Sheri, you are wayyy off base here. You really need to spend a LOT more time lurking here at this message board before you go any further.
You have stumbled into what all of the 44,000 registered members here would agree is The Nonpareil of Internet Message Boards, one of the few places to get civilized, fascinating, well-moderated discussions of practically every subject under the sun.
And–guess what? “Discussion” means “disagreement”. This is not an easy place to hang out, granted. Compared to other, quieter, cozier message boards, it’s a big noisy bar brawl. Sure, every time you post an opinion here, you’re gonna take the risk of being “shot down”, but hey, that’s the way it works here. This is not a touchy-feely “make you feel good about yourself” message board. This is a MB populated by many of the sharpest people on the planet, and like many sharp people, they have sharp tongues. But the overall tone of the place is a devotion to the Fight Against Ignorance, and if you’re gonna spend any time here, you’re gonna have to get used to the fact that there are sharpshooters in the bushes waiting to snap off a shot at any “ignorance” they think they see.
And, actually, no, this doesn’t mean that we have closed minds. If you spent any time anywhere else on the boards besides right here on your own thread, you’d realize that. We’re open to being convinced, but one of the basic war cries of this place is the challenge, “Cite?” Which means that according to the unwritten rules, the person making a claim is required to go find a “cite” to prove his claim. Which means that the person making the claim is NOT allowed to say to the other people challenging the claim, “Hey, go look it up yourself on Google”. That’s not how it works here.
Now, if you want, of course you can hug your feelings of persecution to yourself and console yourself with the thought that we are all just Big Meanies Who Don’t Understand, but I think that would be a shame if you went off like that, because you sound like an intelligent person, just the sort of poster who would actually fit right in here (and no, that’s really not meant to sound patronizing or anything).
And, trust me, nobody here really cares, deep down, whether you’re a Vegan, or a Vegetarian, or a Mormon, or a reptilian alien. Alll we truly care about is the Fight Against Ignorance. Facts. We love facts.
So I challenge you to go read some threads, especially in Great Debates. Then come back and talk to us.
Or better yet, drop this. Nothing’s being accomplished here. I suggest you start another “vegan” thread in Great Debates.