Getting to the Meat of the Matter

* I was wondering why, in your article “Vegetarians Have a Beef With Ads for Carl’s Jr.” (April 5), the writer claims that [some] vegetarians are “so strict that animal products such as eggs, butter and cheese will not pass their lips” when science has proven to us that humans were not meant to eat animals or their byproducts. Veganism isn’t “strict,” it’s humane and healthy. As well, egg hens are some of the most mistreated farm animals around, living in spaces as small as half of one square foot, and are forced to eat their own young (the male chicks which do not produce eggs) after they have been tossed alive into a grinder.

I disagree with many of the acts that self-righteous animal rights activists perform, such as those “activists” spitting on scientists at the lab animal convention you reported about a few months ago. Unfortunately, these types of actions seem to be the only way to get the attention of the big-time media like The Times, which will often only report on things unimportant or outrageous. In this way, you are making all people in favor of animal rights looked upon as moronic. In your article, you only make the stereotype seem more real by writing in such a tone that makes JIHAD look really childish.

GREG MERONEK

Dove Canyon

* As the advisor for the Muslim Student Assn. at a large community college, I find it appalling that a group of vegetarians should select the acronym JIHAD to refer to their “holy war” with Carl’s Jr.

I find it equally appalling that the writer of the article blithely suggests that “jihad” simply means “holy war” in Arabic, thereby strongly implying that the term itself can be appropriated for any assertive involvement by any militant group for any reason whatsoever.

The term “jihad” comes from the Arabic word “jahd,” which means “effort” or “struggle.” The primary “jihad” of every Muslim is the struggle within oneself to remain faithful amid all the temptations faced by any thoughtful member of any religion.

As for “jihad” as a term for random war and terrorism, no less a scholarly authority than Karen Armstrong, in her book “Holy War,” points out that the term never implied what people in this country now assume it to imply.

I hope the vegetarians find another term to describe their stance.

DON K. PIERSTORF

Costa Mesa