Responding to questions and comments from non-vegans

[amritab@yahoo.com]

I mentioned earlier, I keep my reasons to myself. I dont want to get into arguments and I dont believe in pushing my thoughts on others/. From politics to abortion, I believe I think and feel other than most "normal" americans. My question is is it ok to say you are vegan for personal reasons. or is that a rude answer? If so, whats a good and not smart ass way to answer.
Some recent comments at work (things are better for the most part, my colleagues could not believe the cake I baked was vegan and agreed to the chemistry of baking theory with me as I explained) annoyed me -
rabbit food (yes I ate a small salad even when I chowed down chicken before. God, my blood boils. I think pretending not to hear is the best, otherwise they get a kick.

[Artichoke47]

You don't owe anybody an explanation for anything, so no, I don't think that answer would be rude.

[amritab@yahoo.com]

thanks guys. I try to shake off anything they say. I remember right after I said I was becoming vegan (another mistake, wont do at any other job again, no one needs to know), I noticed my manager was like yum.. burger this that. I just ignored it because if I didnt , they would say, oh you are reading too much into it (inference - you are psycho). So I let it slide and it stopped. No one does that to me anymore. This guy is a retired army guy, obv conservative..I'll just ignore those comments I think its better.

[Korn]

Sounds smart to ignore the burger-talk.... :)

Actually, it's bit odd to ask people why they DON'T do something. It should be the other way round! ("So you eat meat? Interesting... why do you do that???" :) )

'Why' is a much better question than 'why not', and 'Why vegan?' is actually a 'Why not'-question: Why do you not use animal products. The most interesting question is 'Why should we use them when we don't need to?', especially since using them causes ourselves and the animals so much harm.

[cedarblue]

i think subtle psychology can play an important part in what we say and how we say it. i actually prefer to say that i follow a vegan diet and low-impact lifestyle (sounds a bit pompous now i write it down now though!) rather than say i'm a vegan. i know its only reworded but i think how we say things can make a huge difference to how folk hear us and accept us (ie that we're not trying to be rude, aggresive, moody, offy, righteous etc)
to me following a vegan diet and low-impact lifestyle means i'm doing my best for what i believe in rather than setting myself up for critical analysis and probing by stating i'm a vegan which can sound a bit like i'm better than you??
thats what i think anyway :)

[globesetter]

i think subtle psychology can play an important part in what we say and how we say it. i actually prefer to say that i follow a vegan diet and low-impact lifestyle ...


I like this phrase - low impact lifestyle - I think it would make people stop and thing - now I just have to think of a snappy German translation :D


regards,
globesetter

[amritab@yahoo.com]

i think subtle psychology can play an important part in what we say and how we say it. i actually prefer to say that i follow a vegan diet and low-impact lifestyle (sounds a bit pompous now i write it down now though!) rather than say i'm a vegan. i know its only reworded but i think how we say things can make a huge difference to how folk hear us and accept us (ie that we're not trying to be rude, aggresive, moody, offy, righteous etc)
to me following a vegan diet and low-impact lifestyle means i'm doing my best for what i believe in rather than setting myself up for critical analysis and probing by stating i'm a vegan which can sound a bit like i'm better than you??
thats what i think anyway :)
Thats a good idea. I agree. In fact I am very comfortable around meat eaters and its not something that I take personally. There are so many issues that trouble me more than people eating meat. In a way, trying my bets to be vegan, has taught me a lot of emotional detachment. I also, am not a very strict, ingredient focussed vegan all the time, in fact, I will probably not tell anyone anything about it any more. I recently thought if I could kill an animal I would eat it, this leaves me with shrimp/scallops. So will I go around telling people that I think I can make an exception for shrimp/scallops? No. No one needs to know. In fact I think, we often get a bad rap because some of us do tend to attack non vegs or they feel insecure around us .. anyway, this has taught me the value of pragmatism. I sure wont joke about a choking chicken.. but I wont rant about what i can or cant eat.

[stephanie]

"So you eat meat? Interesting... Why do you do that???"
GREAT!! I want to try it now! a meat eater, where can I find a meat eater??

I'm often kind but often rude too and aggresive and moody. as a human being I can't be the perfect one but when you say you're vegan (or vegetarian) and you've been rude some time before people say "she is moody, does she lack vitamins? she is really a strange girl. her ideas are strange. we can trust her..." I'm TIRED being perfect because of veg. I want to be veg and rude, veg and aggresive, veg and kind (it happens). can we be a normal human being and make people know and like veganism?

[TheFirstBus]

unfortunitlly even if you said "I don't beleive in eating animal" that would bring forth argument. I just say "why do you eat meat"

[lolamako]

I would recommend reading the book Being Vegan, it helped alot with my issues twards non vegans. I often am shocked at the anger that people feel twards me when they learn of my lifestyle. Its like there disgusted that I dont eat meat, it doesnt matter that they asked me or that all I said was that Im vegan and nothing more, they still act like I attacked them. This book gave me a sense of calm in these situations. I even checked mine out from my local library.

[TheFirstBus]

I would recommend reading the book Being Vegan, it helped alot with my issues twards non vegans. I often am shocked at the anger that people feel twards me when they learn of my lifestyle. Its like there disgusted that I dont eat meat, it doesnt matter that they asked me or that all I said was that Im vegan and nothing more, they still act like I attacked them. This book gave me a sense of calm in these situations. I even checked mine out from my local library.

I have had people become angry with me which suprised me, people who most often said "its you life". One person when they heard about it said "you'll come to you senses soon enough" I said to my little borther who is a vegetarian "she has it wrong we have come to our senses"

[Buzzola]

I found this link VERY helpful ;) http://www.veganstreet.com/veganliving/thoughtfulsnappy.html

[Kuklasmom]

The "Vegan Street" Web site mentioned by Buzzola above is great, I'll agree.

I also recommend Carol J. Adams' book "Living Among Meat-Eaters." She specifically addresses many of the situations mentioned on this thread. There's also a section of vegan recipes!

Best regards,
Kukla's Mom

[gertvegan]

As mentioned by lolamako , the author of being vegan, Joanne Stepaniak has a few q and a's here http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa.htm :)

[TheFirstBus]

Here is one. I get alot of "but animals eat other animlas its a part of nature" without getting into a long arguement just ask them "do you drink milk from other animals?? No other animals drink mild from other species". This simply presents a grand flaw in there arguement.

[DontJustDoSomething, SitThere]

"animals eat other animals its a part of nature"

Hi FirstBus, these people never have a good explanation about why they would copy the life style of a meat eating animal instead of a vegetarian animal. Or why they would copy only the diet of these animals, but not sleep naked in the forest, bark instead of talk, rape or have raw meat on the menu every day and never see a good movie. It's all about denial.

[gertvegan]

On the subject of "but animals eat other animals" , from www.animal-rights.com


In Nature, animals kill and eat each other; so why should it be wrong for humans?
Predatory animals must kill to eat. Humans, in contrast, have a choice; they need not eat meat to survive. Humans differ from nonhuman animals in being capable of conceiving of, and acting in accordance with, a system of morals; therefore, we cannot seek moral guidance or precedent from nonhuman animals. The AR philosophy asserts that it is just as wrong for a human to kill and eat a sentient nonhuman as it is to kill and eat a sentient human.

To demonstrate the absurdity of seeking moral precedents from nonhuman animals, consider the following variants of the question:
"In Nature, animals steal food from each other; so why should it be wrong for humans [to steal]?"
"In Nature, animals kill and eat humans; so why should it be wrong for humans [to kill and eat humans]?"

[TheFirstBus]

Hi FirstBus, these people never have a good explanation about why they would copy the life style of a meat eating animal instead of a vegetarian animal. Or why they would copy only the diet of these animals, but not sleep naked in the forest, bark instead of talk, rape or have raw meat on the menu every day and never see a good movie. It's all about denial.

Thats a good point. Not to mention if they were living in these standerds of nature where animals kill eachother then why are they using rifles and tools to hunt no other animal does that. The hole arguement is just one big flaw.

[Roxy]

Ok - I'm sorry if this one has already been discussed somewhere - but here's one that I've been faced with a couple of times.

"Plants are sentient too you know. It's been proven."

Help me out with an itelligent answer puhleeeez.

[TheFirstBus]

Ok - I'm sorry if this one has already been discussed somewhere - but here's one that I've been faced with a couple of times.

"Plants are sentient too you know. It's been proven."

Help me out with an itelligent answer puhleeeez.

Plants do not feel pain at least it hasn't been proven that they do. I think you can assume they don't. Sounds like an asses arguement to say something like that to you.

[gertvegan]

A snappy retort about plants and pain, from veganstreet.


You’ve got to be kidding me, right? You honestly equate the anguished thrashings of a cow hanging on the slaughter line with that of a stalk of corn ready to be gathered? The repetitive, compulsive swaying of an elephant chained in a circus car with emotional life of the hay with which she was fed? The tortured screams of a pig as the knife is dragged across his throat with a blade of grass as the mower hits it? You honestly do not differentiate despite all obvious indication that animal life and plant life are not equitable in terms of awareness and suffering?

How is it that you get through life? Understanding as you do that each adorable Brussels sprout on your plate has been beheaded with such wanton disregard? A house salad must be viewed as a murderous crime scene to a sensitive being such as you; a crudité plate must seem to be a veritable genocide. How is it that you’ve survived so long without fruits, vegetables and grains? If you do eat these things, how do you quell the voices in your head of all the plants you have plundered that shriek, "No! Not me!Please don’t take my life for a boring little stir-fry! Aren’t I worth more than that?!?"

So you’re either excrutiatingly sensitive or horribly sadistic. Either way, you creep me out. Next question?

[Roxy]

Thanks guys :o

I don't think I will ever forget the day that this girl at work, interested in the things I eat, asked me what I was having for lunch. I replied "vegetarian sushi". She said "well what about the seaweed - it was alive once".

Enought said.

[cedarblue]

A snappy retort about plants and pain, from veganstreet.











i love it!

[DontJustDoSomething, SitThere]

Did anyone read The Secret Life of Plants? You can read about it here (http://www.earthpulse.com/products/secret.html) or here (http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2003/3/3/1496.html). It's a very fascinating book, but contains no good reasons for mankind to starve itself to death instead of eating plants, which I guess would be the only alternative if one should not eat animals or plants, unless humans can live on light. (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3217#post3217)

[ConsciousCuisine]

Yes, it is a fascinating book. I'm not about to become a breatharian though...