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[thesaucywench]

guilt can make you do some crazy things. i know people are ignorant but gawd. ran across this community today:
http://community.livejournal.com/anti_vegan/profile

Comments

[many_moons]

How do you figure guilt?

[verbranden]

I love your icon, though it confused me because I use a *very* similar one somewhere else online, and I was like "Did I already say something, and I didn't think I used that on lj" :P

[many_moons]

Thanks :) I have an obsession with Alice in Wonderland.

[thesaucywench]

i think guilt figures a lot into a reaction of this sort. because they know deep down that the animal cruelty that happens everyday is wrong and they continue to deny it and support it.

[many_moons]

I believe it has little to do with guilt. I was a member for quite some time, even though I'm a vegan (I found the members quite funny). It seems to me that most of them are in that community because of bad experiences with vegans. I've encountered many vegans that make me (almost) ashamed to be one. No one likes getting insulted or even yelled at because of their food choices. Yes, I think it's cruel to eat animals, but the best way I've learned is to set by example. A lot of vegans don't feel this way, so a community like anti_vegan is bound to arise.

[gutterheart]

I agree. I haven't really followed anti_vegan in a while, but when I did it seemed to mostly for people posting about bad experiences with slightly crazy vegans, or posting articles about the benefits of an omnivorous diet. I don't see any problem with that, people here talk about their bad experiences with omnivores and post about the benefits of a vegan diet. If it's not anything malicious and they're not harassing people about their lifestyle choices (and I'd feel the same way about an anti_omnivore community doing that too) then I'm fine with it.

[many_moons]

Is that you in your icon?

[gutterheart]

A somewhat edited me, yep

[many_moons]

I am in love with your hair and makeup. I used to have dreads until I got a new job and they told me it was a no-no. :(

[gutterheart]

Thank you! I have to stick to synthetic dreads myself in case a sudden student loan related emergency means I have to find a job :/

[thesaucywench]

i would agree that bad experiences definitely figure into a community of this sort. personally, i have had experiences with non-vegans who the only reason for their reactions that comes to mind is guilt. i have a friend who anytime i make any sort of general animal rights comment she takes it personally assuming things like i think she's evil because she eats meat etc. this all when i have never made personal or disparaging remarks towards her or any of the meat eaters i hang out with regarding her/their eating habits etc. i am very much an example vegan rather than an in your face vegan. i explain myself when i am asked about my eating habits. guilt seems to be the only motivation behind the harsh outbursts i recieve from certain people. so i do think guilt compensation plays a factor when people confronted with the truth can so openly deny it and make fun of it.

[stonewall_jenny]

I dont know if its guilt really, some people just feel like they are being attacked, or are being patronized/talked down to, even if thats not what we are doing at all. Its just easy for someone to feel defensive, and feel like 'we're trying to be better than them' you know?

[thesaucywench]

i completely understand that. but when people take everything you say about animal rights personally and make huge assumptions about you "meant" by what you said when the comment isn't and never has been directed at them, it makes guilt seem like a factor. i'm talking specifically about this community, i just ran across the community, i am referring to people i have come in contact with who make huge leaps in logic. =)

[soycupcakes]

agreed. and some of us actually ARE pretentious.

[many_moons]

All I can really say on this is I think guilt is rarely a factor (not 0%). I know if I ate meat and someone came up to me and was all "murder, animals, blah blah blah" I'd be pretty annoyed. If that happened more than once, I'd be so inclined to bitch about it to someone/where else, namely, anti_vegan.

[thesaucywench]

i can completely understand being pissed about someone walking up to you and being in your face "you murderer! you eat meat!" i'm talking about people that get defensive when you say that zoos are cruel and they lash out and say "oh, well i must be evil to the core because i've been to a zoo!" i'm not exaggerating. i get responses with huge leaps in logic like this all the time. that's why i think guilt can play a factor. regardless of malicious intent, i do think that the anti_vegan community is poking fun at animal cruelty that is real and that happens everyday and it makes them feel better to make fun of veganism and animal cruetly, that way they don't have to face the reality of what is going on around them. and i think it's sad.