would you eat a child?

Animals and children are alike in that they are both helpless and ignorant. Because a child is ignorant, that doesnot mean we can kill him. Similarly, although animals may be ignorant or unintelligent, we shouldnot kill them unnecessarily. A reasonable man, a religious man should discriminate. He should think, "If i can get my food from vegetables, fruits and milk, why should i kill and eat animals?" Besides, when you get a fruit from a tree, there is no killing. Similarly, when we take milk from a cow, we dont kill the cow. So, if we can live in such a way wihtout killing, why should we kill animals?

we may think that animals have no soul.
You are a soul. you're body is moving. You are working. You are eating. You are talking. Once you leave the body, the body becomes dead matter. The hands and legs will be there, but they will not work. Same thing we see in the animal. the animal moves, eats, sleeps, reproduces and defends. And once the soul leaves the animal, it too becomes a dead body.
Consciousness is the sympton of the Soul.

Life - a combination of matter?
Modern science believes that life is made from chemicals. but they cannot prove it. no matter how hard they try, no amount of chemical manipulation can make a dead person alive. they cannot even make a blade of grass! life comes from life. Living parents beget children. Can a dead mother bear a child?

The soul:
the body is a machine. an ignorant chlid may look at a huge machine and think that it is autonomous. But an intelligent person knows that no matter how advanced and efficient a machine may be, it will not work unless a person pushes a button. even a huge airplane doesnot fly unless the living spark of soul in the form of a human makes it fly.

Scientific basis:
If we were meant to be carnivores then we would have been provided with the facilities to hunt our preys and tear them down. we dont have sharp nails nor do we have well developed canines. Nor do we have the strength to hunt. We have good grinding teeth meant to chew and grind plant food.
Food passes though human gut for a long time. So, plant food is ideal. animal meat starts to rot in the gut by the time it leaves the body and we end up absorbing toxins.
also, "It turns out that producing half a pound of hamburger for someone's lunch, a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles."