I agree with Minnow, Beige, MC Mom and the rest. Scott F.’s comment is pure gold, simply brilliant. Having been to a few ex-Concentration Camps in Germany, these scum from PETA have no idea what they are talking about. I think it’s a corollary to MC Mom’s post – not only do people not know how to argue anymore, they are completely clueless about history. This has to do with the fact that kids are indoctrinated at school, not taught. Many wouldn’t question someone putting a plastic bag over their head if their teachers told them it was a good thing.

Minnow, you said, “Why do so many people drop out when the conversation gets interesting?”

Lately I’ve come to the realization that people don’t know how to argue constructively anymore. If people disagree about something, they usually either back off from the topic (because they want to stay friends, and apparently friends aren’t allowed to have differences of opinion) or they get belligerent, state their view and then run off. I blame the media, as usual.

Comment #49 needs to be bronzed and placed under a spotlight, smack dab in the center of the Deceiver Museum of Awesomenessitude.

Why do so many people drop out when the conversation gets interesting?

A statement like that completely invalidates anything moderate or reasoned in your entire argument. What exactly is comparable? That many lives are lost? That’s about all that can be argued. Now, lets count the reasons that comparison is complete bullshit.

1. The most important point in my opinion – slaughter houses aren’t run by the species that is being slaughtered. The most repulsive and deplorable part of the Holocaust is that is was perpetrated by human beings against their own people.

2. Animals raised for slaughter are (for obvious reasons) not starved, tortured, mocked, experimented on, ect.

3. For all the talk of “animals not being able to speak for themselves”, they have hundreds of mouthpiece organizations lobbying for their benefit (generally to the detriment of humans) – who exactly was lobbying for the Jews in Europe during the Holocaust? Hell, a third of the major Allies (the USSR and China) were too busy killing their own ‘undesirables’ to notice a few million Jews dropping off the face of the Earth, let alone true believers in their own racial superiority like the Germans and Japanese.

4. Animals actually get the benefit of a humane, terror-free death.

5. Societal benefit – there was no ‘purpose’ for killing the Jews beyond perceived revenge and racial dogma. Slaughter for no purpose is an ugly and nearly entirely human concept. Slaughter for food on the other hand is an accepted practice by a large percentage of the animal population on this planet. It can again be argued that we’re far more compassionate in slaughtering the animals we feed off of than most carnivores. If you don’t believe me, watch internet footage of a wolf taking down and feeding on an animal. They’ll show the chase on the Discovery Channel, but never the actual feeding. The reason for that is that the wolves rarely feel the need to finish off the animal before they start eating, and it can get pretty gruesome.

I could go on all day, but you get the picture. There is no possible way you can compare the Holocaust to the modern slaughter industry. To try and do so is an insult to the memories of those who perished and their descendants. It’s always nice when people take up that stance though, as most of us want to be able to readily identify those who would compare the value of our lives to those of a chicken.