*Boggle*

So over where those crazy vegans hang out, there’s an ongoing discussion about people labeling themselves as one thing and then being hypocritical about it.
The topic is basically the “ethics” of veganism and the slant is that to be “a true vegan” you have to be a purist dang near to the point of being militant.
I could not more strongly DISagree. It really yanks my chain when the militant faction of *any* subculture of people start pigeon holing everyone else and deciding who should be tagged with what label.
It gripes me that these very same people who claim such incomparable compassion to animals are the very same ones who will often show the least compassion for their fellow humans.
One of the posters made a comment that irritated me to no end:
“I wouldn't dream of eating or wearing anything that comes from an animal (even if my family wanted me to) any more than I would make racist comments or make fun of disabled people.”

Let’s break that down a minute.
“Even if my family wanted me to.”

Here’s where my mind flipped to humble little great-grandma Mabel baking a special birthday cake just for that poster. Maybe she just doesn’t have it in her to bake one more cake. Ever. Maybe she used her last bit of energy and spirit to make that poster something special because she loves that poster best. And what would the poster say to her when she offers it?
Let’s see, here’s the response:
“if someone went out of their way to bake something for me that just happened to be non-vegan, I would very politely decline.”
Wow. How very compassionate to grandma. Can’t you just see the crushed look on her face? Can’t you just feel the disheartened twinge in her soul? Sounds like it’s more compassionate toward the animal then it is to poor grams. Downright insensitive and callous, I’d say.
But then, the poster “wouldn’t dream of eating it, any more than making a racist comment or making fun of disabled people.”
How does that even fit together?

*Boggle*

So now knowingly eating or using something with animal product in it is on par with being a bigot?

WTF?
I tell you this; in all the time I’ve ever spent reading the writings of self proclaimed “true vegans”, not one – NOT ONE – can explain what they are doing sitting at a computer (animal byproduct components), taking rides in cars that run with fossil fuel (animal animal animal!) with rubber tires even on bikes (animal product!) on asphalt roads (animal product!), and surround themselves with plastics items (animal stuff!!) every day (including the keyboard from where they type their most compassionate thoughts!). I suppose they never go to the movies to watch a flick that runs from reel to reel film (animal product!).
Here’s the deal:
I have to in all honesty say that of all the people I’ve met in real life and on the net, the most compassionate ones to all animals (four legged and two) have not been vegans. Not even vegetarians for that matter. They are the recycling, conservation minded hunters who donate time, money, and expertise to the DNR for preserving wetlands and forested areas; ensuring that certain species won’t dwindle in number, nor overrun another. They are more thoughtful of the ecology and environment than many a vegan/vegetarian I’ve met.
Although I won’t change the way I choose to eat, because I do so for my own reasoning, I find myself with less and less in common with the people in whom I once found kinship and understanding.

Could I hunt an animal and kill it when my survival was a non-issue? Probably not.

Could I pull the trigger for my own preservation? Yes.
For the record, I think my philosophies, principles, and ethics are just fine.