In regards to eating meat

[yossarian]

@Yossarian,

You're saying that your self respect is bound to taking a stand, so it must somehow be connected to the opinion other people have about you. By tie-ing self respect to another persons opinon basically you're letting him, an ass, dictate to you when to take a stand and how to take it.

It seems to me that HAVING to respond to all perceived and imagined threats to your self respect is the exact opposite of self respect. Binding your self respect to the opinions that asses have of you won't get your self respect up anytime soon. You'd better bind your self respect to the opinions good people have of you. In fact, it'd be best if other people had nothing to do with it.

That's what I keep saying: fish hooks and pinball. People bite because there is a fish hook in front of them, the thought of not biting is subconsciously equated to spinelessness and cowardice. The biggest fear of all is to be considered a coward. Therefore everyone keeps biting, the result is like a pinball machine bouncing the ball so hard that it's going to go tilt.

I'll choose fun instead. You can call that whatever you like. That opinion really means very little to me. My personal freedom means so much more.

I don't care what his opinion is. The "ass" cares what my opinion is. He is the one who asked me.

It's true that if you know ahead of time that he's baiting you, then not responding would make sense. But you don't always know that, sometimes people are just curious in a friendly way. Other times they are looking for a fishhook--better described as looking for a chance to abuse a minority group.

The point is that either way it is he who is the ass. It's not the vegetarian. Just putting out a fishhook ("trolling") is itself an a****** move.

What about people who put out fishhooks for Muslims and Israelis? If you see an Israeli do you immediately throw out a fishhook asking him what he thinks of the I/P conflict hoping to stir up his emotions on something he cares a lot about?

Only a******* do this and they should be confronted, not slinked away from.

Ass: "So you think we're all cruel people for eating animals?"
Ali: "No.. I think you're cruel for eating the tomatos, never heard of vegetable rights man?!?"

This is just a jelly fish dodge. I'd rather just be myself and if it offends him that's his problem.

Ass: "So you think we're all cruel people for eating animals?"
Me: "No I think you're a cruel person for picking a fight with me. I thought you were genuinely curious but now I see you are just trying to bait me. That's an a****** move and is below you."