Evolution is not a forward thinking, goal oriented mechanism. It simply weeds out the characteristics that are unsuccessful and keeps the characteristics that are successful. It doesn’t have a plan and humans are not at the pinnacle of evolution.

My point is that choosing to eat meat is not a personal choice and vegans do not have to pretend that it is. We simply need to remind meat eaters that choosing to eat meat effects more than just themselves. It also effects animals and the environment.

Mel, you completely lost me with your argument. I didn’t say vegans have any sort of moral authority nor did I say they are superior. I simply said that eating meat is not a personal choice because it hurts others. I’m sorry if you got your feelings hurt by this simple concept, but I imagine that animals who have their throats “humanely” sliced open just because someone wants to dine on their flesh hurt a lot more.

Obviously you haven’t spent very much time thinking or reading about veganism or animal rights. If you had your silly question about if it okay for other animals to eat animals would have been answered long ago. Some animals eat other animals because they have to in order to survive. They are carnivores. Human animals, on the other hand, can choose not to eat other animals. In fact, we are much healthier when we stick to a plant based diet similar to the diets of other primates. But when people choose to eat meat, it isn’t so they can survive. It is it of habit, or ignorance or greed. But, in any case, it is not a personal choice and the animals who are hurt by people who choose to eat meat should be considered.

Few celbs are veg for moral reasons, and few clebs stick to it and advocate it cause where is the money in that.

She proly wears fur

Allen, I understand what you’re saying. The way animals are treated in our society is unfair and cruel. That’s not really an opinion — it’s a fact — and I think most educated people would agree with you. So the issue becomes how we must handle the situation in a way that is most globally effective.

Because we live in the kind of society we live in, it’s silly to debate if eating meat is a personal choice or not. Of course it is. You’re simply treading water by spending an abundance of time arguing it. You will never find a politician or government official who would attempt to take away a human’s right to eat meat. Even when Dennis Kucinich, a vegan presidential candidate, was asked how his veganism would affect the White House he said: “Vegan food would be on the menu, but there’d be a choice for people who weren’t vegans. There would be room at my table for everyone. It would be a friendly table. “

The problem is that most people simply aren’t educated on the issue…or educated in a correct manner. When people understand the industry fully they’re apt to make the decision that’s not only best for themselves, but also for the planet and the animals.

Loretta Swit said to me once, ” The big part of our job is education — getting that information out. The brightest thing I ever heard was: you only know what you know. Ok so now I have a lot of information so I get out there and say, ‘Listen up! These are the facts! Act on it!’ I count on the intelligence and compassion of people and they come through each time.”

I agree with Loretta and believe our job is to educate in a diplomatic and tactful way for the sake of ourselves and the animals. Can we as a movement create a dialogue that’s productive, educational and well-rounded without turning people off? Absolutely! Why I sometimes give celebrities a hard time (especially vegetarian celebrities) is because our society has elected them as leaders. I don’t love that Victoria Beckham can establish trends simply by doing something (and she probably doesn’t either), but she can and it’s a reality we must recognize. And so I hold them at a higher level of scrutiny because they have the power to make REAL change.

I firmly believe that goodness and compassion will triumph and we will one day see a society that embraces animal reform and vegetarianism. It just might take a while. There are more vegetarians and vegans today than anytime before in history. The world is learning, the world is growing and we have a million reasons to stay positive…and we must!

I have been vegetarian/veganish for many years but I disagree with Allen. Humans are animals as well and we are each at our own level of evolution. There are some very kind, wonderful people who eat meat and there are some real nasty vegans/vegetarians — just because a person doesn’t eat meat does NOT make that person a moral authority whatsoever (but it makes a person feel that way — superior that is.)

I am pro-choice in every sense of the word. Do I advocate vegetarianism? Of course, but telling another human animal what s/he should do is just not my business, nor anyone else’s. That attitude truly does more to harm the animal rights cause.

Factory farming is wrong – no ifs ands or buts about it. But there are people who are concerned with raising animals for food in a humane way.

Moreover, Allen’s examples are highly insensitive and offensive. Remember: wild animals eat each other — are you going to stop them from killing?

We all die, let’s only hope it’s humane.

signed,
pro-vegetarian, anti-bullying

Perhaps not.

She’s not vegetarian anyway she eats fish.

Perhaps she means veggie sausages?

Perhaps not.

It always sounds like a bunch of “crap” when I here people saying that you shouldn’t go around promoting veganism, or that you should keep your “opinions” about veganism to yourself, because it is a “personal” choice. That’s like saying people shouldn’t speak up when someone is beating their kid because that’s their “choice” and if they want to beat their kid then they should be allowed to do so.

Sounds like a bunch of crap now doesn’t it?