In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

Do you really think that they don't care at all? That it's that simple, that they simply can't extend compassion towards farm animals?...They may believe it's OK for humans to eat meat and perfectly acceptable, but I doubt very many believe the way that most meat animals are raised and slaughtered is acceptable from either a moral or a health standpoint. IF and once they become aware of the reality, that is.

I'm referring to when they reject any opportunity to become aware of the reality. They don't care enough to even become aware in the first place.

Does their approach really work? I think that in some ways, those shocking images do help raise awareness. There are times when even I have felt it appropriate to share those images. And yet I feel that PETA has given a bad name to a cause I believe in.

Definitely. It's a mixed bag.

When you make others feel guilty, angry, and defensive with your approach, then they aren't going to really HEAR your message. Most likely they'll shut down, block it out, or counter-attack.

Agreed. Which is why I never use that approach with anyone. The ads, though, are impersonal. It's not a person using those methods face-to-face. So they can do things with billboard ads that might not work face-to-face with a friend.

I suspect that it is precisely because of some of their ad campaigns that I run into people who explode about vegetarians and fanatical vegans all the time now.

Yeah. It happened numerous times here on this thread.

Throwing fake blood on people, destroying property and using almost terroristic tactics just isn't cool in my book, even if I do agree with them about meat eating in general. For me, PETA's means don't justify their ends.

For the record, I have stated multiple times that I strongly disagree with all vandalism methods. I had a (former) friend who accosted women with fur coats. She would go up to women in the grocery store and almost spit on them. She did the same thing to Christians and pro-lifers. She isn't a member of PETA. She's just a jerk. I went round and round with her countless times, to no avail. She just didn't get it. People like that really mess it up for the rest of us. People like that are found in various organizations. They're obnoxious but they're fringe. Unfortunately, people think they represent said organization when they don't.

Does PETA still do stuff like that? Do they endorse it, or are they just fringe members who give them a bad name? I hadn't heard about them doing stuff like that in recent years, so I thought it was a fringe group back in the 80s. Are you saying PETA officially endorses vandalism? Last I heard, they disavowed those things. But I haven't kept up with them so maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I've been missing a lot of news about PETA, but to me, PETA means websites with good statistical info, good videos exposing the horrors of the meat industry, and catchy billboards.

It's very possible that, like many organizations, the organization itself has become corrupt, but there are still good, well-intentioned people participating in it, oblivious to the corruption.

Like a Christian mega-church asking for donations to help starving children, and thousands of people donate, and the pastor lives in a $10million home. Or like those cancer organizations...Apparently no organization is immune to corruption, unfortunately.

So in the past when I referred to PETA, I was referring to the genuine activists who do care about animals, who might not be represented by the organization by that name. I generally don't like even referring to organizations, because they so often are corrupt.