Why I became vegetarian
Excerpt from the book Holy Water; Miracles and Mystical Moments
Excerpt from the book Holy Water; Miracles and Mystical Moments
Chickens are beautiful and noble creatures. They walk with a dignified strut, and act with love for each other. Some people might think that love is an exclusive human emotion, but love is a universal principle. I believe all beings can feel love.
In my nineteenth year, I took a casual labor job, working for a large poultry farm. A naive youth, I had no idea of the shocking revelation that proceeded to unfold...
The first thing I noticed was a toxic odor. The venomous combination of chicken shit and death hit me even before arriving at the farm. After seeing the hundreds of poor emaciated, featherless, birds, which are kept in a warehouse all their lives-I started to feel very nauseous. I did not want to be there, but needed to earn some money.
The job was to carry the birds from their small cages in the factory to a semi-truck, which was bound for Campbell 's Soup Company. This packed ride in jammed boxes was perhaps the first and only time that these animals would see the sunshine. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, I helped carry five chickens in each hand (by one leg each) to the truck where a person would then take the birds and shove them into boxes. The cage doors would swing inward only, so that their crowded bodies would lock them inside.
One poor frantic hen got loose and was panicking in a desperate flight for life. The hired hands stood in a circle around her, mocking and laughing at her mortal fear.
Suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling scream! I was on my way to the soup truck, delivering ten more chickens. Shocked by the sheer emotional distress of the spine-chilling cry, I froze in my tracks. Looking around to see what had happened and who was screaming, I saw nothing different from the usual clamor. Mystified, standing there in bewilderment, I looked down at the chickens in my hands and a miracle happened! One bird pecked my leg! It was not a painful pecked, but it pierced my soul. I knew the terrifying scream came from this chicken. I delivered the ten chickens to their fate, prayed for them, and quit the job in disgust. Saying to the boss and crew as I left: "You people act worse then animals do". The boss said, "Well, you have to eat meat." I responded, "I don't have to eat your meat!"
Knowing that in good conscience I could not ever eat commercial meat again, I purchased a fifty-pound re-curve bow, some arrows, and other necessary hunting gear. Archery is a graceful art of marksmanship, and I find it enjoyable. On the first day of hunting with my new bow, a Fred Bear Kodiak Hunter, I had four different opportunities to take a shot, but was afraid to shoot because I did not want to injure the animal, making it suffer, and then lose it in the brush.
My last opportunity was a long shot. I was on a hillside and the deer was below, in the Bitterroot River . While I stood there, thinking of taking a shot, the deer saw me. However, instead of running away, he stood his ground and gave me a lecture. Snorting and whistling, the deer clearly was upset, and trying to communicate. I had come into his domain as a criminal predator, and was trying to make this innocent creature into a victim. The message was simple, and made me feel ashamed. Human beings have more resources, knowledge, and choices in life then all the other creatures do.
I realized then that I did not want to hurt or kill anything, especially such a beautiful and sensitive creature as a deer. I know that man has replaced other predators, like wolves and bears. Still, hunting and killing was not for me. Therefore, if I could not eat commercial meat or kill wild animals, the only option left was to be a vegetarian. I find it easier to find love and peace as a vegetarian, because there is not a war going on inside my body and mind.
