Jul 13, 2011 / Topic Ideas

When is it acceptable to kill things?

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  1. Define “things”…as other human things…if another human was to try to harm my family or me, protection of them may result in killing them.
    Some humans will kill a harmless snake just because it is a snake…that is wrong.
    Now there is no logical use for misquitoes and it is acceptable to kill a misquito.

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  2. It is never acceptable to kill anything. You don’t need to kill ideas and dreams as they cause no threat and have no benefit if killed. They can be simply put aside for a rainy day. The need to kill dreams and ideas would give me an inclination that perhaps they are too hard to achieve. Killing would then be giving up. It is great to have dreams an ideas. These keep us ambitious and the drive to succeed.

    Anyway Scott, I have been thinking. Are these little topics a way of gaining ideas for blog, twitter like advertising. If Yes, then bloody brill.

    Emma x

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  3. I killed bugs, mosquitoes, cockroaches, and a baby snake (when I was a kid). I killed the communication and connection with the person I didn’t get along with. I will never kill a person. Now that I’m a grown up, I will never kill a plant (did I pulled out a plant when I was a kid, I don’t remember but I probably did). I love ideas so I would definitely not kill them. I don’t have the right to kill a dream and I shall never do it.

    Clever question Scott!

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  6. Whenever that thing has a R after its name – representing Republican. And that’s really in self-defense, as republicans/the right wng will do everything in their legal – and frequently illegal – power to off you, whether it’s privatization of the public or shooting you with their guns.

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  8. If I may quote some Buddhism concepts, it is not acceptable to kill any living things (not even mosquitoes) when operating in the mental state of a human. And 99.99% of us are unlikely to truly surpass that state anytime soon (You pretend to think you are out of the human mental state…then you are just more like a lunatic). But sometimes we are forced into such an ultimatum. From that point onwards, it’s your choice and it comes with the price.

    Ditto to killing the dreams of others or in any forms that is similar to the spirit of suppressing others.

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  9. Oh, plants not included. Unless that plant can talk and express pain. Plants have chosen the noble path of self sacrifice according to Theosophy.

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  10. Animal to be eaten, human had big sinner and destroy society such as killing other human, raping kids, having non-marital sex.
    Eko indonesia

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  11. I think it is okay to kill animals if it is a humain death and for the good of humanity. plants-dont have feelings as 7des7iny said:”…Unless that plant can talk and express pain. Plants have chosen the noble path of self sacrifice according to Theosophy.” so i think plants don’t count ethier. ideas and dreams are very simulair but i dont care about ideas… only dreams 😛 i don’t like killing dreams but if the world does kill mine i try to move on.

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  12. KIlling humans is wrong and not for us to do, we are not God. Killing animals and plants is ok within boundaries and only as is necessary (food, weeds etc) To want to kill an idea or a dream suggests that it has a life, which is surely another topic althogether.

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  13. Who said it was acceptable? No one really cares when it comes down to it. There are a few who care but the rest have themselves on their mind, and that is all they care about.

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  14. Its never a good idea to kill dreams and people because killing them means we don’t appreciate our own self.but i can as well kill some unwanted plants and pest
    That cause harm.never a good idea to kill dreams and people because killing them means we don’t appreciate our own self.but i can as well kill some unwanted plants and pest
    That cause harm.

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  16. Sometimes killing is necessary, even though in theory or in a perfect world, I would not advocate it. Killing pests – mosquitoes, cockroaches, mice in the house, flies – is OK because these pests carry diseases and cause harm. I know that they have their place in nature, but even so…I am not a vegetarian but I think killing animals for food should be done humanely, which is not the case with the big business food industry. I don’t like seeing precious resources such as rainforests destroyed for animal grazing. There has to be a balance: if we respect the Earth and what we extract from it, living as a species like any other, then I think killing for consumption is part of life.

    As for plants, most people don’t think plants can “think” yet we shouldn’t kill plants indiscriminately (such as the rainforest). Plants offer much to humans as a species: food, medicines, oxygen, building materials, and beauty, to name some. If we kill an entire plant species, it not only creates an imbalance in the food chain but we may never have a chance to find out how that plant could be useful to us or to others, and it could lead to the breakdown of an ecosystem we might not be aware of. However, I have no sympathy for the dandelion weeds that spring up in my garden, or Creeping Charlie in my lawn! I’ll dig up the dandelions and kill the Creeping Charlie – I don’t care!!

    And dreams…yes, dreams can be killed. I had a dream that I tried to fulfill but it has died, due to a variety of circumstances, and now I must move on and pursue another dream. However, ideas – they cannot be killed, I don’t think. Many wars are fought and many people killed to try to destroy ideas, but those ideas never die, and the people who fought for them are heroes and martyrs.

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  17. about eating animals – here are some quotes from famous people:
    The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. – Leonardo da Vinci

    Auschwitz begins whenever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they are only animals.
    -Theodor Adorno

    What is it that should trace the insuperable line?
    …The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
    – Jeremy Bentham

    Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. Mahatma Ghandi

    Animals are my friends…. and i dont eat my friends. George Bernard Shaw

    It is NOT essential to eat meat to live a healthy happy life – therefore I don’t think it is right to kill animals to eat. ESPECIALLY because it is done in MASS NUMBERS – that number is 58 BILLION ANIMALS PER YEAR – that is no where near acceptable in my eyes. we do not to eat meat.

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  18. a lot of people say “I think killing animals for food should be done humanely” my question is what does human slaughter look like? and if there’s such a thing as human slaughter then what about human slavery?

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  20. You know, it occured to me the other day that we are perhaps the only species that hurt each other! Can anyone think of another species that si so actively hateful of their own kind?

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  21. I’m influenced by twenty years in India and have a deep respect for all living things. I even thank a flower when I pick one. I never kill an insect unless really necessary. Ants took over my kitchen and I with regret, i killed them. As quickly as possible. When the outdoor cafe at the Waikiki hotel where i work was deluged with pigeons, someone asked me to “talk to them”. I did, and it worked temporarily, giving me an odd reputation for being a “bird whisperer” …

    But on the other side of the coin …. I believe wholeheartedly in euthanasia …. for anything suffering, including humans. As I held my sick cat in my arms while the vet gave her that last injection, I wished i could be assured of similar kindness and comfort.

    But I cannot. Now I live in a country where money is God …. where they will wire me up with monitors and feeding tubes and wrap diapers around me until my last wheezing breath. I have nothing but contempt for this horror. I fully intend to distribute every penny I have when I am diagnosed with a terminal illness. Then I will end it myself. They’re not getting a penny of my money …. nor a moment of my pain.

    I resent that my pets will have an easier death than I will. That some idiot will bray about “last minute miracles’ … or some such nonsense. That others will deny me painkillers in case my corpse becomes “dependent on drugs”.

    Contempt is too mild a word. In a hundred years we will look back upon these times as the Dark Ages …. where people tortured each other to their last breaths … and argued about God as if there were an army of different Gods all requiring their followers to kill each other,. Stupid Stupid.

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  22. Very well written post. It will be useful to anybody who employess it, as well as yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – for sure i will check out more posts.

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  23. Great post! I totally agree with your philosophy! I assume you are against capital punishment? No human being should have the power or right to decide if another human being (or animal for that matter) deserves to die. Only our creator can judge, and the Universe itself which is also a power greater than us.

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