I've been a vegetarian since 2001. I am very much a vegan, but not completely which is my next endeavor. Lately, I find myself increasingly angry and intolerant of people who eat meat. I've actually "gone off" on two people in the last week. I am told, by my wonderfully caring and mostly vegetarian boyfriend, that many/most people just don't share my "belief system" about being a vegetarian. But, my struggle is that this is not a belief. It is the right moral course.
So, how do I deal with this? For years, I have sat in silence while my closest friends and family buy, serve, and devour meat right in front of me. My philosophy was "to each their own". But, I am finding, of late, that this coping mechanism is no longer working for me. I have done more reading over the years ("Diet for a New America", "The Okinawas Diet", "Fast Food Nation") and have talked amongst my friends and family of the health benefits of being a vegetarian. I have talked to them about the horrors of factory farming and slaughter, but they seem to be above enlightenment. I have been instrumental in helping my very best friend to convert to a vegetarian, and she has converted her husband into a semi-vegetarian, and she is raising her child to be a vegetarian until he is old enough to decide for himself. But that has been the extent of my ability to elevate people.
I'm struggling with some questions, one of which is how can so many people that I love, admire, adore, and respect as caring, thoughtful, conscientious, and intelligent people continue eating meat? And is it I think it boils down to this:
1. These people really do not care if an animal needlessly suffers.
2. These people do not want animals to needlessly suffer and believe that the farming and slaughtering practices in this country are humane.
3. These people enjoy meat and want to remain in denial about the suffering so that they can go on eating tasty bacon, guilt-free.
And I guess I need to start asking people. Because, if they subscribe to the first ideology, well, I guess I have no business associating with them since our values are so out of sync. If they subscribe to the second ideology (as I did prior to 2001 when I happened to trip upon some undercover slaughterhouse videos on the internet), would it be appropriate for me to give them literature and ask them to watch some of the graphic videos? And if they say no? Then, they must ascribe to the third ideology, which I believe to be most prevelant, and that is that people have some idea of the suffering, but they want to ignore it so that they can keep on eating meat.
Another question that I'm struggling with: is it right and proper to remain silent on this issue? If I remain silent am I complicit in some way? Will I have any friends or family left if I start pushing this issue? Do I really want friends and family around who DON'T give a shit that pigs are boiled alive, steers strung up by one leg while they're still alive, chickens living in such confined quarters that they self-mutilate and start killing each other, sick and crippled dairy cattle being stabbed with forklifts in an attempt to get them to walk...I could go on.
Another question: how can I best go about winning the hearts and minds of my meat-eating loved ones?
This issue is so OBVIOUS. By becoming a vegetarian, you lose NOTHING. Well, except your higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, colon, ovarian, and testicular cancer, among other things. You actually win by adding years and quality to your life. And the animals win by not having to suffer the abuse of the callous ways of factory farming and slaughter in this country. These animals are sentient beings like you and I. Pigs are smarter than dogs, so why do we eat them?
I welcome any helpful feedback. I'm looking to form a support group to help me channel my anger into some constructive actions that can help me to fulfill my purpose of saving as many animals as possible from human abuse while I am on this earth.
