veganism: I just don't get it. Vegans understandably want to be accepted for who and what they are, but frequently become very agitated and hostile when ever someone has an opinion that differs from there own. Because someone does not share your beliefs is no reason for hostility, yet that often proves to be the case. It just seems to me that vegans should be expected to be more tolerant of others, and perhaps they would be more likely to be accepted by mainstream society.|||You are right in saying that people shouldn't dislike other people just because they think differently. In the case of us showing hostility towards you, We don't like having somebody's opinion shoved down our throats. Every time you get a chance you think up new ways to condemn vegans as snobbish, uneducated idiots! You state your opinions as if they are facts based only on your "First hand experience" with veganism which lasted all of >less than< a year and your so-called research on the subject. You make up hypothetical questions in an attempt to ridicule us. Why would we be nice to you?!?!? You have given us no reason to. Also, You have made it a habit to post in almost all of your >newer< answers, and the majority of your recent questions, something about vegetarians eating fish. You are not doing this because you actually believe that someone who eats fish can be a vegetarian. I recall you saying, "BEEBS First, you are not a vegan. Although you have claimed to live a vegan lifestyle, you consume dairy products. You do not even meet the definition of a vegetarian in as much as you have confessed on previous posts that you do in fact consume animal flesh on occasion, if I remember correctly (and I do) you eat fish." -YOU So, sounds to me like you are just trying to mess with those vegetarians trying to educate people about vegetarianism >That vegetarians don't eat fish< Your answers are not sincere or helpful, and you do not deserve anyone's respect in here, being that most of what you do is an attempt to riddicule or stir us up! I have changed my mind about you, at first I was really considering the fact that maybe you WERE trying to help people by giving them an opposite point of view. Now I see that you are just another "troll" trying to start trouble. I can see that by what you have been pulling lately>fish-eating "vegetarians"<... Seems to me like you are the one with anger issues, I say that because you have said it to me countless times. But keep in mind I am not the one going into a vegetarian/vegan forum, messing with people and spreading misinformation! Additionally, I would like to add a little list that I have been making... "No. You need some dead animals to balance your diet"-Amy H "maybe it is[Is a vegan diet healthy?], but why would you stop eating meat?"-Dude... "You are why people eat meet. Cuz if we don't we will become stupid and ask things like this. YES! Two pionts for me. Ha ha ha. Source(s): Everyone who eats meet~! "- jake_sillys "I will gladly take my chances to have a steer knocked in the head for my bloody prime rib." -Amy H "have a steak." - reb1den "Good idea. Vegans are a bunch of queers anyhow."- NONAME "mmmmm bacon."- prince fan! "I don't eat anything that casts a shadow....I am rail thin and SOOOO hungry...."- CHUCKLEHEAD (I am assuming that he is being sarcastic) "I'm sick of vegetarians. Get a job and a life, a**hole!"-Dallas "the panther" (I edited this one, I don't want to get reported for someone elses comment) " idk...but vegetarions need to eat some meat some veggie people are too skinny and need some meat on them bones..guys like something to grab while *******!!!"- Beautiful disaster_21 "More meat for the rest of us."- Dragongurl "There are none because meat is the best!"- IDK "eat meat.... meat good... meat tasty... eat good tasty meat... " - IDK "wah wah wah .... cool, believe all that PETA crap - more chicken nuggets for me!" -GeorgiaGrits1 "Meat is just too good. MMMMMMMM" - Ray Finkle "Being a vegan is a religion. I think vegans need help!" -gulfstream_five_fifty "Peta is for fruits and nuts that have nothing else to do but make asses of them selves" -Are we using our brains today "Congrat's for turning into an idiot. Here is the only help you need. Go done to your local supermarket, go the the meat section and pick the nicest looking slab of steak there, take it home and season it, then grill it medium-rare with a little blood coming out onto the plate, grab a cold beer and enjoy the best type of food on the planet. And while you are enjoying that fine meal, try and kick yourself in the *** for thinking so stupid. People Eating Tasty Animals " -Train 379 "GET A BIG OLE MOUTHFUL OF THAT DOUBLE WHOPPER AND SPIT IT RIGHT ON 'EM " -libbyami "110% ALL VEGANS ARE GAY. ONLY EAT MEAT LIKE GOD INTENDED" -urinebreak "I'm betting most. I hope most. We don't need those dirty hippies adding to the gene pool!" - Gregneck "I think all vegans are homos, but not all homos are vegans. Does that make sense ? " -Jeff "yea, steak, chicken, and other real foods. dumba**." -Brad P (edited this one) "Yeah, man. I love meat especially raw cow and weasel. mmmm...mm I just love to watch the blood flow out as you drain the animal. Yeah! " -Alex "Eat meat thats what god put it there for. I believe in PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals)" - bigbasshb "Stop being a vegetarian. Don't do what other people in this section tell you. EAT THE MEAT!!" - Robert M "quitcherbitchin" -Bad butch I don't look for these answers, I just add them when I see them... I may have missed some more recent ones though... These are all unprovoked comments posted on questions that were in the V&V section... (I make sure not to add answers that have been provoked). This list doesn't include any rude questions, only answers... (Or else the list would be 3 times as long) So, with all of the hostility that has been shown towards us, WHY would anyone expect us to just be perfectly happy when we see these rude questions/answers?... excuse us if we come off a little sensitive after being tormented in OUR own forum day after day!!!! I really hope Y!A makes a rule against being an arrogant jerk, because maybe then we could get you kicked out of here! But I would like to add that I found your Top Ten reasons for being a vegan question very funny... I would have given an answer, but I couldn't think of anything funnier than what people had already posted (with the exception of BEEBS's answer, All of her reasons were the same and sounded just like you... maybe you two should get together...)|||I see where you're coming from. Some people seem to think veganism is a religion that they must preach to the world. To me, if you really want to, well, "convert" someone, you can't do it by getting all up in their face about it. Vegan to me is a lifestyle choice, and it's not who I am, it's how I eat, and what industries I choose to support or not support. I'm more than just a vegan, I hope other people can come to that as well.|||I can't say for others but for me.. it's the way the talk of something and the way and where they talk of things. Like pushing meat in a vegetarian vegan section.. I am hostile towards that but if they were pushing that in a different section then I wouldn't be so hostile towards it! I suspect many vegans and vegetarians think the way I do! We're not hostile cause you push meat eating.. It's cause you do it in the wrong section! Sure there's no strictly meat section but you can push your meat eating beliefs in the Food and Drink section then we Vegetarians and Vegans wouldn't have to put up with the silly comments of meat eaters! If I can get away with it.. If the someone I'm with starts eat a burger or some other meat item.. I'll say do you have to eat that in front of me? I try to avoid eating with meat eaters if I can help it! Meat eaters tend to be more hostile to vegans and vegetarians than we vegetarians and vegans are towards meat eaters! In fact I think we vegetarians/vegans are too lenient to meat eaters pushing their views in this section. I'm being less lenient I now flag a meat pusher pushing meat eating in this section.. All we vegetarian/vegans should do same I think!|||How would you feel if you believed something was horrifically wrong, but everyone else in the world didn't even think twice about doing it every single day? A human does not need animal products to live and be healthy. To me that says any animal that dies or is enslaved for the production of human food does so unnecessarily. I get a little upset by the sheer number of sentient beings that are being killed everyday for no better reason than "it tastes good?" I'm not a preachy vegan (outside of this site). I've never even really had this conversation with my family because they're not interested, but if someone asks me why I'm vegan or challenges my beliefs, I'm going to react strongly because it's something I feel very very strongly about.|||I think you have a great question. Communication might have a big part in hostility. If someone feels like questions that meat eaters are asking are disrespectful they will surely retaliate in hostility. or, some veggies and vegans that have been ridiculed often, might just be defensive. I think that in my case, I get a lot of meat eaters making sarcastic, smart *** remarks that cause me to be a bit uptight at times. Debates about a lifestyle choice can get very heated, because two people are trying to convince each other of about a passionate subject. If the conversation is conducted in a respectful manner, that helps the hostility subside. However I have noticed what your talking about. I think that sometimes you want to show people how their life could be healthier and make a difference to hundreds of innocent animals, that you can't help but push your views on others a little bit. I try to however not do that, and when I catch myself starting to, I just switch subjects.|||Vegans are sick of getting picked on my carnivores, being regarded as freaks, and being looked at with derision because they choose not to partake in the mindless soilent green system that is the industrialized food chain in this country. It is cruel, and poisons our water, our land, our food, and ultimately the people that eat it. It is difficult to be derided for eating responsibly, and caring where your food comes from. Yes, after a while, you get a tad defensive. Not to mention all the people that come into the V&V with some kind of agenda, or just to harrass. I'm not saying you're one of them, I'm just saying it is a frequent occurance.|||This is the vegetarian board...what opinion would you like to be expressed here???? Why are you here?? This board is for questions about the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle, not for your anti-vegan opinions.|||many people are rude about our choice on veganism. our lifestyles are really important to us. usually, when someone is vegan, they don't do it for the health benefits. they do it to try and change how animals are used for our benefit and when someone bashes that, we take it personally. this isn't how it is for every vegan, im just generalizing :)|||This is the Vegetarian and Vegan forum. What do you expect ? Trying to stir things up is really easy, although some meat-eaters think they are really clever by doing so here. , the sign of an intellect is someone who tries to make peace and understand. I went out with a girlie who said if i really wanted to go out with here i'd eat the meat on the fork she was waving at me...needless to say it lasted one date....ha, ha, her loss. Who was being hostile because our opinions differed then ? Me ? think not. I suspect there are more meat-eaters complaining about vegans than the other way around. The way meat-eaters complain about this you would think there were gazillions of vegans in the world. Either that, or they are all really popular and seem to eat in about 20 resturants every night.|||Hi there, interesting question! Why do people get touchy about the slave trade? Why do Africans become upset by a white man using the N word? Why do Jewish folk get upset by people telling anti-semetic jokes? Because cruelty has been involved. People were tortured, people were murdered. You may not care that the chicken on your plate came from a bird who was bred to be eaten, that they were pumped full of growth hormones, kept in a shed with artificial light, was covered in sores, then was slaughtered within a month of its young life by being stuffed into shackles (where its legs and wings may have been broke) and then were slaughtered. ... but we do. We don't mind people asking questions, but when people are being insensitive, it's hard to stay calm. The reason we are more passionate about our case than meat eaters is because life IS something that has to be taken seriously, that needs to be defended. Have you seen the amount of stupid non food and drink related questions that appear in this section? It seems less that vegans go round judging people, and more that people make an ill-formed judgement on vegan behaviour! We don't go round harrassing restaurant staff. We don't scream at people in the streets for wearing leather. We don't slap people in the face for buying meat. People who make this kind of snap judgement about a group of people are prejudiced, probably racist in other ways of life. If us being vocal in our objection to the murder of animals (want to have a pop at vegan/vegetarian Hindus and Buddhists as well?) is seen as hostile, I'd say that it's more about your conscience feeling threatened than anything. Sorry you feel this way, but I feel you're wrong and that you need to learn more about the non-violence message within vegan and vegetarian culture before passing judgement.|||I'm vegan, I still wear leather shoes and wool sweaters..... I am vegan for health reasons and the benefits for animals and the environment are a (great) plus. I am OK with seeing people eat meat next to me, my mantra is that as long as I don't have to EAT it, I'm ok with it. I'm pretty moderate and don't preach unless I feel I really need to defend myself. Not all vegans are preachy or hostile, but I can understand where they are coming from.|||Lack of Vitamin B12 is hard on the nervous system. It is very important to keep this vitamin up, and Vegans are the ones at risk, as it can't be stored in fat like Vitamin E, and is easiest to find in meat, milk eggs, and especially in liver or kidneys. For that, it isn't a mystery why Vitamin B complex is often called "Stress Supplement". Some people are just more sensitive to lack of B. Under strain some can even break out in cold sores, and one big fix is a big plate of liver and onions, for which a vegan cannot partake, but which is my own mother's cure, and one I would take if I was stressed out and breaking out. (and I'm already cut way back on meat.) Give them a little slack. If the people you speak of are American, even more so, they have already made an awesome adjustment to their diet for which they ought to get more credit for.|||vegans are so sensitive and easily agitated by opposing beliefs and op pinions due to there malnutrition as a result of improper eating habits; the don't seem to realize that THEY wouldn't be here if it weren't for their meat eating ancestors or for those meat eating scientists whom come up with genetically altered "organic' food.|||that is so true my friend. I know a vegan who would not close her mouth everytime I put a piece of steak in it. its like i understand that you want to eat like a bird. but Jahpson, has to eat to live and be happy.|||Because most humans naturally like to eat animal pruducts as well as plant material and vegans give up the first, it feels unnatural to them and therefore have to defend it. If a person is a true natural born vegan and not a covert to veganism then they would not be bothered about others eating habits.|||That is a great observation, two friends are vegans and they act the same way. I don't know. They always get on me for eating meat in front of them. I will be following this question!