Vegetarian bashing on Y!A?

Question

I've noticed an awful lot of this on here. I was just wondering why meat eaters feel the need to come on this section and rant about vegetarians? Are they really doing anything that affects you?

In a way I can liken it to the atheists that go the religion section, but I think they have a valid reason, especially with regard to politics. I don't see how bashing veges is valid. It affects you in no way, shape or form.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Because they can hide behind internet anonimity. You will find they have no sensible logical arguements to make, they just bash us. And of course you will never hear them in real life standing up infront of a group of veggies and saying all this....I think we are getting close the definition of "imature coward" here.

its been going on since i joined ( mid last year ) but the trolls used to be much better. They used to have wit and a bit of entertainment. These days they just seem like little children who only know how to insult.

Of course most of them claim we bash them just as much but they ignore the fact this is called the Vegetarian and Vegan section. Of course we are going to state and support vegetarian views in a vegetarian forum, why is that pushing our views on meat eaters ? how difficult is it to understand that Yahoo set up this section to support exchange of vegetarian and vegan views and diets ?

MikeL presents a good example...as does "pm" with "but when you try to pawn your ideals and practices onto others ".....just how many vegetarians go around the other forums attacking meat-eaters ??? Errr, none. They seem to be blind to that fact

Try to ignore them or go to more useful vegetarian forums. There is more to the internet than Y!A.

This forum has gone to the dogs, even the trolls are lower quality than they used to be, and when you think back to FHG thats saying something !

Answer 2

I don't think they would need their own section if we could all be a little nicer (that's in all sections, not just in V&V). I don't find it offensive when someone asks a question about being a "pescaterian" or whatever. We don't have to answer questions if we don't want to. I have also noticed that a lot of people who aren't vegetarian, vegan OR "pescaterian" come here looking for nutritional advice because they have seen that most of us are pretty knowledgable in this area and most of the people in "Diet and Fitness" are on the protein/Atkins kick. I have answered several of these questions where a lot of the answers were very hateful. I do realize that there a lot of trolls in here, but I have seen many genuine questions get torn to pieces. We aren't being any better than the trolls when we act this way. If they did add a section though, perhaps it should be something like "Healthy Eating." or "Special Diets"? This way you could include everyone who eats a special "healthy" diet. People on the DASH diet, Mediterranean Diet, Diabetics, Lupus Diet, etc could all have somewhere to discuss healthier eating without the animosity.

Answer 3

As I answered to someone else that asked a similar question:

I have to agree, meat eaters come in here and harass vegetarians/vegans, and then have the nerve to say that we harass, and push our beliefs on them.

There are so many trolls on here now that it has pushed out the vegetarians and vegan that try and answer questions. I, myself stick around to be sure that omni's aren't answering perspective vegetarians and giving them all the wrong info(you know what I am talking about-protein, b12, etc). I actually saw a question awhile back where at least 10 omni answered with invalid/myths/etc before any vegetarian even answered.

Omni's think it is ok to be in this area, but watch all "heck" break loose if vegetarians and vegans began answering questions in cooking&recipes, or other food topics, saying how meat is bad, and unhealthy to every person looking for information on how to cook a roast.

Its a total double standard. I know for the most part(or at least I hope) that the majority of people out there are tolerant of others beliefs, and the only reason it seems as if every omni on here is a troll is because the tolerant ones don't post hateful things. I completely believe that many of the vegetarian/vegan haters are probably intolerant of other people, and their religion, race, creed, etc, but it is less taboo to post hateful remarks about people's diet than their ethnicity/religion/etc. I will always feel a little sorry for these people, their ignorance must limit them in so many ways. I couldn't imagine my hate for someone consuming so much of me that I had to post hateful remarks on a question board

Answer 4

They do it for the attention and think it's funny to get us upset. I read over the terms and conditions for yahoo answers and it specifies we may not "upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable." The key words here are harassing, defamatory, libelous, hateful, and objectionable. I'm tired of them making up fake stories or statistics and being hateful too. Do what I do and start reporting them and don't respond to their questions. If they don't get any responses it will ruin their sick sense of humor. Also, a lot of the people doing the bashing on here are the exact same ones doing it in the religious section. I noticed this last night when someone said we are becoming their new favorite section and we are ever "crazier" that the "crazy" Christians. I did some research and I found quite a few people giving bad advice and asking stupid questions in the religious section, adolescent section, and a few others.

Answer 5

You are right, there is a lot of that happening. But it goes back and forth. Every time I answer a vegan or vegetarian question and say, "I am not a vegetarian, but this is what I think is a good recipe," I get a lot of thumbs down. Isn't that bashing me? I know a lot about vegan and vegetarian diets. I even eat many vegetarian and vegan meals. Although I chose not to be completely vegan or vegetarian, I do support those who do. It is not appreciated when I give a great answer and I get thumbs down only because I eat meat. But I still offer my wisdom in hopes of helping someone, because I refuse to stop for a few ignorant people. (Just wait until you see all the thumbs down on this answer!) But my point is that there are many many people who support you in your efforts as a vegetarian. So ignore the ignorant ones, and be kind to those who try to be supportive.

Answer 6

I'm a meat-eater. And I totally agree with you. In fact, I have been pleasantly surprised to see that there are not a whole lot of vegetarians coming on here and bashing the rest of us. There are exceptions, of course, but it really is mostly the meat-eaters.

Here is my theory: I think it is a combination of two things. One is guilt. It is not too unlike when someone is accused of cheating on their spouse. Often the guilty guy gets the most defensive and ticked off. It is a fact that meat-eating, if not practiced in moderation, can be unhealthy. It is a fact that animals have to die in order for us to eat meat. For someone who is unable to accept these consequences, guilt may make them feel defensive.

The second factor is paranoia. You see it in religion and politics, too. Some meat-eaters may fear that their right to eat meat could some day be taken away from them. It is like gun-control. If Congress tries to pass a simple law requiring safety devices to protect childen, and the NRA over-reacts and starts fearmongering and spreading rumors that everyone will have their guns taken away from them. Religious people and atheists do it, too, in fear of being controlled by their opponent. The same thing may well hold true with meat-eaters. So they come on here and trash you in order to try to make you look bad, thinking it somehow protects the likelihood of them continuing their bad habits.

Of course, some people are simply jerks, too. Can't rule that out!

In any case, I eat meat, but I admire those who do not. The health benefits are real, and the animals' rights issue may be a bit more fuzzy, but it is a really well-intentioned point of view with some validity to it. So kudos to you! Hope my comments help.

Answer 7

Wow, I read your first paragraph and I thought to myself. "Well it's kind of like Atheists and devout Christians arguing with each other."

And then I read your next paragraph, and it was exactly what I was thinking.

Yeah I think you understand the situation exactly, as I do. It's two people with different lifestyles that really don't effect each other. Trying to enforce what they believe on others for no real reason.

But remember, just as Atheists bash people, Christians bash atheists also for no reason. That argument can swing both ways.

I think people should just be really open minded, wake up and say, "Hey you know either side of this situation really doesn't change much, and what this guy in Kansas eats really doesn't effect my life, so why am I sitting here arguing about it?"

Answer 8

I reckon that most of them vegan bashers got burned by a vegan at some time in their life. Some hot vegan wouldn't put out with them because they had the stench of death on them... or they spent a ton of cash on some fancy new barbecue thing, and somebody brought a Vegan/vegitarian along, who refused to eat, and ruined the party... Or maybe one of their sons or daughters got sick of the crappy raw burgers they were serving for dinner all the time, went vegitarian, and demanded that they cook only lentils for dinner after that.

Others, maybe they live around a lot of seventh day adventists, hindus, or some other group that refuses to eat meat... and therefore it is nearly impossible to get beef jerky, bacon, pork rinds, or whatever meat based prduct they desire without a long drive elsehwhere.

It's no excuse to hate on the green folks they don't know, but they may feel the need to vent, and better on a stranger than on the person who caused the problems.

Answer 9

I told my Aunt and cousins I am a vegetarian now.. The response where will you get your protein I explained How I can eat nuts and veggies and so on.. They looked at me funny and said I would waste away... Half a month later I have added 5 pounds lean muscle. Its a form of brain washing this society has gone through.. They believe protein can only come from meat.. This begs the question how did the cow get made of meat? Why is their bashing? Its called ignorance... People fear what they don't understand..

Answer 10

"pm"'s answer hits the nail on the head.

I've found that those who have a tendency to "bash" are not reacting to a particular group as a whole, but to those of the group that are bizarre, beyond what is a balance between heart and head, flies in the face of any reason or logic, claims to exclusive knowledge of the "truth", or otherwise causes stark amazement, shock and unbelief in a "reasonable person".

If a group "polices" the conduct of it's members and the bizarre fringe diminishes, the frequency of "bashers" will diminish as well. The group ceases to become "fun" to bash anymore.