It's not really that important. If I had known about the 23 week thing, I would have used an example of a 23 and a bit week foetus (which it is legal to abort in the UK).
I am not arguing "we abort foetuses in distress therefore it is OK to eat bacon sandwiches" at all here. In fact, I'm not necessarily arguing against Shaker, I am just trying to point out that things are not as black and white as he has been saying.
Conversely, I think that things are not nearly as complicated as some people want to make out
Cards on the table, I think Shaker is probably right. On the principle of least harm, I don't need to eat bacon sandwiches, but they're so nice. Fortunately, I'm an evil atheist, so morals aren't a problem.
Well JP; on the principle of least harm, do the least harm and give up not only the bacon butties but eating anything that had eyes/parents/a face/other vegetarian cliche. Even if you're not a utilitarian. Challenge yourself to give it a fair and honest go for, let us say, one calendar month, and see just how easy and enjoyable it is. Remember that the full panoply of the modern supermarket system and a World Wide Web full of recipes is all yours - you're no more into self-denial and mortification of the flesh than I am.
Better yet: enjoy probably the single greatest benefit, which is to know that you're involved in that rare thing in this world: something wholly, entirely and unambiguously good.
I dare you
If you find yourself wobbling, think to yourself:
primum non nocere. I'm not, never have been and am exceedingly unlikely ever to be a Hindu, Buddhist or Jain (some good ethics; some excellent practices - vegetarianism and meditation for example; a lot of wibbly bibbly baggage - I'd sooner take the good stuff without the wibble, which is entirely possible, so I do) but I have to say that without realising it many years ago I adopted, as the older I get the more conscious and explicit it becomes for me, the concept of
ahimsa central to these three religions, which is to say, non-violence. It's not necessary to intellectualise it, although I personally do so as that just happens to be my way, my thing, my bag. The simple point is that when it comes to sentience - the capacity to suffer or not to suffer, the ability to enjoy and not enjoy, the capability of having interests and preferences in
this state of affairs (pleasant, or at least neutral) and not
that one (unpleasant) - we're all as one and we should recognise that fact. Me, you, cow, sheep, pig, fish; we're all on the same plane in shunning suffering (pain; fear; anxiety) and in pursuing life and happiness.
So: over to you
