forgive me if this has been done already, i tried searching and didn’t find anything too recent…
i am a vegetarian. i dont make a big deal of it, nor do most people i know. it’s a lifestyle choice and a personal philosophical preference. and yet there have been quite a few people hell-bent on getting me to cave in and eat some meat. i have been offered money, and have had people just completely fascinated with the idea of what it would take for me to return to being an omnivore.
what’s the deal? why the fascination? what would you gain by converting me? vegetarians out there, got any stories? meat eaters, any opinions?
This might be the same principle at work: I am fairly quiet and people take a great deal of enjoyment in trying to get me to do what they consider wild and extroverted things.
It seems like people enjoy the challenge. Maybe they want to test your will-power or ability to stand up to them. Sometimes they like to think they are “corrupting you” in a fun way, by getting you to do something against your beliefs.
I’ve seen the sort of thing that you mention, but I’ve seen it happen in both directions;
Vegetarian : How can I cook mushrooms so as to make them more substantial Omnivore : Haha! just cook them with a few pounds of steak, that is if you have the strength to lift a frying pan!
vs
Omnivore : Mmmm, this is gooooood Vegetarian : Eeeew! how can you stand to eat the flesh of a dead animal? - that’s disgusting!
I think that the only real reason there is imbalance (i.e. more persuasion from the omnivore side) is that there are more omnivores than vegetarians in ‘western’ society.
People have an alarming tendency to think that all the other people in the world would be happier/better/more moral etc if they were ‘just like me’.
I must say that I love eating meat and think of it as a celebration of the cycle of life when eating it (well not all the time but when I think of these issues).
I wouldn’t try to entice you to eat meat but that wouldn’t stop me from eating a big rare piece of cow flesh right in front of you and your bean curd. I do however thing there is something unnatural about the veg. life stile (food wise - not meanign to imply anything more ;))
It’s my personal opinion that one of the issues that vegetarians put forth is a bit unjustified. Some (note: not all) are vegetarians because they can’t stand the idea of eating something that was once live. And yet, plants are as much living things as we.
Nonetheless, despite not agreeing with them, I see no reason to try and convert vegetarians. Sure, I disagree with them and find some of their reasoning to be unfounded, but if they hold enough to those beliefs to not eat any meat, then my efforts surely won’t change their minds.
I hope I have not offended anybody or said something that wasn’t accurate. After all, I’m just a kid.
Hell, I say if it moves, kill it and eat it with a nice side of cole slaw. But if you’re a vegetarian, I have no problem with that choice. I used to work with an asian-indian girl who liked hamburgers. Sacred cow, my ass. LOL
I don’t have anything against vegetarians; heck, if nothing else I admire the amount of willpower it must take to resists a huge juicy rack of ribs dripping in barbecue sauce…mmm, ribs…
But seriously; if we (humans) aren’t supposed to eat meat, then why do we do it so WELL? You know? Why does it taste so good (to most people)? Why do we have the enzymes to digest it? Why do we need the protein so much? I know a lot of people argue that we’re “civilized” enough that we shouldn’t have to eat meat, and that should be something that sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, yadda yadda yadda, but that just seems like a cop-out answer to me.
Of course we’re supposed to eat meat. Look at any primitive culture that still exists today. Meat of one form or another is a BIG part of their diet. Some of the earliest artifacts we have from our prehistoric ancestors are razor-sharp hand axes and obsidian knives. These weren’t used to slice carrots, you know. And the piles of butchered animal bones found in some digs in early human habitations weren’t put there by wolves.
Most carvivores have their own variations on why people should eat meat, as do vegetarians and vegans to why you shouldn’t.
My diet consists mostly of vegetarian foods but I do eat meat when the opportunity arrises and its a good cut of meat. None of that crappy meat.
I rarely eat chicking and even more rarely eat seafood/fish.
So in my opinion, don’t think of it as they are trying to convert, they are trying to understand why you don’t enjoy a slab of cow/buffalo/elk on a plate.
If you are that concerned, ask them not to question you or try to convert you that it is your choice and none of their damn business really.
I personally never try to entice others to eat meat if they didn’t want to, and so far I have been extended the same courtesy.
Though if you come over to my house to eat and you don’t eat meat, then I’d need a suitable alternative/supplement a day or so in advance, or else grin and bear it.
I disagree. There is definitely factual evidence for our desire to eat meat. See here for some info. but read it all. The first part is an argument against humans eating meat, but the second part describes very positive evidence for us being omnivores.
Biologically speaking, we are suited to be able to eat both meat and plant matter, we’re made to be omnivores. (see http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_087.html). However, to claim we’re “supposed to” eat meat isn’t a good justification for doing so, IMHO.
Just because we are able to something, or always have done something a certain way, doesn’t mean we should. I have the biological equipment necessary to punch someone in the face, this doesn’t mean I should do that.
It also doesn’t mean I shouldn’t; maybe I need to punch a would-be rapist to defend myself. But this is for a reason other than I was “made” to punch that person, or traditionally, people have punched each other before. Similarly, people can come up with other reasons for eating meat, just this “supposed to” thing doesn’t seem to be a good one.
FWIW, I am a vegetarian. And to go back to the OP:
aaaaaarrgg, I think most people who are trying to “convert” vegetarians are trying to justify their own meat-eating. If they convert you, you’re just like them, and they no longer have to worry about what they see as an attack on their belief system. I’ve encountered many people who try to “tempt” me with meat, or pretend to ask about my vegetarianism but end up turning it into an argument: “Yeah, but don’t you think that…” blah, blah, blah
While I don’t mind honest curious inquiries, I don’t want to get into a moral debate everytime I sit down to a meal. The appropriate place for such discussion is not the dinner table, folks, even if it is in regard to food. This should be a rule for vegetarian and meat-eater “converters” alike. It is rude both to say “Eww, how can you eat dead flesh?” and “don’t you want some of this juicy steak? I’ll pay you.”
BTW, I respect the beliefs of meat-eaters. They don’t HAVE to justify their beliefs to me. But if I respond to taunts in this way, people deny that that is what they are doing.
My advice is to just calmy and honestly respond to questions, and treat the other person with respect, hoping they’ll do the same in return. “I can see we’re you’re coming from, but I feel… etc.”
And one last note to RefreshingBeverage:
Sure, plants are just as alive as we are. The vegetarians who give the reason you stated likely think that plants are not sentient, but other animals are. Seems a reasonable assumption to me.
The world’s got too many people anyway.