Atheism and Vegetarianism

[curiosityandthecat]

Posted this on the Happily Free Thinking blog.

I'm not a vegetarian. I would probably starve. Just want to get that out of the way.

These days, social networks give everyone a soapbox and makes everyone a critic. I'm just as guilty as anybody. Thankfully, I don't get a lot of flak for my secular worldview, though I imagine some people see my anti-religious ranting or tweeting as offensive or unnecessary. My response to them is: it is no different from youth ministers or the very devout discussing how wonderful Jesus is or how blessed they feel or how they need to evangelize more. No difference. They just don't like it when I do it. Some people really don't like it.

A friend of mine decided, after two years of being a vegetarian, to fall off the wagon. He and his girlfriend went to a restaurant, watched the Cavs game and had fish.

Read the rest at the link above or at my blog.

Anybody else take shit for being vegetarian, atheist, or both? You know, when people look at you like you have two heads and say, "You're ________? ....why?"

[Will]

I wish I had the self control necessary to be a veggie. I have nothing but respect for vegans and vegetarians. Anyone giving someone shit for being a veggie is just jealous.

[Jolly Sapper]

...

Anybody else take shit for being vegetarian, atheist, or both? You know, when people look at you like you have two heads and say, "You're ________? ....why?"

My wife takes some flack for being what she calls a vegetarian (though she's probably more correctly described as an extremely selective omnivore).  Her guess is that there is a stereotype of what a "vegetarian" or "vegan" is outside of diet; i.e. Vegetarians are damn dirty hippies, or vegans are all crazy for PETA.

Off topic:
PETA :  People for the Ethical Treatment of Atheists...

I'm surprised that's not on a shirt with either a pro or con atheism graphic.

[karadan]

I wish I had the self control necessary to be a veggie. I have nothing but respect for vegans and vegetarians. Anyone giving someone shit for being a veggie is just jealous.

Hmm, I dunno. I have no issues with Veggies. I have issues with vegans though. They stink. I used to sit opposite one at work and all she used to do was blather on all day about how awesome she was for being vegan. She had to eat a staggering amount of food to simply keep going. That didn't stop her looking pasty and ill, though.

The farts. Oh, god the farts...

Many of the vegans I've met seem to use it as a tool to take the moral high ground in many social situations. I've felt many times before that they were preoccupied with it far more than any other non-vegan. I have no problems with other people's dietary choices until it starts negatively effecting my life through nasal assaults of the most nefarious kind. I swear she used to break wind more than an elephant and was entirely unrepentant for it.

I think my bigotry is compounded by the fact most vegans I've ever known had dreds, didn't conform to the 'system' by buying razors and didn't believe in deodorant. I have huge issues with dreds, or the wearer of dreads, locally referred to as 'crustys'. I see absolutely no point in dreds, other than to provide a safe haven for bugs, mites and other parasites and to annoy people like me with the cloying smell of two-year-old matted human hair.

Yeah yeah, I know. Sweeping generalisations, but that's the truth, from my perspective at least.



Umm, maybe I'm not a morning person... I seem to do rant posts just after getting into work on an early shift.  

[karadan]

Oh, and Curio, i'd prefer the parallel that atheism is akin to being an omnivore... It is the natural state of being. Anything else is just going against the grain of normality. :p

[pedricero matao]

I have huge issues with dreds, or the wearer of dreads, locally referred to as 'crustys'. I see absolutely no point in dreds, other than to provide a safe haven for bugs, mites and other parasites

As far as I know, dreads have a religious origin... now some sort of modern hippy-like fashion i think. IMHO it's just as stupid as any kind of fashion trend.

I thinks I don't really get what being vegetarian supposedly has to do with being an atheist or whatever, since being vegetarian (in the sense that it is being discussed now) is somewhat of a moral choice, and being atheist can be more of a choice that has nothing, if little, to do with ethics or morality.

About the topic being discussed.... well here it is not that they will give you shit for being vegetarian, some people will just not know you are talking about. Seriously. Here you can get into deep trouble stating that you don't believe in god or whatever, and saying that you don't eat meat might just either puzzle people around you or just make them think you're gay (sad but true) or into some kind of cult or something, depending on who you speak to.

Remember, some people here torture and kill bulls for FUN, so i wouldn't expect them any kind of comprehension from them...

[curiosityandthecat]

Oh, and Curio, i'd prefer the parallel that atheism is akin to being an omnivore... It is the natural state of being. Anything else is just going against the grain of normality. :p

I'm really referring more to the reaction you get when you tell people what you eat/believe. Nobody looks at you weird for having a balanced diet, though.

[karadan]

Oh, and Curio, i'd prefer the parallel that atheism is akin to being an omnivore... It is the natural state of being. Anything else is just going against the grain of normality. :p

I'm really referring more to the reaction you get when you tell people what you eat/believe. Nobody looks at you weird for having a balanced diet, though.

I guess that depends upon what your definition of a balanced diet is..