ctly acceptable to eat certain animals. No one was willing to eat a cat, a rat or a bald eagle. The consensus was that a cat would be immoral, a rat would be disgusting and an eagle would be unethical. Apparently, if an animal is cute and cuddly, it is immoral to kill it. An eagle, however, could be killed morally, but not ethically. They had no idea about the rat, and preferred not to discuss it. I feel that the vegetarian was the only one with consistent beliefs. She felt that all life is sacred, and one should cause harm. I pointed out that the toothpaste she uses contains gelatin. Gelatin is an animal product. She was aware of this, and stated that she does the best she can, and avoids as many products made from animals as humanly possible. This demonstrates in my view that morals are to be strived for, but can not be attained. The meat eaters in our discussion felt that they were acting ethically. Interestingly, no one had ever slaughtered an animal, nor had they been to a meat packing plant. These people were bothered by the idea of what is done to animals at slaughter. Some also espoused the idea that hunting is inhumane. They were, however, willing to ignore how these animals are treated. I think that this is a demonstration of acting immorally. If we know something is wrong, and are willing to ignore it in favor of personal gain (food) then we are acting immorally. As we have seen in each of these examples, it is quite possible for an individual's morals to conflict with a group's ethics. In fact, it is quite probable that at any time, an individuals moral position will be in conflict with the group ethic. It is however, necessary to have these ethics. It had been said that an ethical culture is a happy, just, and secure culture.I feel it is necessary for the individual to define moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. Our morals are the test to which we apply our behavior. The Golden Rule is a classic example o...
