Weaknesses of Hindu religion #3

Weaknesses of Hindu religion #3

3) Vegetarianism presented from a moral high ground

India is the country where the concept of vegetarianism has originated. I do not think the ancient Hindus were vegetarian. But it seems to have taken root only after Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha. Vegetarianism might have sprung up as an offshoot of the concept of showing compassion to all living beings. Some of the buddhist monks in the far east are also vegetarian. Even after buddhism was driven out (due to various reasons which I will discuss in a different post later) from India, many of its ideas and concepts have been incorporated into the Hindu religion by various teachers like Adi Shankaracharya because they might have seemed very logical for them. One of them is vegetarianism and it has been adopted mostly by Brahmins and Vaishyas. May be it was logical for them to take it up because of the sedentary occupations they do. Vegetarian diet might have helped them to live more healthy lives. Whereas for a farmer working in the fields or a soldier defending the country, it was logical for them to get the extra protein by eating meat.

But the problem lies not in vegetarianism but in the way it has been presented from a moral high ground. This gave rise to the "touch me not" attitude among the brahmins especially and it has isolated them more and more from the other sections of the society. This is long gone now in the present day. The brahmins and vaishyas tried to isolate themselves socially where as the land lord classes committed real atrocities on the dalits by using their labour and sexually exploiting their women. But because of the "touch me not" attitude of the past, brahmins are the ones who are blamed even to the present day. Finally I feel if some one likes vegetarianism, it should have been presented in a more scientific manner instead of an isolating manner.

Now turning to some aspects of vegetarianism, you can try searching the internet for interesting facts and thoughts. These are some that I found.
1) You need 10 times more land and water to produce the same amount of nutrition/calories from meat compared to say soy bean or lentils. (obviously it is more green!)
2) If the west can stop eating meat for one day, malnutrition in the world can be eliminated.
3) Good for health of people with sedentary life styles ?
4) Do not need to raise poultry and animals in hellish conditions.

Also one thing you will notice if you are Indian is that people who eat meat also eat it like a specialty only one day of the week. Obvious with so much population and so little land (comparatively) Indians cannot afford to get their protein from meat sources. May be meat should be imported from places like Australia. Also lot of people in the west are also reducing their meat intakes for health and ethical purposes.