Other Prominent Vegetarians
- The Buddha - Although all the major world religions teach compassion as their ethical core (Karen Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, 2010), not many of them extend compassion towards animals. Jainism and forms of Buddhism and Hinduism, however, are more consistent in this respect. The Buddha taught compassion towards all sentient and living beings. Vegetarianism is seen as essential to a virtuous, ethical life.
- Mahatma Gandhi - Vegetarianism was central to his political and ethical philosophy and activism. His struggle with the idea of eating flesh makes a fascinating and illuminating story:
- www.ivu.org/history/gandhi/road.html
- Feminist vegetarians in the ethic of care tradition, such as Josephine Donovan and Carol Adams, argue that violence to animals is part of the same spectrum of violence to women, children, the poor and the environment.