The animals on this planet (#632)

The savagery of our past need not continue into our present and future. Technology, scientific discovery and philosophical maturation all lift us to new understandings and dependencies. Our old past ways of doing things must give way to innovation and practical change. Common sense dictates that paradigms of the past do not easily fit into the circumstances and situations of the present. In other words, new ideas for new realities. Today I want to discuss the animals that inhabit this planet alongside us. In the recent past we were dependent on animals for a variety of social and physical needs. We harvested animals for food. Consider this: They have a central nervous system and a cerebral cortex, which makes them sentient, able to think and feel sensations. Plainly put, they have the structure to evolve into an intelligent species. Granted it may take a very long time for this to happen but they are not a pre-packaged meal you find at the butcher counter in the store. They are living breathing animals, of which we are also classified as, who live and die at some calculable rate similar to us humans. I know that our evolution depended upon serving up our brother/sister animals as a way to survive. Although barbaric, it was of necessity as we understood necessity. The times have changed and the concept of eating our less developed brother/sister animals has become a choice rather than a necessity. This is where I draw the line with myself. In all conscious, I cannot logically argue for eating any animals anymore. Science has given us food products that sufficiently replace the need to eat animals for nutrition. It is all now down to the preference of taste and habit. I like to think that I am an evolving human. I take that mantle seriously. My heart and my soul cannot find the willingness to use the animals on this planet as a food source when other sources of food are better for me and available. It is a hallmark of the human species to look out for and care for our lesser brother/sister species. In the core of my being, I know that this is right.