Dealing with omni hostile friends.
Do any of you have friends that ever try to argue with you about veganism? You know the type, gets drunk and then wants to debate everything, wants to belittle your decision for being vegan, says humans evolved to eat meat. I know, I know. The argument is getting old. This isn't really a post to complain about this or ask for help refuting his very poorly "animals eat animals" argument though.
How do you deal (if you have to deal) with the unnecessary and uncalled for hostility that is sometimes geared towards us? I never put down my friends for eating meat. I never make comments while they are eating or when they talk about food. It seems that one of these friends though just wants to debate with me as if my decision to becoming vegan was poorly thought out.
Why is it viewed so wrong to want to do the responsible and compassionate thing?
(BTW I tried to tag it but nothing I put in the tags worked out)
This is the e-mail that I sent to him:
If you are genuinely interested in why I am vegan and why others choose to be vegan and not just disrespectfully and rudely attacking my decision, then I will give you some links to the benefits of doing so.
Otherwise, please don't bring it up again. It is a personal decision that was well-thought out and that continues to be thought about every day. I didn't mindlessly decide to stop supporting the systematic destruction of animals, the environment, and human beings. The more as time passes, the more important it is to me and the stronger my views against animal (and human) exploitation become. The benefits of becoming vegan greatly outweigh the disadvantages. I have never bothered any of my friends about their life choices and would hope that they wouldn't bother me about mine. Although I obviously have disdain for certain groups, I keep it to myself and to friends that feel the same. I never bring up religion in front of our religious friends and there's a good reason for that. It's not nice, it's not respectful, and it could damage and ultimately end a friendship. (And unlike religion, my decision to become vegan is and was based on facts.)
Like I said last night, becoming vegan is a process. It's not a one-time decision. One person can't do everything at once. I've been taking in one issue at a time because that's all that I can do and something is always better than nothing. I'm not vegan because I think that I can change the world by changing my dietary habits and not buying leather shoes, I'm vegan because I don't support what's become of animal agriculture and the effects it has on the health of all parties involved. Even if it was natural to eat meat, I wouldn't want to do so because the disadvantages heavily outweigh the advantages.
I'm not vegan because I want to belong to some elitist group. It's easier to use a label than to have to explain myself over and over again every time somebody asks. It's the same reason why I call myself an atheist and a freethinker. It's a lot easier than explaining that I don't believe in god, or Jesus, or angels, or the devil, or thor, or magic underwear, or the easter bunny.
And you may not know this, but veganism isn't just about animals being used for food, but using animals as means to our ends in general. This includes animals being used for entertainment and medical research. Neither of which are ethical and if eating animals can be justified, using them for entertainment and medical research still can not. I am an atheist and I know that animals weren't put on this earth to be held captive and experimented on by the high and mighty humans.
If you think we are more important and obviously more intelligent than other animals, than why do you insist on using the argument that other animals eat animals and other animals do this and that? If we have the ability, shouldn't we at least try to take responsibility and help this planet instead of trying to destroy it?
I don't want my life to be built on the suffering of others. I don't see why that bothers you so much. The reason why I am writing this to you is because this is the second time you have confronted me about this in a negative and belittling way. But I am sure that this isn't only the second time that you've thought about it though.
Here are some links that may or may not be of use to you.
Veganoutreach. com. At the site, there is a menu on the left with various links to reasons why becoming vegan is desirable for some. This includes Factory Farms, Environmental Destruction, and Health.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. This focuses mainly on the health aspects of a vegetarian/vegan diet.
The Cancer Project. Heavily cited article about the damaging health effects of meat-consumption (more specifically, at the rate that is common now).
There are obviously several other sites on the internet but these are some that I could find right now that might be of use to you. I don't care if you eat meat. You shouldn't care that I don't. I don't know why you had to argue with me with such hostility last night but you did. It wasn't a calm and considerate debate. It was heated and unnecessarily hostile and disrespectful. If you weren't my friend, I would stop talking to you. I would like to think that our friendship is more important than a difference in lifestyles.
How do you deal (if you have to deal) with the unnecessary and uncalled for hostility that is sometimes geared towards us? I never put down my friends for eating meat. I never make comments while they are eating or when they talk about food. It seems that one of these friends though just wants to debate with me as if my decision to becoming vegan was poorly thought out.
Why is it viewed so wrong to want to do the responsible and compassionate thing?
(BTW I tried to tag it but nothing I put in the tags worked out)
This is the e-mail that I sent to him:
If you are genuinely interested in why I am vegan and why others choose to be vegan and not just disrespectfully and rudely attacking my decision, then I will give you some links to the benefits of doing so.
Otherwise, please don't bring it up again. It is a personal decision that was well-thought out and that continues to be thought about every day. I didn't mindlessly decide to stop supporting the systematic destruction of animals, the environment, and human beings. The more as time passes, the more important it is to me and the stronger my views against animal (and human) exploitation become. The benefits of becoming vegan greatly outweigh the disadvantages. I have never bothered any of my friends about their life choices and would hope that they wouldn't bother me about mine. Although I obviously have disdain for certain groups, I keep it to myself and to friends that feel the same. I never bring up religion in front of our religious friends and there's a good reason for that. It's not nice, it's not respectful, and it could damage and ultimately end a friendship. (And unlike religion, my decision to become vegan is and was based on facts.)
Like I said last night, becoming vegan is a process. It's not a one-time decision. One person can't do everything at once. I've been taking in one issue at a time because that's all that I can do and something is always better than nothing. I'm not vegan because I think that I can change the world by changing my dietary habits and not buying leather shoes, I'm vegan because I don't support what's become of animal agriculture and the effects it has on the health of all parties involved. Even if it was natural to eat meat, I wouldn't want to do so because the disadvantages heavily outweigh the advantages.
I'm not vegan because I want to belong to some elitist group. It's easier to use a label than to have to explain myself over and over again every time somebody asks. It's the same reason why I call myself an atheist and a freethinker. It's a lot easier than explaining that I don't believe in god, or Jesus, or angels, or the devil, or thor, or magic underwear, or the easter bunny.
And you may not know this, but veganism isn't just about animals being used for food, but using animals as means to our ends in general. This includes animals being used for entertainment and medical research. Neither of which are ethical and if eating animals can be justified, using them for entertainment and medical research still can not. I am an atheist and I know that animals weren't put on this earth to be held captive and experimented on by the high and mighty humans.
If you think we are more important and obviously more intelligent than other animals, than why do you insist on using the argument that other animals eat animals and other animals do this and that? If we have the ability, shouldn't we at least try to take responsibility and help this planet instead of trying to destroy it?
I don't want my life to be built on the suffering of others. I don't see why that bothers you so much. The reason why I am writing this to you is because this is the second time you have confronted me about this in a negative and belittling way. But I am sure that this isn't only the second time that you've thought about it though.
Here are some links that may or may not be of use to you.
Veganoutreach. com. At the site, there is a menu on the left with various links to reasons why becoming vegan is desirable for some. This includes Factory Farms, Environmental Destruction, and Health.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. This focuses mainly on the health aspects of a vegetarian/vegan diet.
The Cancer Project. Heavily cited article about the damaging health effects of meat-consumption (more specifically, at the rate that is common now).
There are obviously several other sites on the internet but these are some that I could find right now that might be of use to you. I don't care if you eat meat. You shouldn't care that I don't. I don't know why you had to argue with me with such hostility last night but you did. It wasn't a calm and considerate debate. It was heated and unnecessarily hostile and disrespectful. If you weren't my friend, I would stop talking to you. I would like to think that our friendship is more important than a difference in lifestyles.