Sure, and my point was that just because something is the behaviour of the majority - humans or animals in general - doesn't make it "right" (or "wrong") by itself. "The animals do it" is a silly excuse.

Sure, it's usually caused by either distress of the mother or the anger issues of some alpha male, but it is still a "part of nature". It's what animals very often do, and in some species it's actually standard behaviour (like lions - killing cubs by new leaders of the pride is a regular occurrence).

In fact, in many human cultures like ancient Rome infanticide or abandoning children was also accepted behaviour. There were no Roman orphanages. Go figure.

But saying "animals also eat meat" is comparing yourself to SOME animals, i.e. the ones that eat meat. Chimpanzees eat meat, but orangutans do not, for example. Of course, humans pretty much evolved into what they are by becoming predators, which explains it, but that doesn't automatically make eating meat morally "right" (and that's what I was arguing against). You probably also evolved because one of your ancestors killed his or her brothers and sisters. That doesn't mean you should go for it, too. :P

I feel no shame in eating something that doesn't die when it's head's cut off and can drown in the rain, and murdering cows is a service to the O-Zone layer. I can't say I'm completely cool with how some of the animals raised for slaughter are treated, but I also can't really say much against it given that ground beef is such a common dish in this house and chicken is my anytime snack of choice. b:

And PETA is a very bad way to get me to agree with anyone on anything. Animal rights, fine, but I'm not exactly tormenting my cat by feeding it every day and giving it free roam of the woods, so the whole getting rid of pets nonsense, among a few other things, ain't winning any favors.

There's also the fact that a lot of vegetarians seem out to evangelize and push their ideals on everyone else. I don't approve of religious folks being loud and pushy, I'm not going to feel much different towards people trying to convince me that my dinner is sacred. If someone wants to go vegan, more power to them, but don't think less of others just because they don't.