[lemma=abstain] □ □
[lemma=abstain] [□] □
[lemma=abstain] □* □
A large segment of the population is currently totally vegetarian , or may abstain from animal products for months at a time for religious reasons . He drank neither wine nor strong drink , and abstained from animal food . After a few remarks by Dr. C. M. Dick , approving of the suggestion of Dr. Nichols , and illustrative of the advantages of the Vegetarian system , Dr. Bedortha , of Lebanon Springs , a water cure physician , stated that he had been a Vegetarian for about 12 years , although he had not entirely abstained from animal food during that time . It is true that the reluctance to abstain from animal food , in those who have been long accustomed to its stimulus , is so great in some persons of weak minds as to be scarcely overcome ; but this is far from bringing any argument in its favour . However , those who take vegetable food and abstain from animal flesh are praiseworthy . I believe that every man who has ever been earnest to preserve his higher or poetic faculties in the best condition has been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food , and from much food of any kind . So far there has been no threat of a veto although some countries , including Mexico , have said they could abstain if there is no consensus among the major powers . - I hereby declare that I will abstain from animal food , and promote , by word and example , the objects of the Society for the Promotion of Humanity and Abstinence from Animal Food . Rather than demanding purity , the authors show that while abstaining from animal products is generally best , making ethical food choices need not be an all-or-nothing endeavor . When we consider the biographical and , I dare say , the spiritual kinship we share with those billions of animals raised and slaughtered for food ; when , further , we inform ourselves of the truly wretched conditions in which most of these animals are raised , not to mention the deplorable methods by which they are transported and the gruesome , blood-soaked reality of the slaughterhouse ; and when , finally , we take honest stock of our privileged position in the world , a position that will not afford us the excuse from moral blame shared by the desperately poor who , as we say , really have no choice - - when we consider all these factors , then the case for abstaining from animal flesh has the overwhelming weight of both impartial reason and a spiritually-infused compassion on its side . They suppose , that by meats they magnify themselves , while abstaining from animal food , ( and ) being water-drinkers , and forbidding to marry , and devoting themselves during the remainder of life to habits of asceticism .