I have a dilemma. I have been vegetarian for over three years now. I went veg when I was 16, and I was so optomistic and sure that I could change others people's minds just like my own was changed about the way animals are treated. The thing is, most of the people I know don't give a damn about animals unless the flesh is already before them, ready for consumption. They know the hows and the whys when it comes to killing animals for food, but they don't care. I gave up on trying to convince them and tried to just live by example. I'm sure everyone thought that it was a phase I would soon grow out of, but I didn't. I thought that maybe that would have been enough to at least make someone think, "Hey, she might be on to something here." But it wasn't, and I don't know what to do. Animal rights is something that's very, very important and close to my heart, and I truly want people to at least think about what they are doing, even if they don't change it. All I ever hear, though, is "What do you mean, you don't eat meat? What's wrong with you?" Explaining it further just makes people look at me like I have mysteriously grown another head right before their very eyes. Should I keep talking about it, trying to make people understand? Or should I just give up and lead my own meat free life, leaving everyone else alone? They don't leave me alone; I get made fun of every time I eat in front of someone. I'm just frustrated. You guys don't even have to answer this if you don't want; I'm just venting. LOL. Thanks for listening. xoxo, Chely
I think we should make a movie called Slaughterhouse. It will have all the horrible things we do to animals being done to people on it. How many people can stomach watching a baby boy getting castrated while screaming and then bleeing everywhere? Then at the end say "How can you think its not inhumane the way we treat animals?". Ahahahahhaha, it'd be the goriest movie for 100 years. Of course we wouldn't really hurt any of the people in the movie, it'd all be movie effects (some people really needed me to say this).
As for people making fun of you, just remind them that the meat they're eating is covered in fecil (sp? poop) animal poop because of the way we slaughter the animals.
There's no point trying to convert people. The fact is most people are selfish and stupid and care about nobody but themselves. Don't waste your energy. You have a clean conscience and that's all that matters.
LOL, Green, I like your movie idea. Let's do it! And to you and Spacer, thanks for your replies. You are both right. Like I said, I just needed to vent. It gets old, ya know? But thanks!
Hi Seashell! Isn't it great to get all fired up about something & want to go out & change the world? I love that feeling. I love feeling that I really CAN make a difference. But... to do that, I need to find people that are ready & willing to change. That's not nearly as easy. See, *I* cannot change anyone. I can show them how to change & give them reasons why they should, but I just can't crawl into their head & MAKE them change. They need to do that on their own. And for some odd reason, trying to force someone to change doesn't work either. The more adamant I become, the less they listen, and the more adamant they are they they DON'T want to change. This is human nature. I am the same way. It was not the vegans insulting me & telling me how I was personally responsible for helping to perpetuate cruelty in animals that made me want to convert to vegetarianism. No, all that did was make me mad at them, for thinking I was unthinking & uncaring. It was the people who I knew were vegetarian & answered my questions as I asked them in a nonconfrontational manner that helped me to realize that there was a better way out there. I happen to be a Christian as well. As Wrat alluded to, if I were to tell you that I was a Christian & that if you weren't you'd burn in hell... would you listen to a word I was saying? No, and I would never expect you to. What I do, is something called "planting seeds." People know who & what I am. I try my level best to conduct myself in such a way that people will see that there is such a thing as a GOOD Christian. I may never see someone turn to Christ, and that's not my goal. My goal is to plant within people the concept that Christianity can be a positive thing. Watching that "seed" grow into a new Christian is someone else's job. And maybe it will never happen, but I still find that it's much more effective to SHOW people what Christianity can be, rather than to scare them into something they're not ready for. I think that you would find the same thing is true with vegetarianism/veganism. love, mom
I agree with homeschoolmama. Over the years, I have encountered several AR demos and have known a few Veg*ns. I heard what those people were saying, but I just categorized it in a dark corner of my brain. But that seed was planted, and one day, seemingly out of nowhere, I looked into one of my dogs' eyes and just "got it." I made the connection, and there will be no going back now. So keep talking about it, but keep what you have to say reasonable and factual. That isn't to say that shock tactics don't work. They just don't usually work on a one-on-one basis.
