[Buddha-l] "Nature" and eating meat

[Jim Peavler]

On Oct 23, 2005, at 5:39 PM, Laura Castell wrote:

> Hi Richard,
> The issue of pets is a very interesting one.  We can't blame the 
> animals for their actions, they are being their true selves when they 
> go out and hunt. Even the sometimes apparent cruelty of their 
> behaviour I believe is natural (something about nature I struggle to 
> understand ).

I'm likely to get in trouble for this, but people often excuse things 
because they are "natural". Why is it more natural for a mountain lion 
or a coyote to kill for food than it is for a human. Humans spent a few 
million years evolving as hunters, as the long history of artifacts of 
weapons, scrapers, etc. attest. Perhaps virtue lies in the strength to 
overcome "nature". But, then, why would that be true?

(This here is a whole new subject line of which I tremble to imagine 
the repercussions.