On Fri, 9 Jan 2004 15:30:10 -0600, you wrote: >To the other responder, I agree: you can laugh at the irony without >laughing at the person, you're right. I guess, as a vegan, I'm getting >a little touchy about this. I really think that people make fun of >vegetarians & vegans because a lot of them are "holier-than-thou". But, >really, I get a lot more flack from meat eaters now as a vegan than I >EVER got when I ate meat from vegetarians. You should be on the >receiving end of some of the looks I get just because I opt out of >eating meat, which affects absolutely no one but myself. I don't preach >or advocate veganism (well, at least without someone asking me about >whether they should become vegan), and don't expect other people to >change their lifestyles in any way. But, if I tell some people I'm >vegan, they seem to think I'm the anti-christ. Which, maybe I am. :) What you're running into is guilt by association. Just as I, as a liberal, am "represented" by extreme fringes, regardless of whether I agree with them or not, and all their behaviour, and just as the religious are often "represented" in public consciousness by the extreme fringes of their position, so you, as a vegan, are being represented by the extremists who hold your position. You may be, and probably are, an extremely polite vegan who has simply made a lifestyle choice for yourself. Unfortunately, some vegans have become fanatical about it, and decided to offend everyone they come near who is not a vegan. Every single belief has people who are an embarrassment, I am sure, and, sadly, those of us who behave in a civilised manner are stuck having to defend the behaviour of people whose positions we may hold, although their actions we do not approve of. It's the difference between that nice Christian couple next door, and those lunatics who keep throwing Bibles through my front window and screaming at me I'm going to Hell. -- laz I am the Dread Pirate Roberts #23546. Ask me about franchise opportunities!