarian; perhaps the definition of 'vegan-nazi' in the urban dictionary sense, but not the traditional definition of vegetarian.

I meant shunning other foods, not shunning other people.

[DNS]

I meant shunning other foods, not shunning other people.

thanks for the clarification; guess I am too used to hearing that vegetarians supposedly shun other people, so thought it was that.

[seeker242]

I think technically, vegetarianism is a "dietary preference" according to the dictionary. But when people say it's not just a dietary preference, what I think they are trying to say is that it's about much more than just "my personal preferences". Or, it's not about me and it's not for me. It's not about what I want or don't want. It's not a self centered preference about "my food". Something like that I think.

[lyndon taylor]

my "dietary preference" would probably be to eat some meat, but my moral preference is to not eat any animals, sort of a difference.

[waterchan]

my "dietary preference" would probably be to eat some meat, but my moral preference is to not eat any animals, sort of a difference.

In rural India, if you go to the market to buy chicken, they take a live one and slit its throat in front of you while holding down the struggling, writhing animal in its death throes.

Gives you an overwhelming moral reason not to buy chicken.

[chownah]

my "dietary preference" would probably be to eat some meat, but my moral preference is to not eat any animals, sort of a difference.

In rural India, if you go to the market to buy chicken, they take a live one and slit its throat in front of you while holding down the struggling, writhing animal in its death throes.

Gives you an overwhelming moral reason not to buy chicken.

I guess it must not be overwhelming for a lot of people.....if it was overwhelming for everyone then no one would buy chicken......and yet people do......
Maybe the chicken's death could be used to study ones own aversions and help in the development of equanimity......I guess......don't know for sure.......
chownah

[TheNoBSBuddhist]

I meant shunning other foods, not shunning other people.

thanks for the clarification; guess I am too used to hearing that vegetarians supposedly shun other people, so thought it was that.

I know; and is it not a shame?

I did point out earlier* that I am in fact a vegetarian, but the kinds of people I shun, are the kinds of people who shun people!

I am a vegetarian, but refuse to be divisive.



(* It could have been in the 'alcohol in cooking' thread....)