I think you can blame PETA for a lot of the animosity. That, and a lot of moron vegetarians that say people who eat eggs are eating "chicken abortions" and other idiocies. It is the vocal vegetarians that proclaim eating meat is murder that gets a lot of people riled up unfortunately. As I've said before, my brother is about as vegetarian as you are, and his wife is a total vegetarian. But they still allow their three young boys to eat meat because they feel it is good for their development. Hell, these days when I see his wife, I'll try to come up with good vegetarian recipes for her to try. Last week I gave her my vegetable soup recipe. I told her it did ask for chicken stock, but it could be substituted. Surprisingly, she didn't mind chicken stock.
What I've realized is that if you eat differently from the general unhealthy american popluation then people will judge you. I don't think it really has anything to do with being a veg or not, it just that you eat "consciencly" or not recklessly like most americans. I get it all the time at work. Like I said earlier, I only eat lean meats and fresh veggies. So when people at work bring in garbage like donuts, bagels, cookies, snacks and worthless carbs, I don't eat them and I always get weird looks and questions. People also think I'm weird for not eating fast food. Are you kidding me? Fast food? That stuff is garbage, 100% garbage, I refuse to eat that, even in a bind.
I agree with this to a degree. But, I got a lot of flack from family members who didn't know anything about vegetarianism until I came along. I think for as much as vocal protesters don't help, I also think that many Americans (Desert_Rocket points this out) are just uncomfortable with things they don't do themselves. I had a bad back injury when I was in my mid-20's that caused me to walk hunched over like an old man for probably about a year. It was incredibly embarrassing and made me extremely self conscious about going anywhere. To make matters worse, I was routinely approached by people who would ask things like "What is wrong with you?" "Why do you walk like that?" in a very insensitive way. I was really surprised until I saw someone at the airport sitting next to a man in a wheelchair say, "What's wrong with your legs?" I just think people are generally uncomfortable with things that are unfamiliar no matter what it is and it can cause them to say and do stupid things without even thinking about it.
I don't dare as my incredible physique and manliness would cause every other man on the board to tremble with fear and lose respect for themselves.
Then she's not a 'total vegetarian.' Which is fine. I don't care what other people eat. It is bewildering to me when they care what I eat.
That bothers vegetarians as well. As I understand it, there are two kinds of vegetarians: Vegetarians - they don't eat animal flesh or animal flesh by-products (stock, for example) Vegans - they don't eat any animal by-product including dairy People have tried to define those that only eat fish or those who eat all dairy but eggs, but the reality is that there are vegetarians and vegans and that's all I really recognize. If someone asked, what do you call a vegetarian who eats fish? My response would be, not a vegetarian.
Whatever. I have said again and again that I don't care what other people eat, but facts are facts. You is what you am; a cow don't make ham. Words have meaning and "total vegetarian" actually literally translates to total vegetarian. I thought you were supposed to be a genius.
I don't think you are intending it this way, but my first reaction when I read this, which I think is a conditioned response (and so worth discussing) is that this should be read while sneering and looking down your nose. That I think is perhaps what fatty is talking about by it bothering people. Vegans look at people who consume dairy as 'not real vegitarians'. Fructanians look down on the vegans for not being hardcore enough. It seems like people hypercompartmentalize labels and turn everything into a pissing match about who is the 'real' vegitarian -who is pure enough. Sort of like Christians who get into a pissing match about who's actions prove they are a better Christian. I may be wrong, but that is what resonated with me when I read fatty's words.
I've had waitresses say to me, "Oh, you're vegetarian? Me too. You eat chicken though, right?" The words vegetarian and vegan and the rest have actual definitions. I don't think it's judgmental or sneering or self-righteous to point it out when somebody gets them wrong. If you told me Hakeem Olajuwon was born in America I would say, "No, he wasn't." If you came back and said that my semantics bothered you I would say, "You are silly."
I am vegan and I can tell you I don't look at people who consume dairy but not meat as "not real vegetarians" because that is the DEFINITION of "vegetarian." It's not a pissing match; it's just a polite correction about the proper meaning of the word. When I say that someone that doesn't mind eating chicken stock isn't a "total" vegetarian I don't mean that she's not pure enough or whatever; I mean she's not a total vegetarian. Likewise, when I say Tiger Woods is not "totally" black I don't mean anything other than the fact that he's half Asian.
And whatever to you, dude. She doesn't eat meat of any kind. I just found out she doesn't mind stock. Do you even know what "stock" is? Don't worry, though. I don't think she goes to rallies, so you won't have to mock her. Unbelievable.
Irrespective of what you do, as we are generally talking about the greater populations, I have no doubt that some people would look at him kind of funny and think he wasn't 'black enough' to join the club if he tried to show up at a NAACP meeting. I'm sure quite a few people would welcome him wholeheartedly, but unfortunately, it is the other group that leaves a lasting impression of exclusion. The same is also true of people like Pat Robertson, who makes all Christians look judgmental. As such, a Christian with a good heart has to understand that people on the outside think immediately of Pat Robertson when you say ‘Christian’, and discuss the issue with sensitivity to that element? Ask MadMax about all the pent up aggression he undeservedly gets in religion threads. I'm just saying that you should understand that people might misinterpret these things so it might pay to be delicate about them and not correct people in a way that might seem aggressive or judgmental, because there are others who would be judgmental and that 'judgmental vegetarian guy' identity gets transferred.
And whatever back to you! Yee haw! Yes, I know what stock is. It is the juice that comes from the meat -- in other words, liquid meat. Do you know what liquid meat is? That's right... a kind of meat. I repeat, I do not care what she eats or what anyone eats. And I neither go to rallies over my diet (LOL) nor mock anyone else's. My diet is a preference. It doesn't make me better than anyone else. But it does have a name. It is called "vegan." Jeff's diet before it changed was called "vegetarian." Your sister-in-law may not eat the flesh of the meat, but she eats the juice of it. I don't have a problem with calling that vegetarian, but calling it "total vegetarian" is just factually incorrect. "Christians," by definition, believe in Christ. I do not. So if I were to tell you I was a "total Christian" I would either be lying to you or I would be under a false impression regarding the meaning of the word. p.s. I consider myself vegan but I would not say I am a "total" vegan which would imply that I adhered to the strictest definition of the word because I don't avoid honey. If I told you I was a total vegan I wouldn't be offended in the least if you corrected me as I would be wrong.
Max doesn't get any guff from me on account of Pat Robertson because I actually pay attention and I don't convey the bigotry of one extremist to someone else just because they share a faith. Likewise, I would appreciate not having the 'sins' of the most extreme members of PETA visited on me simply because we share a diet. I think you're missing my point about Tiger Woods, perhaps intentionally, in order to make your own. I understand you're talking about people who judge others as not pure enough for this or that. I don't think anyone in this thread has done that, so the argument feels a bit like a derailment to me. When I bring up Tiger Woods it's to say that if someone told me he was 100% black it would not be rude of me to point out that he is actually 50% black and 50% Asian, nor would it mean that I thought he was somehow impure. It would just be a correction of facts.
No, Stock isn't liquid meat. It is the water left over from boiling a chicken, much like vegetable stock is the water left over from boiling vegetables. ie. You have a pot of water. You put a chicken in it. When the chicken is done, you remove the chicken. The water you put in originally is now chicken stock.
I am offended by your semantics, sir! Apologize immediately! You have been warned. p.s. Yes, it is. It was liquid, then meat was added and then it was liquid with meat in it. A kind of meat. But regardless of your offensive obsession with semantics (I demand an apology!), no one in the world would refer to a person that eats chicken stock as a "total vegetarian." Or rather, they obviously might but they'd obviously be wrong.
