Why I am not a vegan

[Shemaya]

Agree with Unbound.

Ridiculous, condescending, etc.

That being said, i think something positive can come out of the conversation. More awareness and consciousness which is always good. Having said that, i am appalled. i feel that basically accusing people of murder, assassination or whatever you want to call it is the epitome of self- righteous, fundamentalist attitudes.

Taking to the extreme, those kinds of mental ego traps are what is wrong with this world imo and causes the worst kind of separation which is in consciousness/ awareness rather than the material realm.

I can't discuss either because of that reason, there is abolutely no point in bringing an alternative viewpoint , or something else to seriously consider because you will end up being accused of murder! REALLY!!!?

I say all that even after having tofu for dinner last night. Discussing this has been good for me to gradually takes steps forward, but certainly not in a moralistic fundamentalist way, my purpose being to help others who know me open in awareness, not to judge them. And certainly not for me to consider myself more STO or spiritually evolved than them. The epitome of arrogance!!

Apparently you think harsh, accusing words are the loving answer to what you deem as accusing to you or a group (which is a perception).

As to the idea of murder, well, explain how it is not murder. No judgment here. I would just like to hear your side of it.

And why is it not worth discussing? You claim you have been helped yourself in this discussion.

Diana, you are very reasonable, easy to talk to and I admire your commitment to your convictions. You and Monica seem to have strong hearts for good and what it right. I respect that totally.

I have been vegetarian/pescetarian on and off for 9 years, way before I encountered these discussions on this forum. So I am not sure what group you are speaking of. My group is the planetary sphere, and more specifically humanity. That is one of the things I tried to bring up for discussion. It would be better to work together and communicate from that mindset rather than meat-eaters vs. vegetarians imo, as I said before.

I said it was the epitome of arrogance to judge my family and consider myself more spiritually evolved than them because they were eating flesh and I was not. If you are taking that personally, well that is your catalyst (and Monica's apparently, blah blah blah) not mine.

As far as murder, look it up in the dictionary. It is clearly defined there. So do you want people to be imprisoned for eating meat? That is basically what this line of reasoning leads to, eventually , laws would be made that prohibited the killing of animals if the killing of an animal is considered murder. If animals are equally our other-selves, in order to have a just society, we would have laws for murder apply to animals. I really am just saying that as food for thought, because I don't need to discuss it. In our current society, which is a huge mess of violence and injustice, that is a ridiculous pursuit, I personally feel, because there are so many many injustices that need to be dealt with for our society, and I feel the expenditure of energy would be better directed elsewhere, that is my opinion.

If you think my perception of fundamentalist thinking/ self-righteousness regarding Monica's posts is wrong; it's just my opinion based on how she responded to me and especially Unbound in this thread. Why does my opinion matter? It's not an insult, it's my perception of the strict, rigid adherence to veganism that I perceive from mostly Monica's responses in this thread. I felt that strict ,rigid adherence to a vegan viewpoint earlier in the thread when I brought up something new to discuss.

I am very familiar with fundamentalist thinking, many of the people I know are religious fundamentalists and I have always had a problem with that kind of thinking.

However, I would have to totally agree with the spirit of the discussion in that we have to change, as a society, to a food system that is sustainable, nourishing , holistic and based on love which includes nonviolence.