RE: Speak Up for Animals: you don’t need a dietary adjustment; you need an attitude adjustment
Nicely said, @goose. I've been a vegetarian for 23 years (since college), and a vegan 11 or 12 years. It varies between full and partial veganism. I take a hard line on "no meat whatsoever, and yes, fish and sea creatures count as meat, too." But, I sometimes use a little organic butter here and there, and pastured eggs, because I believe they were produced without harming the animal, and because they have health benefits. Whether I'm talking about being a vegetarian or a vegan, I get met with hostile attitudes by those who disagree. I used to be pretty evangelical about my belief in kindness toward ALL animals, but I don't talk about it as much now, because people just don't want to listen. I figure I'm doing my part on my own plate.
One thing I DO speak up about is my disgust of trophy and sport hunting. Killing animals just for fun is simply twisted to me, and indicative of a disturbed person.
Thank you for talking about this very important issue here.
Thanks, Steph. I was also vegetarian before vegan, and have been vegan for many years now. My thinking about it has gone up and down and all around over the years, but I have finally settled on the idea that it's about respect more than kindness. Just like I wouldn't call it kind to try not to discriminate against other groups of humans, I don't think that refusing to participate in animal abuse should be seen as kind, which almost implies something extra. I think it should just be the norm, the moral baseline.
I realize, though, that this is in some ways a "cold" approach, and that it can be effective to use the word kind, because it ties into the way most people want to see themselves. However you phrase it, I hope you will consider talking about it again. Even though most people don't want to listen, it doesn't mean the message isn't affecting them. A lot of the people I talk to who eventually went vegan said it wasn't any one thing that made them vegan; it was after many different things from many different sources that it finally all came together for them.