Why do Vegetarians get so much hate?

[VitalSigns]

That being said ive seen some Huge vegetarians who live off pizza and fries.

That's why going veggie isn't good for your health persee. You could've lost that 35lbs and gained muscle mass with a diet that contained meat, I'm a living example (went from 96 to 83 kilograms). As you said, you can easily become a bluddering fatso on a veggie diet. It's all about balance and variation.
Also, what you say about animal cruelty (milk cows being forced to be pregnant, for example), is a bad case of generalisation. You're assuming that everyone who drinks milk and eats meat buys those products from animals raised in the the so called factory farms. Again, that's dead wrong. All your arguments become void when you talk with someone who buys organic animal products, or raises a couple of animals on his own and has it's own supply of eggs, milk and meat. The fact that someone eats animal products does not automatically correlate to that person supporting factory farming and thus pollution and animal cruelty.

agreed, organic and Kosher is great, that being said I dont have a problem with anyone buying any meats or diary, but it definitely is better to me when they buy Kosher.

I just Personally feel like it isn't my place to take anything from them. I can survive without, and I do so, happily.

 

[Cowabungaa]

agreed, organic and Kosher is great, that being said I dont have a problem with anyone buying any meats or diary, but it definitely is better to me when they buy Kosher.

I just Personally feel like it isn't my place to take anything from them. I can survive without, and I do so, happily.

I'm not so sure about kosher meat, I thought that was pretty...horrific. Anyway, why wouldn't we have that place? As a species, we're omnivoric hunter gatherers, like chimpansees. That's simply our place in the food chain, we just ended up there after millions of years of evolution. What's wrong about having a certain place in the food chain? Every creature has a place in it, we are no different.

 

[VitalSigns]

we have evolved much beyond our animal roots, if I can survive without having to have something die for me, then it makes me feel a bit better inside, I don't choose to have these feelings and beliefs, I can't ignore them, its gotten to the point, where I couldn't physically eat meat, I dont mind people eating it around me, but the thought of it in my mouth makes me sick.

 

[elitecrewer]

I tend to judge vegetarians based purely on their diet choice. Having read this, I'll (try to) stop. Thank you.. perhaps one day I will marry a vegetarian and live happily ever after.

That said, to reiterate what *everyone* has said, you're being let down by the minority. Even if it's completely unintentional, there are vegetarians, vegans and, indeed, organisations which come across as whiny, preacher and elitist; assuming that they have the moral high ground purely because they are vegetarian.

 

[Skeleon]

Why do Vegetarians get so much hate?

Because I'm envious that they'll live longer than me.

 

[the_tramp]

Whilst I do sympathise for you, there is one inherent issue which has already been brought up but it is such a strong point that it has to be reiterated. A lot of vegetarians/vegans I know are incredibly preachy about it, take a housemate who is a vegan for example, he is constantly berating me for eating meat, not choosing more environmentally friendly fish to eat (Mackerel > Tuna FTW!) and a lot of the time just walking into the kitchen, sighing and complaining that he can smell meat.

I apologise, I really do for the sake of everyone who give you a hard time for being a vegetarian but people often experience an annoying vegetarian/vegan and have a knee jerk reaction for the rest of their lives.

 

[PlasticPorter]

I don't think they so much get hated on as they get LAWLed at

 

[Xcelsior]

It really is sad, people choose to discriminate against people that are different to them. I'm no vegetarian, but to me these little things like people's personal beliefs don't matter to me, We are all human that's all I see.

 

[Rickyvantof]

I'd be a vegetarian if meat just didn't taste so damn good.
I agree that bio-industry sucks.

 

[traceur_]

It's just the self righteous, preachy pricks who give you guys a bad name, them and PETA. One of my friends is a vegetarian and she's more fun to be around than anyone I've ever met. I'm pure carnivore because I hate the taste of veggies.

 

[Rickyvantof]

Vegetarians get hate, because they give hate to everyone who eats meat.
Not all of them, of course, but most of them, still.

 

[monalith]

Also the argument that Humans aren't natural herbivores is under massive debate as were the only animals that have to cook our food to be able to eat it.

No we don't have to, ever heard of steak tartar? There is no doubt that we are not natural herbivores, we simply aren't build for it. Not only our teeth show that, but especially our digestive tracks. Just look at gorilla's, they are herbivores, and take a look at their gut. It's massive. There is no doubt that humans are omnivores. But what IS forgotten, is that animal protein (that doesn't just include mammal meat, but everything: birds, insects, eggs, fish, etc) is just a side dish. We eat too much of it most of the time. That's why a veggie diet isn't perse more healthy, and I see no reason why it would be more healthy than our natural diet. Thing is, the diet most people have now is not our natural diet, so it's kinda hard to compare.

we're omnivorse so we can eat meat and veggies but not as well as more specialised animals.

 

[Lordmarkus]

I have nothing against vegetarians or vegans as persons, why should I? But when loudmouth bastards like PETA and ALF burn down laboratories to save 5 mice it's pretty easy to get upset.

 

[olicon]

It's always very interesting to me that most people who are vegetarian do so because they do not support animal cruelty.

I have recently become sort of a vegetarian for 3 reasons:
1) It's cheap.
2) I love salad and veggie stew, and tofu, and all that good stuff. They're also super easy to cook.
3) It's good for the world.

Screw saving animals. I don't like to kill them, but I care more about the fact that per unit mass, (depending on the kind) meat takes up to 100 times the energy and water to produce than veggie.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

we have evolved much beyond our animal roots, if I can survive without having to have something die for me, then it makes me feel a bit better inside, I don't choose to have these feelings and beliefs, I can't ignore them, its gotten to the point, where I couldn't physically eat meat, I dont mind people eating it around me, but the thought of it in my mouth makes me sick.

But you can't survive without something dying for you. That's the whole point. If you eat plants, those were once living and died for you. Likewise, the animals that would have eaten those plants didn't get to eat them. Also, the land used to farm those plants could have been used as unspoiled land, which animals could have lived on (and eaten more plants). In addition, the plants harvested (if machine harvesters were used) probably killed a lot of small rodents. Not to mention the insects that die to pesticides. When you eat plants, you validate/perpetuate this whole system and allow this process of multiple deaths to continue.

When I eat an organically-farmed chicken, the only thing that died was the chicken... And any bugs the chicken ate, but at least that made the chicken happy.

It's fine to be vegetarian for health reasons and such, but don't use the "not killing things" argument. Life is about living off of other life. Proof? Food consumed closer to the state of "alive" is actually healthier (assuming it was killed in the wild, not in a factory). The "higher morality" of vegetarianism is an ill-defined and slippery slope. That's why I get angry when I meet preachy ones.

 

[IamQ]

I mainly hate them because almost every vegitarian that I've meet have tried to convince me by any means possible.

 

[VitalSigns]

we have evolved much beyond our animal roots, if I can survive without having to have something die for me, then it makes me feel a bit better inside, I don't choose to have these feelings and beliefs, I can't ignore them, its gotten to the point, where I couldn't physically eat meat, I dont mind people eating it around me, but the thought of it in my mouth makes me sick.

But you can't survive without something dying for you. That's the whole point. If you eat plants, those were once living and died for you. Likewise, the animals that would have eaten those plants didn't get to eat them. Also, the land used to farm those plants could have been used as unspoiled land, which animals could have lived on (and eaten more plants). In addition, the plants harvested (if machine harvesters were used) probably killed a lot of small rodents. Not to mention the insects that die to pesticides. When you eat plants, you validate/perpetuate this whole system and allow this process of multiple deaths to continue.

When I eat an organically-farmed chicken, the only thing that died was the chicken... And any bugs the chicken ate, but at least that made the chicken happy.

It's fine to be vegetarian for health reasons and such, but don't use the "not killing things" argument. Life is about living off of other life. Proof? Food consumed closer to the state of "alive" is actually healthier (assuming it was killed in the wild, not in a factory). The "higher morality" of vegetarianism is an ill-defined and slippery slope. That's why I get angry when I meet preachy ones.

There is a lot more to my vegetarianism than just not wanting the animal to die, its much better for the environment, its a healthy lifestyle, Plants are alive and do respond to light and water, but they don?t feel pain. The ability to feel pain requires a brain, a central nervous system, and pain receptors. All animals have these things. Plants do not

 

[GoldenRaz]

Vegetarians gets hate due to the fact that they (generalization warning) have a nack to try to force their diet/belief onto others.
I've heard many stories about vegetarians accusing people of being cold-blooded monsters because they eat meat, and that's just as rude as saying that all vegetarians are morons and that they force their diet/belief onto others. (Pun somewhat intended)

 

[Silva]

I've said it before on threads about interest groups attacking other similar groups, and I'll say it again if I absolutely... feel the desire. If you look at these rules, you will never feel the brunt of "hate" again:

To both sides of any argument like this, the fuel of conflict is generalisation.

Do not identify with an interest group as though it is a corporeal body (it is not one), and you will not be offended/hurt by insults (badly) aimed at said group.

Do not register/hear/listen/respond to insults from people who haven't the intelligence/energy/sobriety to justly comment, i.e. anyone who presumes all within said interest group are similar in any shape or form other than that commonly indicated by statistics. Said people are mere pustules upon society and, in the modern era's powerful thrust for acceptance within education, will not amount to anything but noise.

Follow the above rules, and you will never feel the need to waste your time raging out in another OP again. Or reading most of the posts in this thread, by the look of page one.

Disclaimer: Though no human should claim objectivity on a matter, even one as skewed by interest group identification as this, I can say I have been on both sides of the fence to some degree. I have been a vegetarian, though I am not a meat-eater, simply because after 15 years I decided to, despite continuing to have ethical issues with that food. I still do not consume as much as the average. This helps me to cut to the chase with this post instead of citing personal social issues as though they are some sort of universal instance with all vegetarians, or likewise expecting all meat-eaters to have the same attitude.

One final thought: one choice (of diet) does not necessarily lead to another set choice (of social action, temperament or opinion) .

But you can't survive without something dying for you.

Actually, you're wrong on that. Look up fruitarianism. Not that I'd suggest taking it up; it seems more than a bit much, and in any case does lead to deficiencies according to several studies.

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitarianism