What do you say?
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| Tue, 01-25-2005 - 1:09am |
Okay, you're sitting with elderly relatives and they ask you why you became a vegetarian. And they ask you nicely, no snide overtones. They are eating their meals and all efforts have been made to get you a good meal.
So what do you say in that situation? What do you say if it's your peers, and how do you respond to the people who don't ask politely?
Those relatives I mentioned were raised on a farm, so they know how animals were treated way-back-when. I believe that while the Bible says humans were given power over animals, the treatment animals recieved at that time was so good that shepard's treatment of sheep was used as an example of loving care! At least animals who are hunted from the wild had freedom and have a chance to escape... not that I endorse hunting. And Jewish law required that they suffer as little as possible. But I told them that I always felt sorry for the animals, and had never been able to eat them without knowing what they were. And that I believed my diet had helped my health- even if Grandma did ask me pointedly if I was sick (I have a number of chronic illnesses) before I went veggie. She was surprised when I said "yes" so firmly and swiftly- I was symptomatic, but not to the level most would notice, and my problems are mostly genetic.
I point out to the "don't carrots cry when you cut them" types that pain is registered by the nerves, and we've never found such things in plants. And I have, when cornered, pointed out that God gave animals the ability to feel pain and their running from danger and response to pain shows that they feel it and want to live. Why would God create creatures with those traits if He intended them to be treated the way we do? Chickens wouldn't have feet if they were meant to lie in cages no bigger than themselves all their lives!
But there are so many negative ideas of vegetarians that I feel I have to be careful and diplomatic in my response to not add to the stereotype. Do you? How do you explain something so important to you and so foriegn to most people?
What are your responses?
Jaseann
cl-Celiac Disease
If your neighbor doesn't think you look sick, it doesn't mean your symptoms aren't real. If a doctor ignores you, it doesn't mean it's all in your head. If there aren't definitive tests yet, it doesn't mean the disease doesn't exist. You know your body- trust yourself!

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Hello everyone, this is my first visit to this board.
I don't discuss my vegetarianism much either. I've had 23 years of it! I became vegetarian at the age of 10. My parents and brother did so at the same time. As a child, i got really annoyed at people expressing sympathy e.g. "your parents are really cruel, forcing you not to eat meat". I instigated the change, actually!
If someone asks, I say it's because I don't want to eat animals. I rarely discuss it further than that, as I find so many people want me to start an argument so they can 'prove' that I'm a 'nut' who wants to convert everyone. When they discover that I have no objection to my DH eating meat, I'm labelled a hypocrite!
I just tend to live my own way, and people can go ahead and think what they like.
I'm the same.
Thisby
Thanks for the welcome.
Do you know today someone asked me what supplements I take, I was a bit puzzled until they followed with "you know, being vegetarian". I said "none". The next question was about protein sources i.e. I must struggle to get enough. My answer, as always: "lots of places, where do you think cows get it from?".
I then turned to DH and said "I can't believe I'm still answering this sort of question after 23 years!".
Cue whirring cogs as people then tried to work out exactly when I went veg!
Every time I get a cold, people say, "You need meat."
Thisby
I hope you had a great day at work.
During that conversation, someone claimed that is is more natural for humans to eat meat. If that's so, how have I lasted for so long? (not to mention that I was taller than most of the people in the room!) Not only that, but I'm always the last to pick up bugs, if I get them at all and recover faster.
As you say, some of the biggest animals on the planet are vegetarian.
It is my understanding that because our bodies are technically omnivorous, it is "natural" for us to choose what we eat.
Thisby
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