Comments on chicken tender: integration

Marie, I did attend UU a few times in Salt Lake Ci...

2011-04-08T14:42:40.372-07:00

Marie, I did attend UU a few times in Salt Lake City. I found it a bit too ritualistic for my taste, but I'd be open to checking them out again. Unfortunately I think the closest church is an hour away. I haven't attended with the Quakers for some time -- just been so busy and enjoying my family on the weekends. It's interesting to come back to these older posts so thank you for commenting!

Coming to this post really really late, Chandelle,...

2011-04-08T07:22:40.397-07:00

Coming to this post really really late, Chandelle, since I just found your blog and I've been reading through from the beginning.

My husband and I also worshipped with the Quakers for a few years, , and I count myself as more Quaker than anything...but, have truly found our home in a Unitarian Universalist church. Check out their philosophy and see if there's an opportunity near you. You may find the community even more fitting than the Quakers.

I'm loving your blog, and your writing. So glad I discovered you!

You did as well, for me. Thank you.

2010-09-01T06:22:24.411-07:00

You did as well, for me. Thank you.

Chandelle, wow. All I can say to this is: "Th...

2010-09-01T05:58:24.612-07:00

Chandelle, wow. All I can say to this is: "This F/friend speaks my mind." Frighteningly close on both the desire for community/goodness/nontheism and where my dietary-consciousness is leading me. Thank you for articulating my own heart more clearly than I can.

Good to hear from you, c! It sounds like you...

2010-08-25T11:47:49.312-07:00

Good to hear from you, c!

It sounds like you're at a very good place; as I said above, I can't find fault with trying to make humane choices as far as meat is concerned.

You phrased it so beautifully, what I'm finding with the Quakers. Thanks for putting words to it.

What a thoughtful post. As a pisces, I guess I do...

2010-08-25T10:25:56.264-07:00

What a thoughtful post. As a pisces, I guess I don't really understand being so torn, but I can relate to wanting to do good and be better and feeling like no matter what, it's hard not to fall short on one side or the other of an issue.

I hope you'll continue to share your process as you figure it out, which I don't doubt you eventually will. As for me, I'm currently at peace with doing my best and not accepting less in terms of quality and humaneness when we do eat meat.

And in terms of religious community, I'm seriously jealous of what you have found in the Quakers. I wouldn't be too quick to walk away from it yet. That sense of belonging to a shared consciousness that can raise a collective (however small) awareness of promoting our best selves in the world is the best thing to come out of any religious form, in my opinion. And it sure isn't easy to find a genuine source of it.

If you're going to eat meat that's undoubt...

2010-08-23T16:24:31.082-07:00

If you're going to eat meat that's undoubtedly the best way to do it, so I'd consider it blameless from any perspective. Thanks for commenting!

What an interesting post! I've been mystified ...

2010-08-23T15:16:40.329-07:00

What an interesting post! I've been mystified by the intensity of the anger directed at vegetarians too.

I don't think I will ever be unconflicted (if that's a word) about eating meat.

This won't stop me from eating it, but at least for now, for me it means doing it mindfully and gratefully, choosing sources with care, and minimizing waste (none of which actually fixes the central issue, of course).

Yes! Jeremy is a Pisces, so go-with-the-flow and ...

2010-08-21T23:41:18.332-07:00

Yes! Jeremy is a Pisces, so go-with-the-flow and diplomatic and peaceful, he never gets this. But it seems another Gemini will always understand. :)

Nothing profound to add to your thoughts except th...

2010-08-21T22:13:49.954-07:00

Nothing profound to add to your thoughts except that I'm a Gemini, too. And I feel like that makes us sisters, somehow. :) If nothing else, it's nice to have a friend who gets the way I'm often torn between two minds, two extremes.

Leah, I have only a very small group near me. Usu...

2010-08-20T18:20:46.941-07:00

Leah, I have only a very small group near me. Usually there are only three of us. Sometimes we get really wild and go up to four or five. This is positively minuscule compared to places like Berkeley or Washington, D.C. But it still works.

Are you in North Dakota? The Northern Yearly Meeting heads the groups in your area. http://www.northernyearlymeeting.org/ It looks like there are weekly or monthly meetings in Bismarck and Fargo, but I'm not sure if that's nearby.

Thanks for commenting, and relating.

Great post! You appear to have a strong sense of g...

2010-08-20T17:42:29.610-07:00

Great post! You appear to have a strong sense of goodness and justice.

I've heard great things about the Quakers and am dying to go to their meetings, but they aren't established in my area. There is something powerful about coming together with other people who are all intent on a higher purpose, even if our individual beliefs don't exactly match up.

Thanks, Melodie! It means so much to know that ot...

2010-08-20T11:15:47.223-07:00

Thanks, Melodie! It means so much to know that others can relate to this.

Wow, I think you're my new favorite blogger. S...

2010-08-20T10:31:58.981-07:00

Wow, I think you're my new favorite blogger. Seriously! This post rings true to me on so many levels, and for my husband (who hasn't read it yet but will) on another bunch of levels. I don't even feel like I can properly comment on this without writing my own blog post but on the religion thing and the vegetarian thing with the identifying with WAPF even though I feel like they don't accept me...phew. Thank you for putting into words so much of what I feel. I am on holiday right now and not writing blog posts, but I am so inspired by this. Thank you! And thanks for linking.

Thanks for commenting, Greg. I have that book out ...

2010-08-20T06:43:09.423-07:00

Thanks for commenting, Greg. I have that book out from the library right now. As I understand it, it's based on a body of work from Ecology Action in Willits, where they've been studying biointensive agriculture for some 30 years. I keep meaning to get up there and see this method in action, especially as I'd like to apply these principles on the acre we'll be working with. So I agree with you entirely: humanure is the shit, so to say. But I don't know enough to say if humanure is sufficient; its composition is bound to be different from other animals'. This is something I need to study further, but for now I appreciate the opportunity to compost my little ladies' manure in anticipation of next years' garden. Composting toilets are not allowed within city limits, unfortunately.

I am so happy to be reading your writing again. Th...

2010-08-19T20:07:39.351-07:00

I am so happy to be reading your writing again. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I've been reading the book by John Jeavons, "How to grow more vegetables".

He's the leading researcher on how to grow as much food as possible on the least amount of land, and he suggest that the missing carbon in a garden isn't animal manure, it's human manure.

Since we can't easily and safely put the carbon back where it came from, we lose out. However, his remarkable farming techniques seem to make it possible to sustain agriculture without oil.