If I was an Atheist

What would change about your life if you were an atheist? It seems that most people’s inclination is to be more wild and promiscuous, which I find funny, but I will save this topic for a later discussion. The biggest thing that would change in my life would be my sense of purpose. If there was no God, I would stop caring about the well-being of humans. Humans have fully functional, reasonable, rational brains that can choose to do whatever they want. Humans determine the outcome of their lives, and continually make bad choices, making themselves and those around them suffer. It’s annoying. If there was no God, there’d be no reason for me to care about these people, so I wouldn't.

If I was an atheist, I’d join PETA and most likely dedicate my life to freeing animals or have the job described in this podcast. I’ve always had a soft spot for animals. Animals are loving and caring beings, yes beings. I’m not about to go through how animals are slaughtered and mistreated, we already know all about that. Go youtube that if you want a reason to feel crappy today.

Anyway, animals are too often underestimated or ignored. Cows, as well as other farm animals have been studied for emotional cues. In these studies, the scientists were able to measure their brainwaves and vitals. Scientists have concluded that cows are capable of feeling fear, anxiety, hold grudges, enjoy sex, and maintain friendships with other cows as well as humans. Some studies even suggest that animals have a sense of self.

Animals also laugh. In a rat study, scientists were able to make rats laugh by tickling them. The rats not only laughed, but also returned to be tickled again, suggesting that humans aren't the only mammals with emotional lives and that animals can also experience social-joy.

Radio lab, my second favorite podcast (my first favorite obviously being LLUC/Randy Roberts), has a fantastic segment on animal minds. In this segment, they discuss the possibility of communication between animals and different species. In this specific episode, they tell a story about a trapped whale who gets rescued, and potentially shows gratitude to her rescuers. This was so touching to me, because my biggest pet peeve is when I allow someone to cut in front of me on the freeway, and they don't show gratitude by giving me the courtesy wave.

If you do choose to eat meat, fine, do whatever you want. My libertarian will always advocate for personal freedom. However, I'd urge you to consider Michael Pollen's take on eating meat. If you're going to eat meat, you need to experience killing an animal and butchering it, so that you can fully understand and appreciate the process. If you had to kill a cow and butcher it every time you wanted to eat one, it seems like you'd do that a lot less often. Killing things is personal, buying lunch meat in the grocery store, is not.

I have no doubt that God exists, meaning I will always find helping humans more important than helping animals. However, animals are still one of God’s creations, and they should be treated with love and kindness.

So the next time you eat meat, I’d like you to consider that you’re eating a being that had a best friend, laughed, enjoyed having sex, and felt fear as it saw it’s family being killed and felt anxiety as it was about to be killed, so that you could eat it. That’s all. enjoy your day.

Things Change.

I’ve never understood why people are so disgusted by meat. I’ve been on several dates where the guy has asked my permission to order meat. I appreciate their thoughtfulness, but I also think it’s such a silly question. Why would I care if they ate meat?

My siblings and I were the only vegetarians in our entire extended family, so I’ve grown up around meat and meat eaters. I have always thought that people who think meat is “gross” are closed-minded and sheltered. My point is that I don't care, and never have cared, if people choose to eat meat.

About a year ago I started eating fish. I started eating fish because I loved the flavor. My roommate/classmate/friend told me, “Fish is a gateway meat; it’s only a matter of time before you start eating chicken..turkey… then who knows.” I laughed and thought it was probably true, and it was.

Within the past month, I started lifting weights, and I wanted to increase my protein intake, so I calculated that each of my meals should be at about 20 grams of protein. I eat at the hospital a lot and they serve chicken a lot, so I started having chicken at lunch. I’d rather eat chicken than drink a protein shake, I told myself. Who knows what’s in a protein shake? Where are they getting the protein? It’s so processed. Protein shakes are not natural and we were not meant to eat protein like that.

So there I am at the hospital… Hmmm… what to eat, they aren’t serving anything good today. I’ll just have this chicken pesto wrap. That sounds good, 380 calories and 26 grams of protein. As I’m eating my sandwich these are my following thoughts:

Hm. This is not a whole wheat wrap, that’s unfortunate; I wish this was a whole wheat wrap…

This lettuce is a little wilted… I wonder how long this sandwich was made…

Sheesh this is a lot of chicken… I tell my patients to eat 3 oz of meat per meal or the size of the palm of their hand… this chicken is like 2 palms of my hand. Eh, just finish the sandwich you need the protein to build muscle….

I’ve never eaten this much chicken in my entire life. I don’t want to eat this anymore…

Why did I eat this? How does meat get digested? When you eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans the fiber helps the food get digested and moves it through your body… What is moving this chicken through my body? Nothing. NOTHING is moving this chicken through my body. This wasn’t even a whole wheat wrap! And that lettuce hand like 1 gram of fiber! How will this chicken ever get out of my body!? I HAVE A ROTTING CHICKEN CARCASS STUCK IN MY BODY.

Since this incident, I have not touched meat. And the thought of eating meat is nauseating. Right now, when I was talking about “liking fish,” it made me shutter with disgust. Because now when I think of eating meat, all I can think about is having a dead animal in my body. I don’t want any dead animals in my body.

I’ve always said that being vegan is most likely the most optimal diet. I’m not vegan. I eat cheese and Greek yogurt. I think the most important thing is having plant based diet. Meaning you eat mostly plants: brown rice, barley, beans, lentils, fruits, vegetables, split peas, almonds, walnuts, and other nuts. If some dairy or eggs get in there, fine, a little dairy and eggs won’t kill you (although some will argue that point). If you want to add some meat in there, that’s fine too. Just make sure it’s organic or from a trusted farm and eat high fiber foods with it. No one likes a rotting carcass in their intestines.

Maybe my thought process is irrational, but at this time, I can’t get that picture of meat carcass out of my head. Being a vegetarian has so many health benefits, decrease in cancer, decrease in heart disease, and overall longevity. Being vegetarian also has a lot of non-health related benefits: better for the environment, less production of meat, and less animal cruelty – yes that really does happen.

Here’s an article my friend posted on chicken and what they do to it… and if they’re doing it to chicken, you know they’re doing it to other animals too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/opinion/kristof-arsenic-in-our-chicken.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share