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Thread: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

  1. #101
    Italhaya's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    as vegans, that is one of our biggest concern:how to deal with our anger and make sure we transform it into positive energy. There is no point in being bitter even if it is very tempting lol.
    If you think about this: everyday hundreds of people in the world turn vegans then it helps you to be more positive.
    we have to remember all the time that most of ppl are meateaters because that is the way they have been brought up and they have always fed themselves. then our purpose and our role is to make them aware of a different option (being vegan). If we show them how happy and optimistic we are then we spread a very good vibe about veganism.
    as far as i am concerned, i never complain about food and the lack of vegan product when i am among ppl, i make sure that when there are only dairy biscuits in the staff room i smile and bite my apple instead. i also think about all the goodies i have at home lol (that unfortunately i forget to take with me everydaylol). then anytime i cook i offer ppl around me to taste it without telling them it is vegan and once they have finished (they most of the time look happy and satisfied)i tell them it was vegan and they look amazed..and happy!
    I've had a couple of friends who are meateaters who have expressed their will to cut down meat and fish. it's a massive step for them and i really appreciate! that is a good start.who goes slowly goes far!

    i hope this has helped you because it has helped me to clear my ideas and feel in a very good mood

    lots of love

    annesophie

  2. #102
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Thankfully, I dont remember ever eating meat- i became vegetarian when i was 7; but it upsets me that i have eaten meat at some time in the past..

    Oh, and i cant help it, but i get really angry when my family eats meat (and dairy products); even though at one time i did too, although i put that down to just being unaware about the 'truth' of meat/dairy- i've told them countless times about the cruelty involved (and how unhealthy it is), yet they still eat it- thats why i get upset/angry (kind of a 'how can they be so heartless, even after knowing the truth')

  3. #103
    Italhaya's Avatar
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    Red face Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    hey guys!

    Can you imagine my situation: i am french and i've been brought up as a omnivorous,i would even say as a carnivorous...indeed you must know very well that french ppl love traditionnal french food which involves a LOTTTT of meat in any kind of dish and a lot of eggs and dairy. Any time i go home my parents devour meat in front of me and i feel sick like hell. but i don't get sad anymore, i get a little angry i must admit but i just carry on my militant message,i try to be diplomate and understanding. i make sure i give them all the information they have to know to be aware of what they are consumming and the cruelty it involves. if they don't listen I've done my best and i will carry on the same way. i believe that at some point they will end up by listening!
    Once again Look at Gandhi and read a few stuff about his life and his message and it will help you a lot. we can't change ppl but we can trigger on a process in their mind (not correct english sorry).

    We are the animal welfare witnesses in a way!

    lots of love

    and good luck

    anne sophie

  4. #104
    Lilac Hamster
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I sometimes think that when the light goes on in your head and you suddenly see the atrocity that is animal-eating it might be like it is for people who suddenly become born-again Christians and how they might feel (I'm an atheist, but thinking about how I described the change in me that I did not care, then suddenly I did, it feels a bit similar for me to the way people transform through religion). I certainly wonder if my beliefs about reverence for life and veganism take on a similar function in my life as religion for some people, although I believe it is more rational than a religious faith, it is definitely just as real and important in my life as some ppl's religions.

  5. #105

    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    i became a vegetarian as a 12 year old, and turned completely vegan as fifteen. i'm turning 18 in two monthis, so that's soon to be six years with no meat. and plenty more to come. i do find it really sickening that I once contributed to the mass-murderes towards animals, but i am also proud to be a vegan, and that i did the right thing in an early age. i'm really happy with the fact that i showed everyone that it IS possible to live fulfilling life without corpses on the fork, or fried hens period as breakfast. and that you don't need the calve's milk on your cereal.
    and everyone who used to tell me "i would never stay a vegetarian", can now see me as a really succesful, caring, intelligent, politically active person, living with my fantastic boyfriend for the past 14 months. guess who's laughing now?

    and then when they ask me if i'm still a vegetarian, i tell them "no. i've been vegan for the past two-and-a-half year.."

  6. #106
    sprite1986
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I'm really lucky as i've never eaten meat.

  7. #107
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    i see my old pre vegan s elf as a different person from who i am now.
    It's certainly a good way to enjoy the years pasing cos the times wen i think it would be nice to be 16 again i remember all the meat and dairy i ate and then i think 'yuck, no way i ever want to be like her again!!
    holding onto the dream that we imagined and painted forever more: elvinridge.co.uk

  8. #108
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I too see my life in a pre/post-vegan time frame. My former self was terrible. Veganism was a wake up call for my nutrition and philosophy on life. I wouldn't recognize myself in my pre-vegan state of mind and many of my old friends don't. It was my lifestyle that justified my meat eating and now that I've reversed it I'm a more sensitive and sensible person.

  9. #109
    sprite1986
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I honestly can say, I have the utmost respect for all of you who went from eating meat --> vegan and stuff. I think because of my upbringing, it made it pretty straightforward going from veg --> vegan for me, but maybe in different circumstances, I wouldn't have made it.


    But I genuinely mean that, (and i'm sure this may come off as patronising or something like that), but I really really admire you all, and anyone else who because and stays vegan through difficult times and who came up against constant hassle from other people, and STILL carried on true to their principles.

  10. #110
    SilentEmpath
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I see meat eaters as opportunities for more vegans, its when I try everything in my power to show them why veganism and they completely disregard it and ignore it. I get angry, I don't get angry at people who haven't been introduced to the idea, or faced with the facts but I generally have a short fuse when people are shown its unhealthy and immoral and all the damage it does to the environment, etc. and continue to eat meat. I am pretty full on about freedom of choice though and it's hypocritical for me to get angry at them for choosing to eat meat, but I just think how can they be so blind or stupid to do it. Especially people who have absolutely NO REASON to eat it. Agh. Anyway, I think people who are uneducated are opportunities and people who ARE educated but still choose to eat meat as well...not to show my anger here...lets say there...A slightly more challenging opportunity.

    xoxo

  11. #111
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I find funny because back when I lived a meat based diet I pressured my vegetarian best friend to eat meat again. Then about a month later, I went vegan and he went back to vegetarianism. Sometimes he feels like giving up being veggie, I always tell him to keep at it. I never thought he'd ever be comming to me for this kind of support

  12. #112

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I don't hate meateaters, I just don't agree with what they're doing. Most of my family and my closest friends eat meat. I did too, up until a year ago. I think a lot meateaters are unconscious metephorically speaking and they aren't aware of what they're doing; meat is what they've been conditoned to eat. Most schools will teach that we get meat from protein and the meat and two veg meal is seen as standard. I can't hate people who know no different. If people are aware that they don't have to eat meat and they still do due to selfishness/greed, that makes me angry and I wish they would change. My family and friends fall into this catagory, as they don't want to stop eating meat as they like it too much. I hate this attitude, but I can't hate them as people as I don't want to lose my family and friends! All we can do is respect where eachother stand on both sides. I don't talk to my friends about my veganism and it's never an issue between us. Maybe I'm in the wrong for not promoting veganism, but it's the way I feel about my friendships.
    I agree with the person earlier in the thread who said that they hate people who work in slaughterhouses and I have to say this is where I agree with the word hate - people who can abuse and destroy inncent lives for dinner must be pretty awful callous people. Who would chose to have a job like that unless they're seriously sick minded?

  13. #113
    Lilac Hamster
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Yes they are sick-minded to do that job, but if people did not demand it, there would not be anyone needed to do the meat-eaters dirty work.
    I consider all meat-eaters (other than children and those with a mental disability of course) to be every bit as responsible as the people who do the killing.
    The blood is as much on their hands, how can it not be since they are the ones demanding the killing?

  14. #114

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I'm sure some of the people who work in slaughterhouses are cruel. PETA's Agriprocessors video shows actions which could be construed as cruel. And I'm sure that the nature of the job breeds cruelty in its workers. I think though that the overwhelming majority are there because they have no other choice of work. The statistics on slaughterhouse workers' injuries don't seem to paint a picture of a job that most people would do out of choice. I suspect too that after working in a slaughterhouse for a while, animals cease to become animals to the people who work there. They're just goods that need to be processed. I don't mean to upset or offend anyone by this post, I'm simply offering an alternative point of view because I think it's unfair to brand all people who work in slaughterhouses as cruel when we don't know what their circumstances are.

  15. #115
    Russ
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Good point. Though as a vegan it's hard to feel very sorry for them, I do recall reading in Fast Food Nation that workers in slaughterhouses have a pretty rough time of it.

  16. #116

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    thanks Russ. I find it hard too, especially when I watch some of the footage available on the Internet *shudder*.

  17. #117
    Vegan Traveler
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Quote fiamma View Post
    I think it's unfair to brand all people who work in slaughterhouses as cruel when we don't know what their circumstances are.
    I brand all people who eat meat cruel.
    - The Duck
    Let's do something about it!

  18. #118

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Good, that's settled then

  19. #119
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I approach this from a faith perspective. In Genesis, humans were vegetarians until Noah & the flood. Only after the flood did God give Noah & humanity permission to eat meat. But what is interesting about this "gift" is God wasn't happy about giving permission. God gave in to man's "passion," for meat, and then set up rules to govern its consumption ( Kashrus ). So from my sectarian point of view, meat eaters are biblically entitled to eat meat. But meat consumption was not a part of the original plan, and it highlights weaknesses in human character. Indeed, some famous rabbi's, Abraham Kook in particular, believe that in Messianic times humanity will revert back to vegetarianism.

    More Information:
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...vkook_veg.html

  20. #120
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    right. well im not jewish or religious or anything but i definitely get the moral impact of that story.
    i am not angry at meateaters because all my family and friends are carnivores and THEY are the ones who are angry at ME for being vegan so.. I'm not giving in though, but it would be natural to rather feel sorry for them instead of angry, sort of a wish for them to realise what they are actually doing to their bodies and the animals.
    det e bedre at den e dyr - enn at den e døde dyr

  21. #121

    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I look back at most of my past as "i've made a lot of stupid mistakes". But my past has made me who i am. Wooo.

  22. #122
    VeggieFrank
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    what can you do but move forward? i don't judge myself for wetting my bed or sh***** in my nappie. i accept that some ppl have more insight than i had at a certain age.

  23. #123

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Quote VeggieFrank View Post
    what can you do but move forward? i don't judge myself for wetting my bed or sh***** in my nappie. i accept that some ppl have more insight than i had at a certain age.
    I totally agree and that's the way I like to see it. I don't see the point of looking back and hating yourself for eating meat or anything else, becuse we all do things that at the time feel right. I think people develop greater awareness as time goes on, and looking back can show how far someone has come. It shouldn't be a negative thing.

  24. #124
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    It is all in the education of people, some take that education and make the world a better place, others ignore it for their own benefit so they dont have to deal with it. I personally wish i had been vegan since birth but my parents were not of the same persuasion, but i have tried in my life to be as compassionate as possible and tried to evolve into a caring person from the information i have gathered.
    No point looking back, its what we do now that counts.

  25. #125
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Most meat eaters don't think about what they are actually eating I've found. When I first became vege, and for years after that, my sister would taunt me by eating steak or some meat in front of me and saying "mmm tasty cow, dont' you love it?". I hated her for that, but I think mostly it's just cos it's the 'norm' so people just go with the flow. Other than that, I think people honestly don't care how they fill their stomachs.....
    "If you are what you eat, does that make you dead meat?"

  26. #126

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I agree Memma. I think there's a big difference between Italy and the UK for example - there's much more of a "food culture" here, where social occasions revolve around food, whereas in the UK it tends to be viewed as fuel for the body Not that animals get treated any better here than in the UK, but perhaps that's a topic for a separate thread

    I agree totally with your post, anyway You've hit the nail on the head...

  27. #127
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I don't feel bad about being a meat eater initially but I feel bad about going back to it a second time after being a veggie then a vegan for years. I'm just glad I don't eat it any more and won't go back to it again.

  28. #128

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    i think it'll just make your health worse if you start being angry at non-vegans. let each person live their life the way they want, even omnis.

    there are many health conscious omnis. biodynamic polyculture farms benefit the environment, and i've read that if all farms had a strictly vegetarian way of farming where there were no animals on the farm, the farm would suffer because there is no biodiversity and no natural fertilizers, no anything the way nature intended.

    i also read a very gruesome description of what kind of death a cow would have if set free into the wild. domesticated animals just don't have what it takes to defend themselves and live their lives in the wild. they've been domesticated for so long.

    on these natural polyculture biodynamic farms, animals live very happy lives the way nature intended while still in human contact and protected from the dangers of predator animals. these animals are slaughtered much more humanely than they would be killed in the wild by a bear or something. and if you think about it, what's more important, minimizing animal harm and optimizing happiness, or just not keeping them in captivity? not all farms are bad.

    people shouldn't be so judgemental. it's not about right and wrong. some people can't live off of a vegan diet, and i think that's important to take into consideration. not everyone has the body type for it, we're all built differently, coming from different parts of the world with different experiences.

    i think how omnis respect vegans, vegans should respect omnis. i'm sick of the vegans i meet that are so people hating. it's like people don't matter anymore and it's only about animals. you shouldn't place yourself above someone else.

    it could be considered equally immoral to be a consumer of sugar if it was grown with excessive amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and the land and people were exploited in the making/harvesting of the sugar cane, but just because someone chooses to lead a sugarfree diet, whatever their reasons (health or moral) that person shouldn't place him/herself above others who eat sugar.

    i think you guys need to relax and just live your life and stop being an angry vegan. you're promoting a negative image of vegans, as if all vegans are crazy peta propagandists.

  29. #129
    Russ
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    You just keep right on being an apologist for meat eaters. Most of us are pretty relaxed as it is from my experience (having met 50 people from this forum), but just so happen to think some things (i.e. eating meat) are morally indefensible, which is, you know, why we're like, vegan and stuff. I think it would be pretty lame to just sit back and say "yeah it's okay - I'm not into torturing and confining animals, but if that's what you like go right ahead! Be my guest! God knows we wouldn't want to ruin the biodiversity of farms, that being the priority after all!" Geeeeeez ... part of the whole reason I became vegan was so that I could have a go at people! Haha, no. Let's not mince words. I think it's pretty obvious that the mass consumption of animals is a challenger to African slavery and the Holocaust for humanity's most abhorrent crime. So I think I'd be a bit of a turkeyshit if I didn't do anything to speak out against such awful violence and oppression! That's just me of course. But take a look at the historical record, no minority or repressed group (be it women, blacks, homosexuals etc.) ever won any degree of equality by remaining silent and hoping that their self-elected superiors would one day become charitable and decide to grant them equal status. No, this did not happen, because just as it was in the master's interest then to keep the subordinates down, as it is now in the interest of the powerful to keep animals locked up and mutilated. And you know what else, animals don't even have that voice I mentioned before, so I guess it's up to anyone who seriously believes in animal liberation to do all they can to free them, and if that means offending the self-righteous omnivore master (you know, the one who dictates what morality means today, and what are acceptable topics for discussion and what aren't) then who gives a flying poop in the face? What's at stake here is a little more important.

    Soooo, in conclusion, I think you need to rethink your post, cause it's not only an apathetic outlook on how we should live our lives, it's not only an inaccurate judgement of people on this forum, but it even seems to be against taking any action that would actually liberate animals. The fact that a domesticated cow would be eaten in the wild is no argument for continuing to eat cow.

  30. #130

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Quote zorbed View Post
    I look back at most of my past as "i've made a lot of stupid mistakes".
    Me too, and I still keep making them but I do my best to learn from the experience.

    I was brought up eating meat at almost every meal. I always loved animals, and would get upset over stories of animal cruelty in the papers etc, but just didn't make the connection between the cuddly lamb in the field and the lamb chop on my plate until I was in my early twenties. I regret being ignorant for so long and wish I'd made the connection sooner, but once I knew about the horrors of the animal farming industry, thanks to being given a leaflet in the street, I set about learning all I could and did my best to stop supporting the trade. I'd never met any vegetarians at the time, let alone any vegans, so it was all a steep learning curve.

  31. #131
    Lilac Hamster
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Way to go Russ!

    Also many people here are quite critical of some of PeTA's actions and tactics I think you will find grrrnola, so there is a huge diversity among vegans and their opinions on certain campaign groups.

    But if you are asking people to respect people's choice to eat meat, I will say no way can I respect that. I have to accept that it happens, and that I can't stop people making this choice, I have to live with it, but I will never go as far as to RESPECT their choice as in any way equal ethically to veganism, or shrug and say it is OK, because it is frankly being an accessory to animal murder. I cannot respect that any more than I would respect someone eating a human being that someone has killed for them.

    You know what I would really like would be to see some kind of super-animals evolve and fight back against their human oppressors (so long as they understand that not all humans are bad and do not punish those of us who are vegans!).

    This is one of the difficulties with bringing about animal liberation, other liberation movements have been ones where it has been possible for the oppressed to fight back for themselves, it is so rare it is possible for animals. Although individual animals have sometimes fought back, it is such a shame they cannot be like "Chicken Run".

    I work really hard on not being an "angry vegan" grrranola, actually, I make an effort these days to be an active veganiser, after years of avoiding meat-eaters. It's hard and much as I would feel more comfortable to be around other like-minded ppl only, and seek to be around them regularly, I do now also go out to mainstream events such as getting involved with the parents associations at my kids schools, where there are hardly even any vegetarians, always trying to be the visible and positive vegan and ensuring some vegan food and drink available at events involving food. It's a lonely and slow process always being the one who is different, but I always do this in the hope of raising interest and awareness. I don't preach, however much I would like to, but am happy if anyone asks why vegan!

    Grrrnola, you sound like you don't like your fellow vegans very much and that is not a good way for a vegan to be either!

  32. #132
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Lilac Hamster - I agree -there is no point in being an angry vegan. Many meat eaters don't realise what is really involved in the production of their meat etc and those that do are entrenched into the 'eating meat is the norm' mentality.

    I try to be positive and happy around meat eaters even though I feel like asking them how they would like to be imprisoned, tortured and killed, because we are all adverts for veganism and the only way things will change is by more people realising that veganism is right, which isn't going to happen if you come across as an angry person - it isn't attractive and doesn't inspire people to ask and find out more.
    "Only after the last tree has been cut down,the last fish caught [and] the last river poisoned;only then will you realise that money cannot be eaten"

  33. #133
    piper
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I'm a new vegan so my past as a meateater isn't all that far behind me but I am quite surprised it took me this long.

  34. #134
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I'm not generally a people hater - I get on with most folk even the rest of the biker community who are notorius for disliking vegans, but I have to agree with Russ here we cannot defend this type of farming.
    What if our government decided that certain people were no better than animals and there was mass slaughter of say.......wheelchair users for food and land manure.
    Would it be ok to slaughter sentient beings bcause they cannot walk????
    It's not ok to factory process and salughter animal so that we can sit back and get fat and fill our faces with McDonalds - they are sentient beings with emotions and needs.
    I would rather be let free to take my chances in the wild than live in a crate and then die horribly.
    Silent but deadly :p

  35. #135
    kb
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    grrrnola,
    "I also read a very gruesome description of what kind of death a cow would have if set free into the wild. domesticated animals just don't have what it takes to defend themselves and live their lives in the wild. they've been domesticated for so long."
    It is not our right to domesticate animals just as it is not right to confine and slaughter you for being human. Either way the cow is still dead and was unable to die peacefully. If we think about the way we would like to die we probably prefer the most peaceful method as do other creatures... but it doesn't always happen that way. Natural carnivores do not kill animals by the billions as humans do. Predators and prey are essential parts of evolution and ecosystems. Predators will take 1-2 animals, often times the weak or sickened ones from the herd (that has the earth to roam and graze upon rather than a cage or farm) that will satisfy their hunger for up to a week. Humans are domesticating huge numbers of animals that were created through forced breeding and put through much suffering during their entire lives. Their feed is not always what they would naturally consume. I have seen a farm that fed its pigs leftover amusement park food by the truckload that was boiled in a huge tank and then turned into a slop. Humans are not carnivores and are capable of surviving on a pure vegan diet and slaughtering animals in the amount that we do is pure selfishness. We are the only species that takes more than it needs to survive.
    64% of Americans are overweight and unhealthy because of their diet.
    After all 1 out of every 4 people in America smoke. Also many drive unsafe, support war, pollute the earth with carbon and waste, use excessive amounts of alcohol and other drugs, etc etc... If you cant convince people to stop harming themselves and their planet you sure cannot convince them to stop harming animals. This is a sad realization.
    We have to accept meat eaters but also give them the wisdom we have gained as vegans. Rational vegans know that we aren't going to change a whole lot other than our own lives.
    I wish that we were educated more about healthy lifestyles and the meat industry when we were younger. Sadly, it took me 20 years to realize how poor of a diet I had and how irrational eating meat is.

  36. #136

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    The meat-eaters that irritate me are the ones who say offensive or silly things to me.. like "Mmm yummy cow"... It's difficult not to 'judge' them when they find their own carelessness so amusing.

  37. #137
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    My past as a meat eater - one way road to suicide ville
    Silent but deadly :p

  38. #138
    frank language's Avatar
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    Default Re: How should meateaters be viewed?

    Quote stickydate View Post
    Count me as part of that too - many people I love are omnivores, and while sometimes people judge me, I won't judge them. Eating meat does not make someone evil, just as being a vegan doesn't automatically equal being angelic.
    Still, no matter how non-judgmental I strive to be, meat-eaters I know are bound to accuse me of making my diet my "religion."

    I posted on a different message board, in fact, that I had gone to brunch with a friend and over his eggs Benedict, he said to me, "Your diet is your religion, isn't it?" This from someone who had confided in me he was 100 pounds (about 7 stone) overweight.

    To tell you the truth, I never found religion--when I had it as a kid--did much for me; sure, it kept me out of trouble and my parents slept easier at night. But I find diet to be a much more proactive "religion;" I've made a demonstrable difference in my own health, and potentially--via the ripple effect--the health of the world! How cool is that?

  39. #139
    Metal Head emzy1985's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Russ - That was awsome man! I think I love you...and I'm a big old lesbian lol!

    As for the meat eaters....I dunno. It saddens me to see people eat meat and tuck into a cheese sandwich (I hate milk more than anything EVER!) but I can't bring myself to hate them as people. Afterall I expect them to respect me and my beliefs...why shouldn't I respect them and theirs? Then another part of me jumps out, screams and slaps me in the face, "what the hell are you on about girl? These people actively support everything you fight against!" That's like me saying that is ok for someone to be sexist and I repect that and they can get on with it. I really don't know how I feel...when I'm on my own as vegan I tend not to bother and just keep my mouth shut. When I am not alone in my veganism I tend to be more vocal....but only in an educational sense. Afterall these omni's gotta find out the home truths somewhere ay?
    The taste of anything in my mouth for 5 seconds does not equate to the beauty and complexity of life.

  40. #140
    fiercefabulous
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    Unhappy Guilt?

    I was vegetarian before going vegan. When I think back to my vegetarian days, I am overcome with overwhelming, massive pangs of shame and guilt, to the point that it reduces me to tears. When I was eating meat, I had never really thought of NOT eating meat. It wasn't like I had seen Earthlings and disregarded it or something -- I just never had the realization it was something I could do.

    I don't feel guilty about my meat eating days. I feel sad, of course, but not guilty. I actually went vegetarian on a total whim (a "let's go veg for 30 days" bet between friends, not for any real reason whatsoever except to see who could do it), but after less than a week, realized I could never go back to eating meat. I felt so high-and-mighty. I made every excuse in the book as to why I wasn't vegan. I even said "someday, hopefully," etc., but with no real plan for when that "someday" would be.

    Obviously, I'm vegan now. I was vegetarian for about a year.. whenever I think about that time, I'm just sick with shame, sick with guilt, embarrassment, disappointment in myself. Does anyone else feel similarly? Is this a normal way to feel? I sometimes wonder if I should try to find ways to soothe my guilty feelings, but then think that it's better that I am disgusted with my past, so that I never repeat it.

    Thanks for reading. I don't know any vegans (or even vegetarians!) in real life, so I don't have anyone to talk to about these emotions that have been bottled up inside me without them thinking I'm pushing veganism on them.
    Be the change you want to see in the world.

  41. #141
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Guilt?

    Quote deliquesce View Post
    I was vegetarian for about a year.. whenever I think about that time, I'm just sick with shame, sick with guilt, embarrassment, disappointment in myself. Does anyone else feel similarly? Is this a normal way to feel? I sometimes wonder if I should try to find ways to soothe my guilty feelings, but then think that it's better that I am disgusted with my past, so that I never repeat it.
    I was vegetarian for a while too - probably longer than you actually, can't remember now - and with hindsight I feel it was a bit stupid, but I can't see much point in dwelling on it now. From another point of view it was a positive thing because when I saw how easy it was I realised it would also be easy to be vegan, which I probably wouldn't have considered possible before.

    Maybe you could decide to give yourself a break now? Even when you were vegetarian you were trying to do something to reduce suffering (which is more than most people bother to do) so that's cause for celebration. And if you do meet any vegetarians, provided you don't feel too digusted with the idea of vegetarianism then it will be easier for you to give them the encouragement that might nudge them towards veganism, if you see what I mean.

  42. #142
    megrainbows's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I feel kind of guilty and ashamed that I could have caused so much pain to others without even being fully aware. I can only go forwards now but I just wished I had seen the truth earlier.

  43. #143
    leedsveg
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    No point at all in dwelling on the past. Best to just let it go.

    lv

  44. #144

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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    With some regret but that's how I was raised, that can be hard to break out of. I don't think it's worth beating ourselves up over, I do wish I'd had someone to inspire me to stop eating meat but no use crying over spilt soy milk. I went vegetarian when I left home at 18 so that's something at least.

  45. #145
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I generally don't judge meat eaters, as I was once there before going vegetarian. I would go to McDonald's and get a cheeseburger without thinking twice, or I would eat some steak my stepdad cooked for dinner.

    The only thing I cannot stand is when meat eaters claim to "love animals" and still chew up that piece of meat like nothing bad ever happened to that animal before it reached their plate.

  46. #146

    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    Be here , now.
    Respect for all living entities

  47. #147
    mangababe rianaelf's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I see the old meat eating me as a different person, who was she????????

    I love my vegan s elf, my vegan mind and my vegan body, but it does sometimes make me feel really alienated from everyone else, almost like a different species, but I try not to be judgemental, after all, I used to eat meat and I changed, so everyone else has that potential too, they just havn't got there yet and hey, I'm far from perfect, I still smoke! XD
    holding onto the dream that we imagined and painted forever more: elvinridge.co.uk

  48. #148
    Eat Y'self Fitter's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I just view it as education. Mainstream culture wants to keep you in the dark. Often to understand Animal Rights issues you have to step out of your comfort zone. People's parents their teachers aren't going to tell them about it.

    So that's how I view my non-vegan self and non-vegan others. Uneducated about the issues.

    I do think it's getting better though. Grocery stores are stocking more and more vegan and organic foods. Book stores have displays of vegan and veg recipes. A lot of great books coming out lately.

  49. #149
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    everybody has their good and bad points, you don't have to agree on everything all the time in order to be friends with someone. the only time i've ever thought twice about being friends with someone based on their opinions is with someone who i found out was a bnp supporter (along with their whole family). but then again, if i already knew that somebody was an out and out racist or raging homophobe i probably wouldn't want to hang out with them in the first place so perhaps that doesn't really mean anything. as far as how i feel about my past and eating meat, i wouldn't do it now but i don't really feel bad about it because i'm not the same person i used to be

  50. #150
    patientia
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    Default Re: How do you look at your past as a meateater?

    I'm not happy about it. My family has been slaughtering one less pig a year ever since I became a vegetarian. Have I really eaten one whole pig a year? And not to mention chickens. I'm not happy about my dairyeating past either.

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