I’ve been wondering a lot lately about people who say that they love animals and respect them, but then eat them.

How does this work? Are they just using these words to mean something other than what I think they mean?

Love would seem to indicate that they care at least as much for the animal’s life and happiness as they do their own. If I say that I love my wife, I am not getting ready to bash her in the back of the head with a hammer. But if I’m saying I love my rabbits – I could mean this?

What does respect mean if it’s said about a relationship of exploitation, ending in death? And what sort of respect does it show to use all parts of an animal? Would I be happy to be respected by someone who’s going to kill me, as long as all of me gets used?

I think I would pass on this sort of respect. And this sort of love.

What it reminds me of is an abusive relationship, where the abuser claims to love the abused – and he’s only doing what he does out of love, right?

No matter how “nice” the animal’s life was, he will be betrayed, slaughtered, dismembered, and eaten. This really just shows that all the “love” and “respect” are a simple, deluded lie.