Why are people so mean....?

Question

I have been a vegitarian for 16 years.At age 10 i just could not eat animals, no big deal. Some people dont like tomatoes, some don't like fish etc...,but so many people throughout my life have said hurtful horrible things to me about killing animals,questioned my sanity, said i was unhealthy,tried to get me to eat meat or pay me to eat meat. I'm so sick of hearing it that I dont even tell people anymore. As i look on all these questions i see so many people making fun of vegans, people who want to help the enviroment. We have so many food options beside meat yet nobody is willing to go without it to reduce animal suffering and pollution..Its like crack or something.

Answer 1

This is a generalisation against both vegetarians and carnivores. Lots of people become vegetarian for lots of reasons, not just animal welfare and environmental issues. Some just don't like meat. Some are allergic. Some have food intolerances. Some are ill and cannot digest meat. I do not understand why you feel the need to tell people of your eating preferences. I don't tell people that I cannot tolerate and refuse to eat ginger, I simply request that ginger not be included in a meal. If you are trying to convert or are pushing your views and life choices onto meat eaters you are bound to get a little rough feedback.

Answer 2

It's a harsh world and yeah people can be pretty mean and stupid, but you know it's mostly out of ignorance. Just be proud that you stand above that and don't allow the stupidity of others to bring you down. Don't give those people reasons to believe that they can affect you, just answer them in a way to make them understand that you know they don't know what they're talking about. Try not to fall to their level, refrain from being arrogant or aggressive or anything like that, that you're obviously not, so don't let anyone make you become like that.

There are more and more people turning to vegetarianism and veganism every day and with all the talk about environmental issues going on, the most inconvenient truth of all (to selfish people and certain industries' lobbies, that is) is bound to be revealed to the wider audience. That is that the greatest contributors to pollution, deforestation and overall degradation of the planet are the meat and fish industries.

Answer 3

I have been through the same thing. Granted I became a vegetarian after I graduated so I didn't have to deal with the high school antics but in the real world I get picked on a lot but I just let them say what they have to say and then smile and laugh at their ignorance. It really gets to them when they finish their joking and they dont' get a rise out of you. Some people are just ignorant. They fear what is different and are threatened by it for some reason. It's like we are trying to force them into some way of life they are antagonistic about. It's very childish I know but you just have to be the mature one and brush it off and eventually people will stop because they see it's not upsetting you.

Answer 4

We are challenging what they consider a norm. I think they WISH they could stop eating meat, but they're hopelessly addicted. I can't figure it out either. I had an aunt who used to try and sneak chicken base or gelatin into everything. She did this to trick me and even admitted as much, saying that it's just not normal not to eat meat. At what point in time did it become normal to have meat at every meal? Even in the older farm days, the family would only eat meat on special occasions. I dunno. And why are they always on the vegetarian site if we're so weird?

Answer 5

I am a vegetarian as well. I think that people assume Vegetarians/Vegans are judgmental and preachy. Unfortunately only the vocal one's are. Some people get very self-defensive about Vegetarianism because they think that because we don't eat meat that we think it is the only way for everyone to live. I personally don't believe this, but I think like you, that there would be some positive environmental effects if vegetarianism were the norm. People need to make their own choices though.

Every year I meet at least one person who is aggressive towards me for being Veg and wants to know why I am so they can tell me what an idiot I am. They never seem to listen to why I am. What is surprising is that I never preach or try and convert people. I keep it to myself but still they want to attack. I can only imagine that they treat everyone who has different beliefs this way or it touches upon some other philosophical issues they might be insecure about. Look at the answer where the person says "Where do you get protein from" as you never thought about this in 16 years. (So protein only comes from Meat? Ever heard of lentils?)

Their advice is sound though. You have to choose where to apply you focus. Acknowledge the bad but don't treat it as the norm.

As for the bible comment, G_d gave them to us, but it doesn't mean that we have to eat them or should be completely insensitive to them and treat animals however we want. This is bad Christian logic. G_d is our Father; we get upset when our children treat gifts we give them with disrespect. We don't give them a blank check to destroy after they open the package on Christmas or Birthday. They are still alive and all life stems from G_d. It isn't the eating of meat that is bad, it is the treatment of the animals and the method of slaughter. If people were more sensitive of animals pain then there might be less human suffering. What you couldn't do to an animal you could definitely not do to a human. I don't eat meat because I am not capable of killing a chicken for a McChicken sandwich, pig for ribs, etc. Unless my our my family's survival absolutely depended upon it. I believe their is a shared experience between the animals's life and my own that does not exist with vegetables and fruit. Gnostic Christians were an early sect of Christianity that believed in vegetarianism and their are denominations today in the USA that practice vegetarianism as part of their Christian faith

Answer 6

The best way I think to answer your question, eat whatever you like, it's your life, live it the way you want. Don't listen to people like that, even if you eat meat or veggies, people will still say something about you. I don't mind what people say about me, the way I put it, when they talk about me, there letting someone else rest.

Answer 7

just ignore them.

I've been veggie for 27 years and no-one ever criticises me in real life. Maybe its the way you present your views or talk about being veggie ?

I bet 95% of people i know have no clue i'm veggie, why would they ? I never push my views onto them. If they ask, fair enough i'll tell them but generally i never even mention it.

I find the only peole that criticise are those in this forum who hide behind initernet anonimity. One of them is following me now so i expect my thumbs down about 5 seconds after i post the answer. Who cares about those cowards, they have nothing useful or thought out to say.

EDIT: thanks for the thumbs down, it was expected. I guess that makes you ( H D ) highly predicatable eh ? Think of all the USEFUL things you could do with your life instead of trolling this forum ? Ok, sorry, my mistake, suggesting you THINK was too much of a stretch.

Answer 8

Like you, I've noticed how often people hang out in the "Vegetarian & Vegan" section simply to be insulting, possibly in attempts @ being funny. I have more interesting things to do than to check this out, but I doubt if there are many (if any) vegetarians going to other sections just to say things like "Ewww, hamburgers!" or whatever.
A lot of meat-eaters that I have known are really defensive about thier taste for flesh & blood. I suspect that @ least some of them are aware of how much animal suffering & environmental damage they're causing but want to convince themselves that it's "normal, necessary & God-mandated" to eat flesh. The best way to convince themselves is by trying to convince us. Otherwise, why wouldn't they simply leave us in peace instead of going out of their way to be rude?
In the 20 years that I've been vegetarian I've been called crazy, satanic, fanatic, *too* soft-hearted, weird & several other adjectives. I haven't been running around telling meat-eaters to stop eating meat or otherise acting in the "self-righteous" way that vegetarians are so often portrayed & I only discuss the harmful aspects of eating meat (whether it's from a perspective of animal suffering, personal health or the environment) when someone truly wants to have an open-minded dialog.
Sometimes it's been necessary to let people know that I'm veg-- when dining out, for example (which is getting easier as more people are accepting of vegetarianism), or being invited to dinner @ a the home of a friend or relative who knows I used to eat meat. It took quite a while for some of my family to understand but eventualy most of them were fine with it. Besides, how long can someone find humor in trying to bribe or coerce me into trying the brisket? When I was single, guys would even talk about how much they enjoyed meat in an effort to seem manly.
Anyone who tries to tell you that being vegtarian is unhealthy, satanic or unnatural, or that it does nothing to help animal suffering, world hunger or global warming is either totally misinformed or deleberately stating untruths.
Sorry for the tirade. Long story short, I agree with you.

Answer 9

Yeah I know what you mean. I remember in high school, and even at uni (college) right now, people criticize me, saying that being Vegetarian is unhealthy. They are being ignorant when they say things like you can only get protein from meat, which is obviously not true (We can get ours from Legumes e.g. beans and lentils). And sometimes if you explain to them that, they still want to argue with you again, so now I just ignore them.

They have a superiority complex, and they like to put down people who are in the minority group. It happens to different social minority groups as well. You know we and other vegetarians/vegans are doing something which is good depending on the viewpoint (health, animal suffering, and/or environmental reasons), so you should just ignore them. It's their loss, not yours.

Answer 10

The general assumption is that Vegans are od. It is a stereotype. People are confused by your eating habits and as such they will try to change tem or at least make the suggestion.