Why I am not a vegan

[Diana]

Veganism has been attacked in these threads by those who seem to otherwise have very loving posts, calling us extremists and zealots as though we were likened to Al Quaeda.

So implying someone is acting zealotous (as omnivores in this thread have implied) is mean, but implying someone is basically equivalent to being a murderer (as vegans in this thread have implied) because they eat meat isn't mean?  Don't you see how that interpretation is a tad bit hypocritical?

I can see how you might interpret things this way. But it isn't accurate. That "vegans are zealots" was not implied, it was written and said explicitly (repeatedly). As for the implication that meat-eaters are equivalent to muderers, that is an unfortunate result of trying to get a point across about the way animals are treated by using the human equivalent. No one has accused anyone of being a murderer. I can understand that someone might feel this was implied. But it really isn't.

Perhaps you could suggest another way to get such points across without making these analogies?

I would ask members who have recently been attacking others to stop, and remember that this goes both ways. Just because vegans are in the minority and not popular does not make it okay to be mean to us.

If anyone "feels bad" own your responsibility in feeling that way.

Why do you interpret it as being mean?  Why are you choosing to feel bad over what was said?  Do you think their intent was to be mean to you?

I don't feel badly, as you will see if you reread my post. I don't think anyone's intent was "to be mean to me." First of all, I don't really care about that. Secondly, I was speaking in general for the sake of the thread and its efficaciousness.

There were some "mean" posts of late (in my opinion) which seemed to be very attacking to the vegan standpoint. I'm not trying to place blame, just pointing out that we might get further if we all take responsibility for our own reactions and feelings.

I do not think I am a hypocrite. Though I know none of us sees ourselves as clearly as we might.