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Henry S. Salt (1851-1939) on Consistency

Animal Ethics

which may be called the Consistency Trick—akin to that known in common parlance as the tu quoque or "you're another"—the device of setting up an arbitrary standard of "consistency," and then demonstrating that the Vegetarian himself, judged by that standard, is as "inconsistent" as other persons.

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From Today's New York Times

Animal Ethics

We encourage kids to gently pet baby lambs, cows, chickens and pigs, but we deny them this loving connection when we serve animals for dinner by surreptitiously calling them chops, hamburger, nuggets and bacon. We call ourselves vegetarians. More than nine billion chickens are slaughtered each year in the United States.

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From the Mailbag

Animal Ethics

Keith: As a historian or even an anthropologist, one could make the argument that being a vegetarian limits one's ability to understand other cultures. I, like you, am not a complete vegetarian. In fact, my diet is worse, but I do justify my eating habits. In many ways, it has a lot to do with defining one's culture.