Ranger: Insects are alive, and seem to want to stay that way, and eating them makes them dead. Plants don’t care, and don’t have a nervous system to care with.
Rexdude, I’m curious, do you eat/drink milk products? Most Indian religious groups I know about do, though many don’t eat eggs. (I’m ok with both, though I almost always get cage-free eggs.) Neither one are plants, but I think even the Jains use milk.
ChickieD - The Jewish G-d may hate shrimp, but apparently Allah’s mostly ok with it (your imam may vary.) I think there are some sea animals that orthodox Muslims don’t eat, but most of them consider shrimp to be halal, so for instance you’ll find it in halal Chinese restaurants (at least the ones from coastal areas.)
