Vegetarianism and veganism

:See also Ethics of eating meat
In social politics, vegetarianism and veganism are interrelated philosophies regarding the human diet (varying largely by degree), both prescribing abstinence from eating meat as a benevolent change within a range of human aspects ranging from personal health, up to society-wide revolution.
In the former context (health), vegetarianism and veganism promote increased health via the consumption of foods that promote healthier digestion (ketosis). In the latter context (social revolution), vegetarianism and veganism hold that abstaining from meat consumption and restricting the meat industry will bring the world a salvation from a wide range of social ills (cf. utopia, panacea).
In a certain sense vegetarianism and veganism are identical philosophies differing only by degree, such that vegetarians will agree with several vegan precepts and moderate (ie. non-political) vegans will likewise agree that vegetarianism must come before veganism. But within the political dimension the moderate views may be pushed aside, in which case vegetarianism and veganism both have "radical" elements which engage in polemics and outward evangelism towards promoting their own recipe of philosophies as panaceas.
Vegetarianism and veganism did not become notable in the mainstream until the 1970s and 1980s, after the hippie generation and their descendents began to deal with social realities of excess consumerism and consumption —with many often noting the correlations between consumerism and violence. The link between sex and violence and sex and food being highly noted, it was natural then to find a link between food and violence, such that linked violence with societies that consume greater quantities of meat. In certain cases, promotion of vegetarianism and veganism has been in essence a metaphor for protesting violence itself, in such cases the references to meat are not so much relevant to diet as much as they symbolize human capacity for cruelty and inhumanity towards other people.
The issue of proper diet gets into religious and theological territory. The kashrut and halal prohibitions against consuming pork exist because there is also an element of sin in the consumption of meat. A number of religious traditions consider regard eating meat as sacred acts that require prayer and invocation before they are consumed. The religious prohibition on pork specifically is not fully understood, except to say that that particular animal itself has historically had aspects of uncleanliness associated with it. In short, because transcendental living has no essence of chemistry in it, the savoring of chemical substances is considered removed from that living and therefore is regarded as sin. As such fasting is often considered to be holy.

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