Should the sale of cow meat be legal in India and dog meat be legal in America?

[Sbane]

What do you guys think?

[TNF]

Cultural norms should definitely have a role to play here. Indians should be allowed to ban cow meat if they so choose, as should Americans with dog meat. Personally I believe that dog meat should be banned in the United States.

[DC Al Fine]

I have no issue with either, although to echo what TNF said, it should come down to each country's respective government.

[Kitteh]

Outlaw the killing and consumption of meat.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Outlaw the killing and consumption of meat.

How does one kill meat? It's already from a dead animal.

[Donerail]

Outlaw the killing and consumption of meat.

If animals weren't meant to be eaten, why are they made out of food?

[rejectamenta]

Legal in both, of course.

[Hatman 🍁]

Option #2.

Dogs are our best friends after all. Cows are our natural prey. Plus, India has more than just Hindoos living there.

[Sbane]

Legal in both, of course.

This is the correct answer.

Option #2.

Dogs are our best friends after all. Cows are our natural prey. Plus, India has more than just Hindoos living there.

So if Muslims made up 0.13% of India's population, as opposed to 13%, it would be fine for India to ban cow meat, yes? There are certainly people living in America who come from cultures where eating dogs is culturally acceptable.

Of course your post is ignorant (including the spelling of Hindus) and not based on fact, rather just an overt display of ethnocentrism. Who says cows are our natural prey? They also serve/served other important roles in human society, especially the Indo-Aryan society (including Europeans). Europeans of course eat cows because they can't grow anything in the winter. In India you can grow crops year round, and male cows help you till the field, and female cows give you milk, an easy source of calories.

Dogs are similar to cows. They have been very useful to human society in the past. So what if some societies ate a couple when other food sources weren't around? Not dissimilar to Europeans in their frigid lands as far as I am concerned.

BTW, the current overconsumption of cows is a very modern invention (chickens and pigs were more popular back in the day) made possible by the conquest of the Americas.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Consumption of carnivorous mammals is to a large extent the ultimate luxury, altho at least dogs can be fed a vegetarian diet. Still, I think everyone will have to agree that eating dog meat is not kosher.

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

[Sbane]

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

I don't like it. I only see idiots use it. And of course that is the pronunciation that has been used to insult/discriminate against Hindus in the past. And you have to ask, why does Hatman feel the need to pronounce is that that way when almost no one else does?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Option 1, though it's obviously up to the people of either countries to decide.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

If it's not legal now, I don't see the need for it to be made legal.  Eating animals is pretty entrenched in our world and I wouldn't want anyone to be punished for it, but I don't believe there's some universal right to sell whatever kind of animal meat you want.  Dogs are very intelligent and have a special relationship to human beings going back tens of thousands of years, and I think it makes sense to recognize that.  In India, I'd imagine people in some regions would want cow meat sales to be illegal and in other regions they wouldn't.

[Goldwater]

Option 1, though it's obviously up to the people of either countries to decide.

[TNF]

If it's not legal now, I don't see the need for it to be made legal.  Eating animals is pretty entrenched in our world and I wouldn't want anyone to be punished for it, but I don't believe there's some universal right to sell whatever kind of animal meat you want.  Dogs are very intelligent and have a special relationship to human beings going back tens of thousands of years, and I think it makes sense to recognize that.  In India, I'd imagine people in some regions would want cow meat sales to be illegal and in other regions they wouldn't.

[Hatman 🍁]

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

I don't like it. I only see idiots use it. And of course that is the pronunciation that has been used to insult/discriminate against Hindus in the past. And you have to ask, why does Hatman feel the need to pronounce is that that way when almost no one else does?

Calm down, I meant no offence. I just prefer that spelling as I like antiquated spellings.

Also, is believing that all cultures have something wrong with them ethnocentric? If so, put me down on that list.  No culture is perfect, so if a culture has a flaw (like those cultures that eat dogs) then I will gladly point it out. Hindus not eating cows is not a cultural flaw per se, but there are parts of greater Indian culture that is.

[Vosem]

In principle cow meat should be legal to sell in India, but because of the religious issues associated with it, I don't think this is something that should be done anytime soon. Dog meat in the US? Certainly, yes it should.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I was under the impression that beef is already legal in India, and it's more of a state/local issue, some states don't allow it but the ones with non-Hindu majorities/large non-Hindu populations do.

I voted that both should be legal. Banning beef in India would be absurd though as 240 million non-Hindus do live in India. It's legal to sell pork in Israel, it's legal to sell alcohol in most Muslim countries and it's legal to sell non-fish meats on Fridays in Lent in all majority Catholic countries. Clear example of separation of church and state.

[Sbane]

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

I don't like it. I only see idiots use it. And of course that is the pronunciation that has been used to insult/discriminate against Hindus in the past. And you have to ask, why does Hatman feel the need to pronounce is that that way when almost no one else does?

Calm down, I meant no offence. I just prefer that spelling as I like antiquated spellings.

Also, is believing that all cultures have something wrong with them ethnocentric? If so, put me down on that list.  No culture is perfect, so if a culture has a flaw (like those cultures that eat dogs) then I will gladly point it out. Hindus not eating cows is not a cultural flaw per se, but there are parts of greater Indian culture that is.

Of course every culture has flaws, and India certainly has many, but I don't see how not eating an animal could be considered a flaw.

My question to you would be, do you think cultures that eat dogs are flawed? I don't see how you can say yes without being very ethnocentric. To them it is just another way to put food on the table. Indeed, some evidence shows that dogs may have first been domesticated to be eaten. Dogs and cows (just using these two animals as examples, there are others as well) are very important to humans, and some cultures eat them and some only use them for other purposes, including companionship. Nobody is forcing you to eat a dog, but I don't think you have the right to say someone else is wrong for eating it.

[Sbane]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_slaughter_in_India#Andhra_Pradesh

BRTD, here is a list of laws regarding cow slaughter in India. Most states prohibit the slaughter of cows below the age of 14 or 15 or otherwise gets a certificate that the animal is "fit-for-slaughter". There is also some differences based on whether it's a cow or a bull. Some states don't allow any slaughter of cows. Some don't allow slaughter at all, though it looks like the Supreme Court is forcing them to allow it for older animals (Madhya Pradesh). Looks like some of the northeastern states don't prohibit it at all and interestingly, Kerala. Just goes to show how diverse and tolerant that state is. A great model for the rest of India. Also, Jammu and Kashmir do not allow cow slaughter, based on a law from 1932. I wonder why it hasn't been repealed yet. Not sure if there is any politics behind it.

Of course like most laws in India, they can be easily circumvented if you bribe the police enough, or the political party in power allows it to gain currency with Muslims. West Bengal is one such place. Although the "fit-for-slaughter" stipulation is in place in that state, there are fairly large slaughterhouses that operate in the open and beef is openly sold on the streets. To win election in West Bengal, you need the Muslim vote.

And apparently, India is the #1 exporter of Beef in the world.....

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

sbane, what is the evidence that dogs were first domesticated to be eaten?  on the face of it, it doesn't sound like a likely scenario.

also, do you consider any moral position that is predominate in one culture and rare in another to be ethnocentric by definition?

[Sbane]

sbane, what is the evidence that dogs were first domesticated to be eaten?  on the face of it, it doesn't sound like a likely scenario.

also, do you consider any moral position that is predominate in one culture and rare in another to be ethnocentric by definition?

Here you go: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/science/08dogs.html?scp=1&sq=nicholas%20wade%20dog*%20china&st=cse&_r=1&

I would say it would still be ethnocentrism but in some cases it would be justified to restrict certain behaviors. For example the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. Or stopping FGM. Ethnocentrism and enforcing that within the majority culture doesn't always have to be a bad thing. It just doesn't pass the test in this case. I think we would have some moral basis to criticize those who eat dogs if we were vegetarians. Since we eat other animals that have been important to human society, I do think we relinquish that. And like I said, we do not need to adopt such practices but I do think we need to tolerate them because we have no moral basis to restrict that.

[dead0man]

That's an old(ish) study and most other work on the subject doesn't point in that direction.  From wiki

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[Hatman 🍁]

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

I don't like it. I only see idiots use it. And of course that is the pronunciation that has been used to insult/discriminate against Hindus in the past. And you have to ask, why does Hatman feel the need to pronounce is that that way when almost no one else does?

Calm down, I meant no offence. I just prefer that spelling as I like antiquated spellings.

Also, is believing that all cultures have something wrong with them ethnocentric? If so, put me down on that list.  No culture is perfect, so if a culture has a flaw (like those cultures that eat dogs) then I will gladly point it out. Hindus not eating cows is not a cultural flaw per se, but there are parts of greater Indian culture that is.

Of course every culture has flaws, and India certainly has many, but I don't see how not eating an animal could be considered a flaw.

My question to you would be, do you think cultures that eat dogs are flawed? I don't see how you can say yes without being very ethnocentric. To them it is just another way to put food on the table. Indeed, some evidence shows that dogs may have first been domesticated to be eaten. Dogs and cows (just using these two animals as examples, there are others as well) are very important to humans, and some cultures eat them and some only use them for other purposes, including companionship. Nobody is forcing you to eat a dog, but I don't think you have the right to say someone else is wrong for eating it.

As I said, if I am ethnocentric for saying cultures are wrong for eating dog, then call me one. Cultures that eat dog are flawed for doing such.  It seems to me that many people here that suggest it's OK to eat dog are doing so because they eat meat, and because they do so, they can't say no to any animal. But, we have to draw the line somewhere. For example, it's wrong to eat a chimpanzee.  Now, I'm not faulting a family that is starving for eating a dog if they have no choice, but I think in most cultures that eat dog it is a delicacy, no?

[Sbane]

BTW, the use of Hindoo isn't ignorant, just antiquated.  The pronunciation is the same.

I don't like it. I only see idiots use it. And of course that is the pronunciation that has been used to insult/discriminate against Hindus in the past. And you have to ask, why does Hatman feel the need to pronounce is that that way when almost no one else does?

Calm down, I meant no offence. I just prefer that spelling as I like antiquated spellings.

Also, is believing that all cultures have something wrong with them ethnocentric? If so, put me down on that list.  No culture is perfect, so if a culture has a flaw (like those cultures that eat dogs) then I will gladly point it out. Hindus not eating cows is not a cultural flaw per se, but there are parts of greater Indian culture that is.

Of course every culture has flaws, and India certainly has many, but I don't see how not eating an animal could be considered a flaw.

My question to you would be, do you think cultures that eat dogs are flawed? I don't see how you can say yes without being very ethnocentric. To them it is just another way to put food on the table. Indeed, some evidence shows that dogs may have first been domesticated to be eaten. Dogs and cows (just using these two animals as examples, there are others as well) are very important to humans, and some cultures eat them and some only use them for other purposes, including companionship. Nobody is forcing you to eat a dog, but I don't think you have the right to say someone else is wrong for eating it.

As I said, if I am ethnocentric for saying cultures are wrong for eating dog, then call me one. Cultures that eat dog are flawed for doing such.  It seems to me that many people here that suggest it's OK to eat dog are doing so because they eat meat, and because they do so, they can't say no to any animal. But, we have to draw the line somewhere. For example, it's wrong to eat a chimpanzee.  Now, I'm not faulting a family that is starving for eating a dog if they have no choice, but I think in most cultures that eat dog it is a delicacy, no?

Do you think it would be fair for people in other cultures to say that Canadian culture is flawed because they eat cows or pigs?