Why I am not a vegan

[anagogy]

How can you say that nothing will change because no one cares, but that those who do care aren't making a dent in the problem? The more people who DO care, the more change will happen. Soon, the number of people who do care will overwhelm those who don't. That's 4D positive!

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/how-much-me...-now-1792/

As far as the work mentioned by Icaro - the STO path requires sacrifice of energy to do any work. We can sacrifice our own energy or the energy of others. Gardening is hard, but is it as hard as the idea of having to kill the animals yourself for food? (let alone the work gone into raising the animals...)

Also, I do not equate eating meat with killing, but I do think paying for meat contributes to the problem of factory farms. I think abstaining from paying for meat and using alternative, ethical food sources helps alleviate the problem of factory farms. You can insert any other example of contribution/alleviation into those sentences that you'd like. I refuse to be nihilistic and say no one cares, so the problem is insurmountable, and no dent can be made by a single person.

Even that article you posted admits that world demand for meat is on the rise.  It just says it's slowed down in the US (a little bit).  And that's probably not even because of compassion, but much more likely: economics.  It has gotten more expensive.

But anyway, when I say nothing will change, I mean if consciousness is attuned to suffering, it will find a way to suffer, regardless of whether people are eating meat or not.  Regardless of whether there are factory farms or not.  If it wasn't factory farms, it could just as well be some horrible plague that causes slow and painful death, or a dwindling ecosystem, or brutal predators.  If suffering is the issue, that is the harsh reality of the situation.  So from my perspective, eating meat or not eating meat doesn't really save a being from not suffering (that perspective involves a limited temporal point of view).  Maybe my opinion will change one day, but I doubt it.  It is a play in consciousness.  Eliminate factory farming, the beings exploring that side of the pendulum will incarnate and get their experiences elsewhere.  But they will still get them.  If this view offends anyone, it is just my honest perspective.  

Few people will want to accept that though.  As I said, we create our own realities.  Nobody creates it for you.  There is no assertion in an attraction based universe.  I'm not denying there is influence on other points of consciousness once their attention is captured.  If you lack focus (and for the most part, 2D lack a consciously directable focus), then it is easy for the proverbial vampire to control your reality via controlling your attention.  This is how STS create.  But your attention was never actually controlled, you just believed it was.  But until this planet is harvested positive for realsies, there will be STS here controlling people/animals.  And consciousness that is interested in that experience (for god knows what reasons) will incarnate on other planets that still have it, if they don't exist on here anymore.  The most you can do is try to be a positive influence, in and of yourself, and if you feel inspired to take some action as an extension of your alignment with that positivity, more power to you.  If not eating meat makes you feel better, more power to you.  But it doesn't put the brakes on suffering in my opinion, it just changes how it physically manifests.

And sorry if I give you a nihilistic vibe.  It is not that I don't care, but it is my personal spiritual understanding that if we want to have a positive influence, you model it by example in your personal life.  And others may align as you do.  But we can't control the world conditions, only ourselves.  We can influence, just not control.  Be a beacon of love and light.  It is enough to not join in the illusory separation.  Find the well being inside yourself, and others will seek it out, because people are attracted to it.  It is far more effective than "not doing this thing because I associate with (X)", in my opinion.  As positive beings, we enjoy providing relief for other beings.  We like to be the instrument of healing, of love, of compassion.  It is who we are.  If it wasn't who you were, you wouldn't feel good doing it.  And if a being comes into your personal experience that you can help, by all means help them/it.  If a being is there, in your personal reality, it is by virtue of the fact that it is a vibrational match to being assisted, and you got the honor of being the cooperative component the universe summoned to play that role.  Why do I say "role"?  Would another cooperative component have been summoned if you weren't around?  Surprisingly, yes.  All beings are creating their own realities.  

Ra: A portion, seemingly, of the Creator rejoices at your choice to question us regarding the evolution of spirit. A seemingly separate portion would wish for multitudinous answers to a great range of queries of a specific nature. Another seemingly separate group of your peoples would wish this correspondence through this instrument to cease, feeling it to be of a negative nature. Upon the many other planes of existence there are those whose every fiber rejoices at your service and those such as the entity of whom you have been speaking which wish only to terminate the life upon the third-density plane of this instrument. All are the Creator. There is one vast panoply of biases and distortions, colors and hues, in an unending pattern. In the case of those with whom you, as entities and as a group, are not in resonance, you wish them love, light, peace, joy, and bid them well. No more than this can you do for your portion of the Creator is as it is and your experience and offering of experience, to be valuable, needs be more and more a perfect representation of who you truly are. Could you, then, serve a negative entity by offering the instrument’s life? It is unlikely that you would find this a true service. Thus you may see in many cases the loving balance being achieved, the love being offered, light being sent, and the service of the service-to-self oriented entity gratefully acknowledged while being rejected as not being useful in your journey at this time. Thus you serve One Creator without paradox.