But I wonder if in these modern times people had to kill their own meat , cut it up, cook and eat it - whether they could eat it. When I was a boy that's what most people did, especially at Christmas time. The turkeys or chickens were killed at home. I never really liked all this when I was young but it did not stop me from eating meat because everybody else did and the killing of animals was a supposed to be a "manly" thing.
Since then - like many others in the world today - I've realised how wrong it all is. The animals and birds we took for granted as "food" are in fact sentient creatures with feelings the same as us and with a good degree of intelligence.
Eating a fellow being - usually the dead body of one - has always seemed wrong to me. I didn't know before that the greatest minds over the past 2000 years have all thought the same.
But what really put me off was the taste and texture of the various meats today. It does not have a good texture or taste. Chicken tasted like soft plastic even when I sauced or curried it. Lamb and beef stank and was usually tough to eat, even with expensive cuts. Pork was also tough and smelly.
When I was young in England the meats we ate were much better and of much higher quality. After you cooked a chicken its bones were pink. Nowadays all cooked chickens have black bones. The flesh before was totally different than it is today.
Then I learnt how modern farming produces its meat and that really put me off eating meat. In the old days everything was natural. Nowadays everything is artificial, force grown and chemically induced. The poor creatures that factory farmers are producing have their bodies manipulated to disgusting degrees. There's nothing natural. It's forced factory farming.
Then I saw how modern farmers treat their animals and that was the last straw. Such mass cruelty and killing has never been seen before on this planet. Millions and millions of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, horses and other creatures subjected to inhumane conditions and maltreatment.
I learnt that meat is one of the biggest businesses in the world, big big money is involved. Animal cruelty, animal rights even compassion don't get a thought. Cattle farmers don't look their animals in the eye. They only regard them as money making products instead of living beings.
So what I'm thinking as we approach Christmas - and it could be any other festive or religious occasion - is how about rethinking our relationship with our fellow creatures. Does religion actually tell us to eat flesh? I don't think so. Do we need to eat flesh? No because we can get all the nutrition we need from other sources. Can we build a new world that's fair for ALL God's creatures? We can if we try.
Let's make it a Happy Christmas and New Year for all the animals and birds too.
You don't have to become a vegan. Even if you go semi-vegetarian you'll be saving animals and health-wise you'll feel better for it. That's scientific fact.
Not eating meat is not just about saving animals from torture and cruelty. It's about getting healthier, reducing big pollution on the planet and coming to terms spiritually with all living things on the planet.
There never was and never will be justification for killing and eating a fellow creature.
