Any other vegetarians / vegans?

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Lacto-ovo vegetarian since I was about 16. Now, I'm just out of the habit, so meat seems gross to me when its served up alongside food, or as though it were food. I married a meat eater, and though she has no intention of giving up meat, she eats very little of it anymore, just as a matter of happenstance and menu-planning convenience.

 

[Jonny Nexus]

Are you suggesting that your vegetarianism rises to the level of religious faith? Are you a Buddhist or Jainist? Actually, Buddhists are a poor example because for Buddhists, vegetarianism stems from a desire to avoid doing harm rather than from some kind of ritual impurity covenant breach. Most vegetarians I know are simply trying to avoid causing themselves or animals harm to the greatest possible degree; this is very different from keeping kosher or halal which stems from an idea that ritual impurity damages the link between the self and God.

Anyway, I can't answer for the original poster but I think there are legitimate reasons to view secular vegetarian food proscriptions differently than religious purity rules.

The way I tend to describe my veganism is that whilst it isn't a relgion, it occuplies the same place within my being that a relgion would otherwise occupy. And whilst I can't really compare the way I feel about it to the way a reglious person might feel about their relgion, I think I can safely say that I take it a damn site more seriously than most of the people I know who claim to be followers of a religion. (And I'm including religions that involve food prohibitions here).

So I guess I would say that my veganism "rises to the level of a religion". Certainly, that the way my friends (some of whom are religious) describe it when explaining me to other people.

 

[Jonny Nexus]

Easy, guys...this is maybe starting to drift into the kind of talk that gets threads locked.

Well I have to confess that I'm a bit curious as to why a thread which was supposedly for vegans or vegetarians "out themselves" is instead full of non-vegans and non-vegetarians.

I mean, if someone did a thread which asked if there were any Christians on here (i.e. purely as a social, gettogether call), I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do a post to say that I'm not a Christian, and I sure as hell wouldn't start doing posts which were vaguely critical of Christianity (or telling jokes about how friends of mine had done y things to Christians).

 

[Jonny Nexus]

Probably not. But since the girl in question who unknowingly ate the meat was a self-rightous biatch who probably only became a vegitarian because it was the fashonable thing to do for college-age activists, I don't feel a lick of remorse over taking amusement in it.

So it's your opinion that it's okay to trample over someone's moral beliefs if you think they're a "self-rightous blatch" who is "probably" doing it for shallow reasons?

Nice.

Remind me not to ever share lunch with you.

 

[Gnome]

if you've been a vegeterian your whole life, i.e. meat was never introduced into your system, does it become impossible to introduce it later in life, or merely just difficult? say, if you ate something with tiny bits of chicken in it every day for a week would your system start to accept it after awhile or would that be futile?

I have met one person who was raised vegetarian from birth who ate meat as an adult, and have heard of others. AFAIK, it's no different for them them it is for someone who had been vegetarian for several months, then went back to meat-eating.

 

[Gnome]

Well I have to confess that I'm a bit curious as to why a thread which was supposedly for vegans or vegetarians "out themselves" is instead full of non-vegans and non-vegetarians.

I mean, if someone did a thread which asked if there were any Christians on here (i.e. purely as a social, gettogether call), I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do a post to say that I'm not a Christian, and I sure as hell wouldn't start doing posts which were vaguely critical of Christianity (or telling jokes about how friends of mine had done y things to Christians).

Well said. I was wanting to say something similar myself, but wasn't able to find a way to say it diplomatically (like you just did).

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I have met one person who was raised vegetarian from birth who ate meat as an adult, and have heard of others. AFAIK, it's no different for them them it is for someone who had been vegetarian for several months, then went back to meat-eating.

Yep, I've known people who have started on meat with no problems, and others who had a really hard time of it. I think it can be done by anyone, but it may be more difficut for some. We figure at some point we'll have to deal with it with the kids, hopefully not at school after eating a school lunch (of course there isn't really meat in those).

 

[Ahnehnois]

Not trying to cause any trouble, but not even if a number of doctors told you it was essential to your continued survival? Some of us do have that very problem.

--BK, generally interested in the answer, no matter what it is.

My memories of eating meat (both before I stopped and once accidentally afterwards) are possibly the most disturbing ones I have. I honestly believe if I had a choice between killing some animal and eating it or dying myself, I would choose the latter. Of course, when presented with a life-or-death situation, humans will do almost anything, even eat each other. I am simply glad I live in a society where eating meat is a matter of choice (at least for many people).

IMO meat eating, like many things, is more social than biological. I had one vegetarian parent (who did not trumpet the idea or try to impose it on me) and one not-so-vegetarian parent. I tried both ways at an early age, and picked vegetarianism without a second thought. I don't miss eating the flesh of dead animals one bit. It's not about animal rights for me, nor about being on a diet, nor do I even think about it as being a big moral choice. To me, plants are food and animals aren't. I suspect that in my situation, most people would choose the same way, but most people do not have a clear choice like I did.

Incidentally, a recent talk I was at mentioned things that various cultures did that were accepted at the time but deemed horribly immoral later, human slavery and sacrifice being obligatory examples. I suspect that in a few generations, if there are any humans left, they will probably be vegetarians.

 

[LeapingShark]

My body is a "lean mean sports machine" and I monitor my "fuel" carefully. I tend to avoid many meats because they have so many saturated fats. But lean meats, like turkey, are good. My meals are more focused on things like albacore tuna, and of course beans beans beans wonderful beans. I do love the taste of steak though, and remember the days when I ate more. Yum! Just thinking about it makes me hungry for roast beef sandwich.

 

[Jonny Nexus]

My body is a "lean mean sports machine" and I monitor my "fuel" carefully. I tend to avoid many meats because they have so many saturated fats. But lean meats, like turkey, are good. My meals are more focused on things like albacore tuna, and of course beans beans beans wonderful beans. I do love the taste of steak though, and remember the days when I ate more. Yum! Just thinking about it makes me hungry for roast beef sandwich.

Again, is this not a blatent thread-jack?