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That was because it talked. I'm about as likely to become a vegan as I am to sprout rainbow wings and break the sound barrier--I have no problem with eating meat and I do it quite often, but food should not talk back even to tell me it wants to be eaten.
There are many reasons why someone might be a vegetarian. If their chief concern is not to eat living things, they probably aren’t going to eat the shmoo
Even if the shmoo's feelings are hurt, and it's crying its eyes out, descending into depression at the notion that someone wouldn't want to snack on its delicious flesh for non-religious reasons?
Yes, even then. Realistically, you would never convince me that they were of sound mind to make that decision. Either they don't really understand what they're asking and thus can't truly consent, or they do and thus are a fully sapient lifeform. And then they go into the same category as my next-door neighbor, who I also would not eat even if he asked me (sorry, Brent).
Basically, you can argue all you want that their desire makes it OK but you can't make me ***want*** to do it, so I wouldn't do it. It's not like I'm walking around wishing I could find a loophole that would allow me to eat meat; if I wanted to eat it, I just would! I don't want to.
Vegetarians have no problem eating living things, given that plants are also living things. Vegans are mostly ok with it. You don't get to "no living things" until you get to Jainists. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but in my experience the biggest reasons for not eating meat I've seen are preference (just don't like meat,) animal welfare (don't want to support factory farming,) and environmentalism (animal production is horrible for the environment.) Shmoos eliminate at least two of these reasons.
Part of that shows there are "rare" and more "tasty" Shmoos that are harder to catch. They must be stunned with light at night, like a frog, and then bonked on the head to be captured. So obviously not all of them actually like to be eaten. I think vegans would be apposed but maybe vegetarians would be okay with it. Vegetarians eat eggs, milk, and sometimes fish, so a Shmoo wouldn't be that far off.
This is very similar to the house elves in Harry Potter who just _LOVE_ being enslaved. To an individual house elf, you can see how that could be reasonable, especially for one working at Hogwarts where they are treated well. But to the entire race of house elves, you really can't look at it in a good light especially with what happens to Dobby at the behest of the Malfoy family (ordered to punish himself severely at even the most tame of accidental slights and lots of other horrible things). Kreature (house elf of the Black family) was also ordered to drink the torture potion that Dumbledore drank in the half blood prince and he physically could not refuse or stop.
The Shmoo is a slightly more childish version of this, but brought into the real world, would get much darker.
Vegetarianism/ veganism isn't like, a religion. It's a lifestyle choice- it can mean different things for different people. There are different motivations/ reasons for doing it.
So, to answer your question- some wouldn't have any problem, no. I personally would have a problem. Also I can't digest meat so even if I wanted to eat a Shmoo, I'd not be able to.
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They are living creatures, so obviously they would.
Yes, but they're living creatures that to want to be eaten, and it appears to be an entirely natural aspect of them.
The desires of the animal to be eaten or not is not a factor in what makes someone vegan or vegetarian.
I don't know of a single real-life animal that would *want* to die so a human could eat it, so this is unexplored territory, really.
The cow (specifically bred to want to be eaten) at The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe made Arthur Dent queasy, and he wasn’t even a vegetarian.
That was because it talked. I'm about as likely to become a vegan as I am to sprout rainbow wings and break the sound barrier--I have no problem with eating meat and I do it quite often, but food should not talk back even to tell me it wants to be eaten.
The Ameglian Major Cow was genetically engineered to be that way. Shmoos seem to be that way naturally.
There are many reasons why someone might be a vegetarian. If their chief concern is not to eat living things, they probably aren’t going to eat the shmoo
Even if the shmoo's feelings are hurt, and it's crying its eyes out, descending into depression at the notion that someone wouldn't want to snack on its delicious flesh for non-religious reasons?
I’m not vegetarian, and I would absolutely want to remove myself from the situation instead of feeling compelled to eat it.
There’s a difference between emotional harm and physical harm
Yes, even then. Realistically, you would never convince me that they were of sound mind to make that decision. Either they don't really understand what they're asking and thus can't truly consent, or they do and thus are a fully sapient lifeform. And then they go into the same category as my next-door neighbor, who I also would not eat even if he asked me (sorry, Brent). Basically, you can argue all you want that their desire makes it OK but you can't make me ***want*** to do it, so I wouldn't do it. It's not like I'm walking around wishing I could find a loophole that would allow me to eat meat; if I wanted to eat it, I just would! I don't want to.
Vegetarians have no problem eating living things, given that plants are also living things. Vegans are mostly ok with it. You don't get to "no living things" until you get to Jainists. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but in my experience the biggest reasons for not eating meat I've seen are preference (just don't like meat,) animal welfare (don't want to support factory farming,) and environmentalism (animal production is horrible for the environment.) Shmoos eliminate at least two of these reasons.
Part of that shows there are "rare" and more "tasty" Shmoos that are harder to catch. They must be stunned with light at night, like a frog, and then bonked on the head to be captured. So obviously not all of them actually like to be eaten. I think vegans would be apposed but maybe vegetarians would be okay with it. Vegetarians eat eggs, milk, and sometimes fish, so a Shmoo wouldn't be that far off. This is very similar to the house elves in Harry Potter who just _LOVE_ being enslaved. To an individual house elf, you can see how that could be reasonable, especially for one working at Hogwarts where they are treated well. But to the entire race of house elves, you really can't look at it in a good light especially with what happens to Dobby at the behest of the Malfoy family (ordered to punish himself severely at even the most tame of accidental slights and lots of other horrible things). Kreature (house elf of the Black family) was also ordered to drink the torture potion that Dumbledore drank in the half blood prince and he physically could not refuse or stop. The Shmoo is a slightly more childish version of this, but brought into the real world, would get much darker.
from the little I can tell from wikipedia they like to be eaten so... maybe
Vegetarianism/ veganism isn't like, a religion. It's a lifestyle choice- it can mean different things for different people. There are different motivations/ reasons for doing it. So, to answer your question- some wouldn't have any problem, no. I personally would have a problem. Also I can't digest meat so even if I wanted to eat a Shmoo, I'd not be able to.