Ok, first off, this is not an attempt to convert people to my way of thinking. I'm just explaining why i chose to become a vegan.
For those of you who don't know veganism means not using or consuming any animal products. This includes: milk, cheese, eggs, leather, wool and of course meat. And yes, fish does count as meat. A lot of vegans like to use words like rape and murder. But as far as i'm concerned that's no better than calling Bush a Nazi. Just doesn't help.
Now, the background. I became a vegan when i was 19. Before that i ate a fair bit of meat, although i never liked the texture of red meats; i was never a huge fan of eggs either; i'm allergic to lanolin, so wool's out; and as for leather... just never saw the appeal of that, especially on sofas. So when it came down to it, the main difference for me was in not having dairy products, of which i ate loads.
Veganism isn't exactly mainstream. In fact quite the opposite. Most people seem to think (although the word 'think' might be a bit generous in this context) that veganism is an affront to their whole way of thinking and as such something to be fought against at every turn. I'm not sure why this is, but i'm not so patronizing as to believe that they just feel guilty. So for most of my life i never really thought about it.
This changed when i got older and started meeting vegans (mainly at uni). That's when i first thought about it. And after a couple of months deliberation - i didn't want to jump right into it - i decided that this was the thing for me.
Why? You may as well ask why i'm against capital punishment; it just seems right to me. But nevertheless i shall try to explain...
'Good' is subjective. I mean, there's no pre-existing natural law that says that one object or action is good and another is bad (this is purely my own view of things of course). So everyone has to make up their own set of moral values. They can look to others for guidance and ideas, but ultimately the decision is their own. What most people do though is just accept the social conventions of morality, unwilling or lack the motivation to think for themselves (i don't believe anyone (with a few special exceptions) is unable to do this).
Right, so something i decided a long time ago is that to deliberately harm anyone for whatever reason is reprehensible in extremis. But why should that just extend to people? What about other animals?
I don't really know how to explain this last bit. It just seems obvious to me, based on all my other ideas and experiences that hurting animals is wrong... Damn. I really thought i'd be able to explain that better...
Oh, one other thing. There is some evidence to suggest that being a vegan could be more healthy. Although i hasten to add that this is by no means conclusive. All i can really say is that i don't really feel any more or less healthy since i made the change. Maybe slightly more regular bowel movements, but that was never a problem for me before. I gained a bit of weight too, only a few pounds though and i was skinny to start with, so that's a good thing for me. As for the idea that vegans are weak and pathetic, i'm an avid rock climber (a pretty demanding sport) and my ability didn't change at all after the change.
Any opinions/questions on all this? Any other vegans here?