RE: QOTW: Why do you think there is so much hate and anger toward Vegans, and why are those who eat meat and dairy so threatened by the notion of giving it up?
Yes, when it becomes about the person and their ego, then any belief is an extension of that 'extended' self.
Some of those who go under the label 'vegan' for political, activist, cultish reasons and then proselytise make it about them ie their desire to convince etc etc. There are also those who are knowledgeable and able to express their POV on the 'issues' that made then turn away from meat and dairy without the holier-than-thou judgemental approach, which, as you say, just gets up people's noses.....:
But then, to some extent, it's not really about us, it's about the animals and the conditions under which they are kept and live, what they go through. Where it's made about 'us' is when the convenience factor overrides the actual state of what is going on and the information is shut out in order to maintain the convenience, such as the notion that animals do not feel pain etc etc.
It is absolutely a choice, an individual decision, what to put in one's body .....it can be done in an informed manner without getting bogged down in stereotypes - times are changing constantly. If an idea of itself has merit, it can run....but heavy labels can obscure the issue at hand. One can check out what is going on over and above the loaded labels of this and that. Many claim to have already done that, but is it really the case? It's not a group thought, it's the individual's perception of action as being in alignment with one's own integrity (or not). Anyway, just putting it out there for anyone:
I wish that, when a Vegan tries to convert me to Veganism, that i could say, i grow my own free range, organic chickens," and then they would leave me alone.
But, it has never been the case.
I wish that when a Vegan tries to convert me to Veganism, that i could say, "i FEEL that vegetables and animals both have feelings, and thus i do not accept the 'not animals' line," and then they would leave me alone.
But they don't.
And so, to the QOTW, i wrote an answer to "why so much hate and anger towards vegans".
In the future there will be more knowledge about diet. (I mean, sheesh, we just learned about gut biome). However, we are also on the edge of an ice age, and a lot of economic upset... so, we are going to be facing a time when you eat whatever you can.
In the further future, people will mostly eat vegetables grown in their own greenhouse... that is basically their home.
I'm pretty much in agreement with you!
I have no answer to the statement - ok fruit may fall off the tree, but vegetables etc are killed. I would need to eat a fruit only diet - and many do - in order to be in complete alignment with the most extreme position of principled living....this I do not do.
I have nothing to say to someone who has their own local setup and treats the animals well when alive and slaughters them with respect for food and not profit.
But there is suffering, unnecessary and brutal. Not just animals of course, but the fact of humans suffering doesn't justify the suffering of 'lesser beings' - the same thinking amongst humans leads to the ghettoisation of certain sections of society. The two issues are not disconnected. We can see where we add to suffering and take steps to avoid doing so, thereby simultaneously also easing some of our own. Such is my holistic view on this anyway, it is not a question of convincing another, just seeing what's what for oneself (I don't mean you in particular, just in general :).
agree and support that vision, in which I'd include livestock for those who wish it and are able to slaughter locally/themselves, free-range eggs etc....
It's the violence done to self and others through the twisted paradigm of mass factory farms, profit etc. It is done to animals, it is done to humans. Why do it at all and, if we are able to mitigate, why not? It's also possible that we feel disempowered, as if it won't make a difference. Perhaps, but this could also be the 'ego' making the issue about itself and finding excuses.
I've been through all these mental processes and emotional positionings on other issues, I really am not carrying the energy of judgement in this comment. I don't speak for anyone except myself (yeah, and the animals lol).