Surak and Buddha: A Comparison

[Escriba]

Maybe they discovered that something in animal proteins make them more violent?

Or maybe there weren't much animals after a genocidal war.

Or maybe they're just weird

[CX]

I'd say it's more a part of their philosophy. I forget what episode it is, but Kirk and Spock are trapped in the past with some woman during the Ice Age, and for some reason it affects his ability to suppress his emotion. Anyway, at one point he eats some meat, and not too long after that, he's kind of shell shocked, and says to himself in a disbelieving manner: "I have eaten the flesh of an animal...and enjoyed it."

[Escriba]

Yes, but is it for this idea of "not taking a life" or is there anything more? Like Jews and Muslims not eating pig because if you don't cook it well it can give you trichinosis and cooking well is more difficult in a desert. Or the circumcision, to prevent infections.

Just asking... Because this idea has come to me right now.

[Escriba]

Argh! Double post!

[JadziaKathryn]

Tuvok ate the giant spiders in "Gravity" out of necessity. And, IIRC, there was something in the semi-canonical Pathways (given this special status because the author was a co-creator of VOY) that mentioned drinking blood during the - - - oh, no. What's it called... what Trip is doing in bnb's "Purgatory." That.

So I don't think it's an issue of metabolizing meat but rather a philosophical stance. That's not to say it was always so. Maybe getting meat in the desert was too dangerous or hard and so Vulcans weren't big meat eaters, and then Surak built on that... But, since I'm fast losing the ability to form coherent sentences and my spelling is going out the window (thank you, Firefox with spell check!) I'll leave it at that and go to bed.

[CX]

No, I'm pretty sure that it was entirely philisophical on their part.