Hey, I’m vegetarian because I’m happy, healthy, and satisfied with it. I’m vegetarian because I enjoy it. So BITE ME.
gladly, but wouldn’t a vegetarian be opposed to me doing that?
jarbaby
Oh, boo hoo. You are killing living creatures by eating plants, you know. Once you get down to it, there’s not a whole lot of difference between plants and animals in their most basic forms. Breathing also kills little critters in the air. And your immune system is constantly killing infections. So don’t pretend that your karma is being improved or that you’re better than people who eat meat. There are much better reasons for being a vegetarian, and none of them have the same pretentiousness as your holier-than-thou attitude.
You mean the way people exert control over themselves, and don’t eat dirt from the back yard? Or don’t eat a pound of lard?
We all “exert control” over what we eat. We all choose to not eat certain things. Some of these choices are encouraged by society (don’t eat dirt, don’t eat earthworms) some are encouraged by our own personal tastes, some are by our sense of morality, some are encouraged by our wish to control our cholesterol, or our weight, or our concern for health. Any one of these desires to control our eating can mutate into an eating disorder, if taken too far. But for most of it, it is not taken too far. It’s just a personal choice. We all have those.
In my case, I had become increasingly picky about eating meat. It was grossing me out more and more, and it was actually a relief to be “off the hook” and not be expected to eat it. Society pressures us to eat certain things, particularly meat - ask any vegetarian. We are constantly pestered, questioned, pitied, insulted, and on and on, because we have made this choice. A lot of people are uncomfortable with anything or anyone who is “different”, and they react by either asking annoying questions, or making fun of the “different” person. Sigh. I’ve experienced it a jillion times.
So, I have to wonder. Was the OP just wanting to ask an unusual question, just for the sake of its unusualness, or was the OP trying (in an underhanded way) trying to ask “Why are these vegetarians so WEIRD? Why are they different from the rest of us?” I am not sure which it is.
Sure, there are extremists in everything. There are extremist vegetarians, in-your-face vegetarians who will preach and nag to everyone in sight. I don’t like them any more than anyone else does. But I guarantee you, for every naggy vegetarian who may annoy a non-vegetarian, there are probably 10 meat-eaters who nag and annoy the vegetarian, who is merely wanting to mind his own business. Ask many of the veggies on this board. They will relate tales of how they were trying to eat dinner, and some meat-eating dweeb starts in on them. Asks them rude questions, NEVER lets it go, and starts to spout off about how “unnatural” it is, how “you have to eat meat!” and how “plants have feelings too”. And there is a lot more tiresome crap that vegetarians have become so used to enduring. All the while we just want to EAT OUR DINNER IN PEACE. Is this too much to ask?
So, I guess I have my own question: Is it some kind of disorder that a person CANNOT let another person (who is merely eating their meal, quietly) eat what they want to eat in peace?
And, why is it that so many meat-eaters have started threads about vegetarians (often about how “hypocritical” they are, or “why can you eat this?” “Should you really be able to use this product?” “Why do vegetarians do this?” and so on.) And yet I see a real lack of threads started by vegetarians with the intent of analyzing the mentality of meat-eaters. Gee, why is this? Why do you meat-eaters care so much what WE do or do not eat? Why all the threads? I know this is somewhat of a hijack, but I’m curious. So, you think it’s a disorder, or what? 
Heh–I like it! I think we should all base our diets on the particular lifeforms we hate. I myself don’t eat pork ('cause I like pigs and think they’re as intelligent as, say, dogs) but will eat the living bejesus out of sheep and chickens, 'cause they’re quite probably the most moronic animals on the planet. Now if I can just work up enough raw rage against cantalopes and carrots, I’ll finally get a balanced diet… 
BigDaddyD:
You mean other than photosynthesis, cellulose, vacuoles, and–in the case of the most commonly eaten animals–a central nervous system and a fair degree of sentience? As long as we’re comparing living creatures, how about the fact that there is less of a difference between other animals and humans than there is between animals and plants?
These infections are bacteria and viruses, not little animals who can feel pain. There is a difference between, say, cutting a cow’s throat and picking a carrot or inhaling a mite.
The “if you can’t be perfect, don’t try” argument is completely illogical. It makes about as much sense as criticizing one who gives money to help the poor for not giving away all his money.
Damn near anything taken to extremes can become a disorder. A shower a day is considered a good and healthy habit, but if I took 15 a day, you could say I might be a wee bit obsessed with hygiene.
I see people every day who breakfast on doughnuts & coffee, have a couple cokes, hamburger & french fries at lunch, and finish the day with a sausage pizza and a few Buds. Yet they consider it okay to lecture me on the “unhealthiness” of my very well-balanced vegetarian diet. 'Cause they’re normal, see, while I’m that weirdo. Personally I look at their diets (3500 calories per day, 2000 of them saturated fats, and that’s the good news) and ignore them whenever possible. I’ve been living counter to the expectations of the majority for a long time and have no interest in preaching to or converting anyone. As long as they don’t get in my face about being a childless agnostic vegetarian (in Iowa, fer chrissakes!), I have no, excuse the term, beef with them.
I don’t eat vegetables or fruit. It’s not an obsession, and it’s not harmful to my health, therefore it’s not an eating disorder (in fact it’s a phobia).
But it can be awkward socially, and it does make grocery shopping easy. I am cheap and easy to feed - yet at the same time, it’s hard to find a household that has food I will eat, people tend to go for the exotic these days. But that sure wouldn’t class it as an eating disorder.
Mmm, I’m going to have to go back to Fogo when I get some money…Fogo de Chao is a carnivore’s heaven.
BigDaddy’
There was nothing pretentious or holier-than-thou about my answer. I was trying to qualify that my reasons for not eating meat have nothing to do with a disorder. I won’t tell you what your diet should be, so where’s the pretention? Neither one of us has to justify our choices to anyone but self.
Chronos, I hate Great Debates. It takes forever to read them. Is this really going to be that long?
Ha! Y’know, this is why I gave up on the Jain/PETA formulation of morality. I was seriously leaning toward vegetarianism, then it hit me: If all animals are my brothers, and thus off-limits as food, then what about animals that eat other animals?
.
.
.
BOING!
So I went back to eating meat–mm-mm, vitamin B12!
Heavens GuanoLad - I’d hate to be your colon!
Remember folks - you need five potions of fresh fruit and veg a day. For an ideal diet, one should not eat red meat more than a couple of times a week; ditto fish and poultry. For an ideal diet, most of our meals should be vegetarian, when you get right down to it.
And this is from a food-lovin’ omnivore.
pan
You know - anybody who wants to be a vegetarian because of percieved health benefits, whether valid or not . . . I’ve no beef (he he) with them.
But if its for imagining that you are not a killer? Wrong. Plants didn’t just stop evolving millions of years ago - many plants are amazing in the sophistication of their ‘behaviors’/adaptations. We are finding more and more that plants communicate (through gas emission and detection primarily) with each other and even with animals and insects in sybiotic relationships. Some of the most potent toxins on the planet have been developed by plants, as are some of the most potent cures. There are bizarre experiments where plants seem to respond to the pain/death of other living things around them. There are plants that are meat eaters themselves!
Plants are very alien to us, and the swimming/walking/flying things we eat are less alien seeming. So many people arrogantly proclaim “its ok to kill THIS thing but not to kill THAT thing”. Who has the right to judge that its any more or less morally ‘repugnant’ to kill animals than plants?
Life is built on death, get over it! If you want to keep living, you must kill to live. You can kill mercifully, (don’t torture that turnip!) . . . but you must kill. If you don’t want to accept that life is built on death - you should look into becoming a “Breatharian”, and best of luck in that case!
I’m sure the poor girl meant “Apes that are not starving to death”
— G. Raven
:rolleyes:
Sorry, Gravity Dancer. I know you took time to write that post, but you have to understand - IT’S BEEN DONE. TO DEATH. I even made a mention of how tired I am of it in my previous post on this thread.
For further clarification, please refer to my gentle rant. I bring up several VERY tired things I encounter constantly as a vegetarian. The tired, worn-out “plants have feelings too” (which is just a variation on “plants are living too”) is one of the top things on my list. I have HEARD IT, OK? We all have.
It’s old. It’s tired. The amazing revalation that PLANTS ARE ALIVE (no! really?) isn’t going to make all us vegetarians want to eat animals all of a sudden.
Just thought I’d let you know. 
Simply because an argument is old to you doesn’t invalidate it. Yours are old to me as well, and this is a place to air thoughts on subjects.
Are insects animals? Pretty blurry ground at the least, ever seen the figures on #'s of living and dead insects (and parts) you eat inadvertantly on vegetables?
How about plants that have been nourished by the corpse’s of animals?
Seems to me that the only crime is when humans get burned or especially sealed in a lead line vault. I eat of the world provided naturally around me (and eat well, wifes family are organic farmers - even use horses to work land). When I die, I want a shallow grave in a pine box - then the coyotes, insects and plants get to recycle me . . . pretty instant karma.
What part of my argument is “old”? So - you’ve heard vegetarians tell you countless time to LEAVE THEM ALONE, eh? So you’ve heard vegetarians ask you countless times “WHY DO YOU CARE?”, huh? Well, judging by your last post - coulda fooled me.
Uh, I am sorry, we have a grave misunderstanding here. Where, oh where did I imply that I needed (or wanted) to explain or justify my vegetarianism with you? Where, or where did I imply that I even cared to hear your insights about animals, plants, and karma? This thread is not titled “Ask the vegetarian to justify their diet choice”, in case you hadn’t noticed.
As for the “plants have feelings too!!” argument–the big flaw is that animals eat plants. Lots and lots and lots of plants, too. So that by eating an animal, you are eating both the animal and the plants that the animal ate. So either way, you are eating and killing plants. Some people just prefer to kill as few plants as possible.
And as for the OP why does everyone assume that all vegetarians are health-obsessed nuts? I don’t eat meat, and I am probably one of the few people in my age group who eats three servings of fruits and five of vegetables a day, but boy! do I love my junk food! I had onion rings and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today, and like all college kids, I eat raman constantly. And I’m eating a Hostess cupcake right now.
GuanoLad wrote:
Hey, me too! Wow, I thought I was the only Vegephobe on the planet.
I think we Vegephobes are discriminated against FAR more than them thar Vegetarians are. You wouldn’t believe the funny looks I get when I go out to a restaurant and order food with “no vegetables.” It’s like I just admitted to being a vampire or something.
Anybody want to help start a radical action-based plants rights group? People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables? We could throw simulated plant sap (actually animal blood) on people who are wearing or using plant products! Midnight raids to liberate vegetables from farmers. Fun!
Yosimite - you were being equally condiscending. Lets just agree disagree. Lifes too short.