Are vegetarians better people than omnivores?

[gnoitall]

@RivkahChaya

I’m a vegetarian. I like animals better than people. I don’t think that makes me a good person.

ETA: FWIW, I became a vegetarian because I just don’t like the taste of meat.

So, you’re not a humanitarian.

If I ever become vegan, it won’t be because I like animals. It’ll be because I hate, HATE, plants. If that happens.

[Not_Carlson]

@protoboard

**Are vegetarians better people than omnivores? **

I read a scientific study that found that vegetarians and vegans have higher empathy than meat eaters. Interestingly, vegans scored lower in empathy than vegetarians.

Do you think this would hold up in further studies? Does the ethical choice of not eating meat necessarily mean that somebody is more compassionate than someone who does eat meat?

In as much as they are practicing principles they believe in and are exercising discipline and restraint, I’d say it makes them “better people”, but not necessarily objectively better than someone who chooses to live as an omnivore, just better versions of themselves.
As to whether vegetarians are more empathetic, I don’t know how you’d measure that without all sorts of bias entering into the research, but I suppose that those who choose that lifestyle for ethical reasons would be conscientious types, which would likely translate to an empathetic nature in many cases.

@XT

Personally, I think a lot of them are overly self absorbed and THINK they are superior, and are totally hung up on how good they are and how bad those vicious omnivores are.

I’m sure some are, but I’m sure also that there are many meat-eaters who like to spread this negative image of vegetarians.
I tried a vegetarian lifestyle for about three years, but gave it up because it became tedious and I’m weak.
While practicing vegetarianism, I never preached it to anyone else, and made it a policy to eat meat if it was offered to me while I was a guest in someone’s home.
I had an acquaintance who would, quite annoyingly, pester me to eat meat because he thought my vegetarian lifestyle was wrong.

@RivkahChaya

I’m a vegetarian. I like animals better than people.

I’m an omnivore. I like animals better than people, but I’ve never actually tried people.

[Maurie]

@clairobscur

I’ll go against the majority by saying that I suspect it’s true to some extent. It makes sense to me that vegetarians, renouncing to meat out of ethical concerns (be it for the well being of animals or for the well-being of humanity) would tend to have more empathy and concern for others than the average person, which would make them better people.

FTR, I’m a meat eater almost out of principle (we’re omnivores, eating meat is our natural way of life, I’ll stick to it).

I’m also a meat-eater and I agree with you that there is a potential ring of truth to this.

I know there are lots of pretentious holier-than-thou vegetarians out there, just as there are lots of swaggering bravado-filled meat-eaters, and lots of things in between. But for the most part, I think there is a likelihood that many vegetarians for ethical reasons are so because they are mindful and concerned about how their behaviour affects others, which surely spills over into other aspects of how they behave in general.