For example, if I’m not willing to kill a cute cow, I shouldn’t eat steak.
Yep, he's just a nut. Equating the use of physical force with the killing of an animal as a source of food? Seriously???
Do you remember when Chrissy Matthews was berating Zell Miller at the 2004 Republican convention for something that he said? (Chrissy was taking it very literally).
Zell responded, “You do know what a metaphor is, don’t you Chris”?
Penn Jillette may not be the most sophisticated speaker (which is both good and bad), but he seemed to be making an appropriate use of metaphor.
IMHO, his point was that one should strive for consistency between their expressed opinions and their actions. That doesn’t sound too nutty to me.
I think he's referring to hypocrisy i.e. someone who thinks it is immoral to kill cattle but still eats steak.
Or someone who thinks it's immoral for someone else to kill to rescue another but would want that someone else to kill if he was the one needing rescue.
So you DON’T have to use physical force to kill that cow for your steak? Like the ones I’m fixing for dinner tonight? How do YOU kill your cows? THINK them dead? Get real.
What he’s saying is that if you want someone to do something in your name and on your behalf, you need to be legitimately able and willing to do it yourself, as well. And he is correct.