There’s no shortage of vegetarians at the Alligator. Several of our staff members forgo turkey in favor of Tofurkey, and one of us hasn’t had dairy in years. But a recent blog from PETA has the Editorial Board raising its eyebrows.
In an online post Sunday afternoon, a blogger from the organization tied terrorism to meat eating.
He wrote, “As if the world needed another example of the proven link between violence against animals and violence against humans, Ghulam Rasool Khan — a suspected al-Qaida member jailed in India — refuses to eat the vegetarian food served to him, instead demanding [meat].”
Now don’t get us wrong. We agree with a lot of what PETA stands for — the eradication of animal abuse, the end of fur clothing — but some of its practices, including the blog post, are doing more harm than good.
But if you try to convince us that our meat-eating friends are more likely to have murderous tendancies than our vegan ones, we’re just going to roll our eyes.
By making hasty speculations, PETA alienates people who may have considered vegetarianism or veganism but shy away from being associated with the group’s in-your-face approach.
While we respect PETA’s ideals and ultimately wish it well in making the world an animal-friendly place, we think it should take a moment to step back and consider the ramifications of making cavalier assumptions.
