Before I go on, let me be specific. I do not hate vegans. I eat meat. I'm not gonna tell anyone what they should eat, so please don't tell me what I should eat. I'll encourage better habits, sure... but I don't insist. I wish you would not waste water because that does affect me, but I won't insist. I don't keep Kleenex in my home, but if you have them in your purse, I won't object. (Out loud, anyway.) I may scorn your for your plastic water bottle, and offer you an alternative... well, OK, that one, I might get a little strident on, but generally, most people know how I feel about stuff and so I am content with letting their own consciences be their guide. I'll be the little voice whispering in the ear. But I won't preach to your face. If you ask, I will tell. And I certainly won't tell you, Random Vegan, that you should eat meat. So don't tell me I shouldn't. I admire your commitment to a better planet, but please just co-exist with me and don't preach. I know it. Go ahead and give me that look as I peer over my In 'n' Out burger. It's still yummy. So, no, I have NOTHING against vegans. I have vegan friends. (Well, maybe not after my radio show dated 3/26/2011!) But I cannot be around the militant vegans.
And, then again, I could be WAY off base. These are just the musings of a person who has time to reflect on too much while driving the same route home from work every day, seeing the same sights, having way too active an imagination. Some could say, well, what are YOU, Green Witch, doing for that homeless guy? Why should you be able to say anything about THEM when YOU aren't doing anything either?
Easy: I am not preaching compassion towards all things living while ignoring the guy down the street. Maybe I'm no better. No, strike that, I definitely realize I am no better. I'm not trying to be. I'm just trying to be a little better myself, and make the world a better place for the kids coming up behind us. Maybe I was completely incoherent in this, hey, feel free to take shots at me, point out where I was wrong, whatever. I can handle it. These things come up in my head and I write them. I'm just venting. The wonderful good people I know who actually are vegans don't understand when I say that, as a meat-eating greenie, I am put down by certain groups of vegans. Well, of course they haven't heard that because they are on that side! Eat a hot dog and see what happens...
In the end, I really just want us to all get along. I want us to work together to save the species. Not save the planet, it'll still be here, but save the species. Because we WON'T be here if we keep going like we are. I guess I just need to write off the militant ones and put them in the same place I put the uber-religious... the uber-anything, really. Balance. We just need balance.
Which will lead me to my next post....
I myself am intolerant of vegans and when the last cow is gone, vegans will be the first to be eaten. You have been warned.
ReplyDeleteI say eat the cannibals first try figuring that paradox.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a VERY LONG post, but it decided to say "error" and lost it all.
ReplyDeleteSo, in conclusion: Good for you if you're a vegan. It's your choice and I admire it. But I'll be eating steak until I die, it's so tasty!!!
Plus, the problem ISN'T the consumption of meat, it's over-population. You can be as green as you want, but as soon as you spawn off-spring, your carbon footprint goes out the window as you're just producing another consumer.
By the way, follow my blog. It has rantings about being child-free and has some delicious meat recipes. :-))))
ReplyDeletehttp://goodqueenbess.blogspot.com/
I do tend to rant about children a lot, so merry met!
ReplyDeleteWell written entry, Good Green Witch. As someone who's both environmentally conscious and an omnivore, I've been saying the same things for years. Glad to see there's someone on the same page as me.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments and openness on this subject. I’m actually vegan, and therefore I’m a bit hesitant to write because I fear that whatever I say in this forum will be automatically dismissed. However, I’m going to follow in the footsteps of Good Green Witch and be open and honest in the hope of furthering this interesting dialogue.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I don’t believe that it has to be one or the other (humans or animals). In my personal experience, going vegan has made me more compassionate toward all living beings, including humans. Since following a vegan lifestyle, I’ve become involved in a variety of causes, including causes related to fair-trade and other labor and human-rights issues. For me, veganism opened up a larger social consciousness. I think it’s awesome that I have the opportunity to help the environment and reduce some degree of animal suffering with every meal. However, this is just one easy choice that I can make, and it certainly doesn’t preclude my ability to help others or become actively involved in other causes.
I obviously can’t speak for all vegans, but one thing that I wish for people to understand is that although some vegans may come across as “militant,” “preachy,” or “judgmental,” I don’t believe that they feel superior to people who choose to eat meat. Humans are by nature compassionate, and I think that after people see videos such as “Farm to Fridge” (www.meatvideo.com) and truly allow themselves to empathize with the suffering of these animals, people start to feel desperate. Knowing that billions of animals are living on factory farms, while at the same time knowing that we are powerless to make immediate changes to alleviate this wide-scale suffering, is a terrible feeling. This feeling creates a sense of urgency and the desire to tell anyone and everyone about the issue.
Finally, I just want to add that I really hope you don’t believe vegans are against eating eggs because of the unborn fetus. Vegans are against eating eggs because most eggs come from chickens who live out their lives in battery cages. They live in a space no larger than the size of a sheet of paper and can’t even engage in the simple behavior of spreading their wings. The conditions are so stressful, that if their beaks weren’t cut off (this is done without painkillers), they would peck each other to death. In egg laying hen hatcheries, male chicks have no economic value to the industry and are therefore ground up alive or suffocated in plastic bags shortly after birth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ--faib7to). It is for these reasons that vegans don’t eat eggs. Unfortunately, even eggs that come from “free-range” or “cage-free” chickens aren’t much better. These labels aren’t well regulated, and the chickens often suffer many of the same routine abuses endured by those in battery cages.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I really appreciate it and welcome any respectful comments or questions.
Thank you Kimberly, my feelings exactly!
ReplyDeleteAll comments are welcome here on thie page! Thank you for sharing.
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