Who is more spiritual? And is there such a thing?

In a discussion group that is part of a social networking site, someone proposed this; Put yourself to the test. Are you a "real" spiritual person? (Since the discussion first began and the person who started the discussion got heck for it, the name has since been changed.) Then he proceeded to ask us to watch a video of animals being slaughtered and say that "cruelty is not a spiritual practice.

Well, needless to say the human in me got a perturbed at the suggestions that somehow anyone is less spiritual because they choose to eat meat, thus are contributing to the cruelty towards the animals. It has been a lively discussion to say the least.

Here are my posts in the group thus far. With them I have been trying to invoke thought and further discussion. As a Spiritual person I am not judging which side is right or wrong because quite frankly there is no right or wrong, since I know for me that spirituality is a personal thing. WARNING, THIS ONE IS KINDA LONG!

OK, here goes:

I also do not mean any offense, but I have to agree with Krysteenah, your tone seems to come off like, if you do not believe what I believe, you are not very spiritual.

First of all, I believe the beautiful thing about spirituality is that there is no dogma, religious rules, ceremonies, etc. It is a personal one on one relationship with the Universe (Creator, Great Spirit, God, etc). Spiritual people do not judge and really are not interested in how spiritual others are. We do not have arbitrary rules (the whole no meat on Friday former Catholic rule that was eventually changed by man) about what we can and cannot eat and we do not need commandments or even laws to tell us how to treat one another. We just know!

In my humble opinion spiritual people do not get caught up in all the drama and discussions about religion because it is irrelevant and redundant and really does not matter. We also do not impose our thoughts on others, we simply share ideas about what we believe to be the truth for us and let others find their way.

I do have some questions at this point just to provoke some thought and friendly discussion.

Why would "God" provide something to us that will nourish us physically and not want us to use it? If that is the case, what exactly is the purpose of a beef cow, other than to produce methane gas? And why make some beef cows and some dairy cows?

Where does one draw the line as to what is OK to eat to be spiritual? Could it be that anything grown under ground is considered dirty and so should not be eaten? And finally, there is one religion out there that according to their religious writings, God said "Everything in moderation", not some things, everything but, everything, so does that make those who follow that religion less spiritual if they eat meat?

Here is my philosophy of life: I do not care what you call yourself, love one another. If all this makes me less spiritual in someone else's eyes, that is for them to deal with, not me. Also, it will be painfully obvious that you are not getting the whole conversation.

May you be blessed always and in all ways.

Now, my second post:

Otter, You raise some interesting points but what I choose to eat should not be the basis on how spiritual I am.

I will agree that there has to be better, more humane ways to allow those of us to eat meat and perhaps more should be done to make it so.

And my last one so far:

Agingstoner, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Now, please do not take my passion for this subject as me being defensive. I am just pushing the envelope here to provoke further thought and discussion. I am glad that you do not agree with everything I have to say, that is your right and quite frankly the way it should be. Now, please allow me some indulgence. Thanks!

Quite frankly,I believe you missed the whole point of my post. I was not trying to show my animal husbandry knowledge (IN HIS POST HE BLUNTLY TOLD ME THAT BEEF AND DAIRY COWS WERE NOT CREATED BY GOD BUT BY MAN, FOR ME THAT WAS ANOTHER SUBJECT FOR A DIFFERENT DAY), which obviously is a little rusty. LOL

What I was trying to say is that spirituality is in fact personal and no one has the right to judge me in any way as to how spiritual I am. That is between me and ____ (God, Great Spirit, Universe, The Creator, etc).

I also noticed that you conveniently did not address my question about where does one draw the line as to what is OK to eat to be spiritual.

I might think that eating things grown in the earth is not being spiritual because they are dirty. Absurd, right? Now, does that make me more spiritual because of what I think? I can say that no it does not. I mean plants that are consumed by vegetarians are also living things that we kill to eat. So, I guess the killing of one living thing is alright but not the other? Isn't killing, well, killing? And if we agree that all killing of any living thing is wrong, what would we eat? How would we survive? Once again I am taking this to the point of almost absurdity but where do we draw the line?

Native Americans thanked and blessed everything they killed or used to survive. The animals, the plants, the rocks, everything. Does that make them more spiritual? If I thank everything I consume, will I be more spiritual?

I agree with Mary, that the stuff in this video is appalling and you can say that by my eating meat I am condoning it but regardless no human being has the right to judge me on my level of spirituality. I am passionate about this subject because it is this judging that has led to one human being feeling that they are superior to another, which in turn has led to all the countless horrors we have unleashed on one another and the earth.

Once again, I do not care what you call yourself, love one another.

May you be blessed always and in all ways.

OK, that's it so far. So, what do you think? Please share your thoughts but try to do it in a loving, non judgemental manner. Will that make your more spiritual? I d not know, that is between you and your God.

Blessings!

Harry