So what's the dumbest question/comment you've gotten as a veg*n?

[Mirabilis]

Other than the ubiquitous, "Do you eat fish?" of course.

I think the one that took the cake for me was, "But if everyone stopped eating animals, we'd be overrun! What would we do with all those cows??" I'd heard about it before, but never actually encountered it. This person was dead serious. I couldn't decide whether to laugh in her face or throw something at her.

[Karlyne Wang]

My friends have said a number of things in the past:
"I won't tell anyone if you don't!" - as if I'm becoming vegetarian for show.. Geez. I'm doing it for myself!
"Free range chickens are not as tortured as other chickens killed for consumption!" - They are still being killed! I really don't get this one..
"Fish and seafood cannot feel pain!" - ...That is not the point, my friends...

[Veggie Girl]

I get the seafood question all the time. But it's been proven that shell fish and most other fish actually do feel pain. Not only that, they can remember it... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29915025/

But, I'm curious you say that's not the point... then what is the point? (for you).

I once met a professor who was pretty much vegan, except for the fact that he at scallops b/c he believed they were more like plants than sentient beings. I haven't seen solid proof of it. But even if it were true, I doubt I would eat them. For one thing, I would think the amount of suffering the earth goes through with the carbon footprint involved in seafood is reason enough not to eat it.

But EVEN if it was completely "green" to eat scallops - i don't know if I could. Why not? What's the reason? I have no clue. none. What's yours?

[pradtf]

there's a huge difference as far as sentience goes between scallops and lettuce. you obviously realize that, but unfortunately your professor doesn't. so that might be why he eats them ... or what is more likely is that he just likes the taste and has rationalized eating them, as many good professors tend to do. :D

in friendship,
prad

[Karlyne Wang]

The point for me is that they are all sentient beings(fish, seafood). We don't know ourselves if they can feel pain or not, that's why I won't eat them... :)

[pradtf]

yours is a perfectly good reason not to eat or harm them - because you are giving them the benefit of the doubt.

there is clear and mounting evidence that fish do feel pain:
article
and you can find more by googling.
while this evidence is unnecessary for those who 'get it', it may help sway some who still think it is ok to catch and kill fish.


if you are interested in fish, btw you can read jeffrey masson's latest book
THE FACE ON YOUR PLATE: The Truth About Food
(try not to buy from amazon though since they sell dog and cock fighting materials and are being pursued by hsus.org: link)

in fact, you can watch a rather entertaining (and mostly sensible) video of jeffrey masson right here

in friendship,
prad

[Veggie Girl]

oh. Well I guess I didn't quite understand your "thats not the point, friends" response to "fish don't feel pain."

I guess I thought you mean there was a point other than suffering... which I was very curious to hear! :-D

[Corndog]

My neighbor and I got into it. I usually manage to avoid arguments, but it had been a long day. He was talking about hunting and what a service hunters did for society. I responded that it was all about men who just had to go out and shoot something. We discussed how man is the only animal who will purposefully overbreed his environment. The deer calculated they have 200 acres and breed accordingly. Then man develops 100 acres of it, so we have manufactured the deer "overpopulation" ourselves. Researchers developed deer birth control long ago. It doesn't hurt the bucks. It's a great solution, but Fish and Wildlife put the Kibosh on it. I've been this guy's neighbor for 9 years. He asked why it was wrong to shoot them, especially since he used them for food. I told him he didn't live in a day and age that he needed to hunt for subsistence, and that deer had a right to live. He called me hypocritical and asked if I thought about that when I ate my steak for dinner at night. I told him I didn't eat meat and hadn't for more than 25 years. He said "What about your leather shoes? He looked at my man-made shoes. What about that dog leash? It's leather! Yes, it was. I've had it for more than 30 years, taken excellent care of it, and told him that I continue to use some things (not fur) that I had before I became vegetarian rather than throw them out if they weren't too ostentatious. Perhaps I shouldn't. I don't know.

Then, he launched into the stupid thing about how did I know carrots didn't feel pain. I told him I didn't eat anything that had a face. Potatoes have eyes. HAHAHA. I told him it wasn't funny the first thousand times I heard it and still wasn't. Finally, he said there was no harm, no foul. We both made some good points and gave each other something to think about. I said NO, you gave me nothing I haven't heard and rejected and wanted to vomit over for more than 20 years. He looked stricken. He said he had a vegan cousin and they all loved to give her a hard time at every gathering and she really enjoyed it. I guaranteed her that she did not enjoy it, and told him to give her my number! Finally, everything was OK again, and we are still friendly, but that conversation represented everything I hate about meateaters who refuse to respect other people's differences. I never expected to experience hate and assault over a peaceful choice.

[pradtf]

hi corndog!

good for you to stand upto your friend!
he really does know what it is all about down underneath all those ridiculous attempts at arguments - otherwise, they wouldn't be so ridiculous.

all in social justice movements experience hate and assault over their peaceful choice because those who oppress or support the oppression of others must find desperate ways to defend their actions.

in friendship,
prad

[Corndog]

Thanks, Prad. That's nice of you to point out that he does know he is wrong, or his arguments wouldn't be so ridiculous. It's always seemed like such a mystery that some people attack and seem to hate vegetarians and vegans. We aren't hurting anybody! Quite the opposite, in fact. You make a lot of sense.

This is the same guy, after all, who moved to the country, knowing that deer and armadillo live here, planted roses and lillies, which deer love, and St. Augustine grass which armadillo love to root in, then gets furious when they do so!

I gave him and other neighbors sage to plant amoung the other flowers because deer don't like sage. As a bonus, butterflies and hummingbirds LOVE sage. I also encourage "sacrifice" gardens - out-of-the-way gardens full of fast-growing plants that deer love, to keep them out of the more prominent gardens. Put birdbaths in the sacrifice gardens so the deer can drink, and they will favor those places.

The same neighbor shot some armadillos because he caught them digging for grubs in his yard. It's illegal on several counts. The armadillo is the state mammal of Texas. You can't discharge a firearm that close to another residence. I called the police and they just buddy-buddy good-old-boyed with him.

I told him that it wasn't the grass per se they liked, but grubs. Grubs love St. Augustine grass, and the grass makes it easy to get to the grubs. Get rid of the grubs and the armadillos won't poke holes in the grass. I was going to give him a big bag of diatomatious earth, which is a non-toxic treatment, but he blasted us out with poison before I had a chance. Now he uses the diatomateous earth, thank God.

I also made two sections of my property into armadillo habitats. It worked. They love it, and moved in over here. You should see the babies! They are born complete with armor like adults, just really tiny!

I sent a message to my neighbors please not to shoot them. I told them about the grubs, about diatomateous earth, and how to section off part of the property (we all have acres) as habitat for them. Several neighbors made habitats and I hope they aren't being killed.

I had to wrap my mind around this mentality when I moved here. I'm from Austin and I still work there, but I moved out to the country when I bought a house to be close to nature. It's just human nature I'm having a problem with!

When I put a sign in my window espousing the political candidate I supported and for whom I was a precinct and county delegate, I got a couple of pieces of hate mail, and two e-mails warning me about the apocolypse and ushering in the anti-christ. Two bumper stickers were ripped off my truck.

My 10-year-old nephew was jumped at school by five other kids for standing up for a little girl who was called a "camel jockey." She cried and told him she didn't know what that meant and she'd never even seen a camel. He came home and asked if we could move so he could go a school that was more diverse. So, I guess we will. I would like to stay, take a stand and make a difference, but it's become something of a safety issue.

I do miss Austin, a cultural, educational, diversity, and veg'n haven. It's not only OK, but preferable to be different there. I have many choices of vegan or vegetarian restaurants as well as restaurants that are extremely veg'n-savy where nobody will tell you the beans are vegan except for some bacon grease.

Thanks for listening. Great to have a haven HERE, if not geographically.

Your friend,

Karen, also known as Corndog, for strange reasons

[pradtf]

karen,

what people have to realize is that oppressors promote equal opportunity violence:
http://arawconnection.ning.com/forum/topics/equal-opportunity-violence

they really don't discriminate between species.

you are living in one of those strange areas where human nature has gone topsy-turvey - and if you try to righten it by standing up for the abused, exploited, murdered, you get attacked. this should not come as a surprise though, since civilization takes a while.

the thing to remember is that there is a far stronger force behind us than anything oppressors can muster. it is the unstoppable force of evolution which inevitably removes the undesirables of any species.

in friendship,
prad

[David]

Instead of answering this question, I'd like to pose one...have any of us ever wondered what it would be like to have everyone you know and/or hang out with to be vegetarian also?

[Bryant]

it would sukk... haha me and my non-veg friends have so much fun making fun of eachother, plus they all call me veggie burger or veggie and i like that nickname. i wouldnt have it if we were all veg... i enjoy my meatie friends, they bring joy to my life haha... (i dont think a lot vegs are gonna be happy i said that) life needs variety, and i would DIE if all my friends were veg haha