Vegetarians/Vegans? (moral, choice, Christianity, Christian, Christ)

[Doktormartini]

Is anyone here a vegetarian or a vegan? If you are, please list why you became one!

I turned into a vegetarian like a month ago mostly for moral reasons but also for health. So far it's going great and I feel awesome! Maybe in a year or so after I get this vegetarian thing down I can try and go vegan!

[Revasser]

Hey Dok.

I'm a vegetarian and have been for years now. I'm not a vegan, but I only eat dairy and egg occasionally and only from sources I can verify have humane practices.

My reasons at the time were pretty simple. I came to feel a great deal of guilt and other unpleasant feelings as I ate meat. I couldn't exactly tell you why as I didn't put a lot of thought into why, though I did expend quite a bit of energy trying to come up with very logical, convoluted reasons for why it was okay for me to continue. In the end, I found the rationale I constructed to be emotionally empty, so I took the simplest step toward living as my conscience demanded; I stopped what I was doing that violated my conscience and became a vegetarian.

A few words of advice from someone who's been there, my friend: The first few months really do feel incredible, not just from an emotional burden lifted but also from a health perspective. BUT, you are still riding the iron and other things you've acquired with your previous diet. If you don't make sure to get everything you need, the lack of iron especially can leave you feeling fatigued. With a diet that contains meat, you can pretty much eat what you like and not encounter any serious deficiencies, but with a vegetarian diet you're going to need to really think about what you're eating and make sure you get everything you need.

So, do some research. Even consult a doctor if you can. Find out all the different nutrients you need and from what vegetable sources you can get them. You can take supplements in pill form, but honestly, I think you'd be much better off just getting what you need from normal food sources than pills.

Good luck!

[c0da]

Brilliant advice there Revasser.

I stopped eating meat, partly for moral reasons, but mostly because I had a hard thought about what meat is. Flesh and muscle and all that. Not for me!

[michel]

Originally Posted by Doktormartini

Is anyone here a vegetarian or a vegan? If you are, please list why you became one!

I turned into a vegetarian like a month ago mostly for moral reasons but also for health. So far it's going great and I feel awesome! Maybe in a year or so after I get this vegetarian thing down I can try and go vegan!

I did become a vegetarian when I was younger (because of the 'morality' perspective); I then realised that every living creature or plant was equally deserving of respect.

I therefore eat (because I have to), and give thanks and due respect to the life that was sacrificed for my nutrition. I am thoroughly tempted to go back to being a vegetarian though (on health grounds); my wife made a Spaghetti bolognese the other evening, and used TVP ( a soya mix made to look like meat). Appart from the fact that there was no fat (except for a dash of olive oil), I agree with my wife that most of the taste comes from the herbs and spices, and not the meat itself.

[d.]

Originally Posted by Revasser

I'm a vegetarian and have been for years now. I'm not a vegan, but I only eat dairy and egg occasionally and only from sources I can verify have humane practices.

that's pretty much me too. i was vegan for three years. i've been vegetarian since i was 11. completely for moral reasons.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Doktormartini

Is anyone here a vegetarian or a vegan? If you are, please list why you became one!

I turned into a vegetarian like a month ago mostly for moral reasons but also for health. So far it's going great and I feel awesome! Maybe in a year or so after I get this vegetarian thing down I can try and go vegan!

To me, veganism is to vegetarianism as fundamentalist Christianity is to non-fundamentalist Christianity. While I have a great deal of admiration for vegetarians (particularly those who have chosen that path for moral reasons), but you know how you can have too much of a good thing? Stick with vegetarianism.

[doppelgänger]

My wife and I are vegetarians. My wife has been for 16 years primarily for moral reasons (she started after researching the beef industry for a presentation she had to give as a high school freshman).

I have been since 1996 (though I occassionally will eat fish). For me it started for health reasons, I cut out the fatty meats (red meat, pork) first and never was a big fan of poultry. Now it's mainly aesthetic reasons as I just no longer find meat appetizing. I love to cook and find the vegetarian approach more challenging and thus much more fun as well.

My son eats meat because he is on a special diet for health reasons. And our daughter can if she wants to, though I don't generally prepare it. When we eat out (or when she is at school) it's her choice to order what she wants.

[Tigress]

Strict vegetarian (I eat honey). I chose to stop eating meat primarily for ethical reasons. After talking with a Bahá'í on another message board, and then becoming aquainted with a life-long vegetarian, I began to sincerely question the difference between the cow, pig, chicken, etc., that I was eating and the cat at my feet. As for the dairy, I have a severe allergy to both it and eggs.

Originally Posted by Katzpur

To me, veganism is to vegetarianism as fundamentalist Christianity is to non-fundamentalist Christianity. While I have a great deal of admiration for vegetarians (particularly those who have chosen that path for moral reasons), but you know how you can have too much of a good thing? Stick with vegetarianism.

I don't think that correlation is necessarily true. Yes, there are vegetarians and vegans act with a certain 'moral superiority' that may be akin to religious extremism, but fortunately, they do not represent all of us.--In terms of having 'too much of a good thing,' I don't think that's necessarily true either because does having 'too much' of a 'good' thing not make it a 'bad' thing?