- because I am squeamish and lily-livered
- because I didn’t grow up on a farm; if I had I wouldn’t be afflicted y 1) and would be more realistic about life
- because I get all warm and fuzzy about cute little animals and ascribe them anthropomorphic qualities when in reality they are non-sentient, soulless automatons
- because I don’t understand the circle of life
- because if we didn't breed them to eat them, all the cows would become extinct
- because cows have to produce milk and otherwise it would get wasted; don't I know it's good for my bones?
- because I have canine teeth so I should use them
- because my paleo-ancestors did, and what was good 10,000 years ago is totally what I should be doing now
- because the Bible gave man dominion over the earth (an incidentally, didn't it give man dominion over woman too? I'd better become very submissive to Buzz immediately)
- because I am being silly and I’ll get bored of it soon. It's just a phase she's going through
- because I am a fussy eater
- (some incomprehensible reason)
- because I am part of the food chain and I am on top; I have no choice but to exert my dominance
- because I haven’t eaten meat in so long that I can’t remember how delicious it is, and having a sausage waved under my nose will make me really miss it and salivate a lot
- because I don’t like eating at all, really
- because I can’t appreciate good food
- because I don’t like cooking myself and don’t really know how
- because they'd eat us if they had the chance ... it's a jungle out there with those ferocious sheep
- because I am ignoring my cultural imperatives
- because I want to insult people and be a difficult guest
- because I am a craaaazy wackjob
- because there’s a social contract with animals whereby I get to eat and they get to be eaten
- because what if like there was a nuclear explosion and I had to hunt to survive?
- because chickens pop out eggs anyway and it doesn’t hurt them; no animals have been harmed in the making of this omelette
- because I just haven’t realised that it’s ok to eat organic, sustainable meat
- because I am a raving extremist who wants to firebomb your house every time you have chops for dinner
- because i love having to defend my eatering choices in public at every possible opportunity
- because I love being made fun of and deliberately baited and offended, and having to bite my tongue so I don't become 'that vegan'
- because I fail to recognise that people who grew up on a farm/hunt/fish/just like to eat meat actually know all about animals and meat-eating and the environment and the food chain and are in fact the real conservationists, and have done a lot of research on it, and I should just bow to their superior experience and understanding
- because I value animal life far, far above human life and you can really only care about one thing at a time
- because I am against human rights
- because I am really interested in discussing ridiculous, impossible and irrelevant hypotheticals with you, cos one day you might be stuck on a desert island with only a cow for company and if you can eat her for 'survival' in that ridiculous, impossible and irrelevant hypothetical, that totally ethically justifies the Big Mac you had yesterday and the chicken parma you've just ordered for dinner
- because I fail to recognise that if you can't eliminate every possibility that you will ever swallow a fly, have an insect hit your windshield, walk on asphalt which covered the homes of little bugs, or step on an ant, then you shouldn't bother trying to stop killing animals at all. Ditto using medicines
- because I don't realise that wool is natural and therefore the means of its production are irrelevant
- because I'm not interested in nice clothes or accessories
- because I don't want to eat any protein and I couldn't possible get any anywhere else
- because I don't care about my health
- because I haven't invested time in research and reading my position; this is a completely random and illogical position with no academic support
- because I am a hippie who doesn't wash
- because I care about animals, the environment and my health (Oh no wait! That one's true! Golly gosh!)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Not-the-reasons
Not-the-reasons I am vegan:
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7 comments:
because I like to assert my moral superiority and general godliness at every meal.
So it's something about how, in the face of a range of reactions ranging from the interested through the puzzled to the threatened to the downright rude one stands one's ground. I would say quietly, firmly, thoughtfully - without underestimating the power of just doing it. Well done.
Lisa, I am constantly surprised at how many people expect me to preach at meals, even people I've never met or spoken to - in fact so much that I really think the perception problem about veganism is all theirs and not related to me at all.
I once went to dinner with some people I'd never met. Buzz, ever the gentleman, and as it was his family members, mentioned that I was vegan - you know, by way of introduction as we were ordering. This also came after a long story about how strange it was that German fellow they knew was vegetarian (have you ever, my stars!), so the topic was naturally on the table.
One woman's immediate response: "Well, sorry, but *we'll* be eating meat".
Where did that come from? I'd not said a word, but she assumed that I would demand that the entire table follow my dietary preferences. Uh huh.
Anonymous Mum?
That would be a good list to carry around so you could recite them all before non-vegans had a chance to say them and think they were being original :p
Perhaps I should just hand out photocopies Mandee, with the most amusing ones highlighted!
Thought of another: because I fail to realise that by eating the animal I am honouring it. It is its purpose in life, the reason for its being. It's ok if we pretend it's all spiritual. To every thing, there is a season, turn, turn ...
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