In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

I am in agreement with meat- eating, as is Ra, the Law of One and Q'uo and that has already been extensively covered so I won't provide quotes.

If you knew that had already been extensively covered, then I don't understand how you can say Ra, the Law of One and Q'uo favor meat-eating. Nowhere have they ever said that.

I have a gluten allergy and anemia,

I am gluten intolerant too. You're right; that does present a challenge. It also eliminate many meat-based foods too, like hamburgers, tacos, pizza, sandwiches, etc.

Anemia can be easily addressed with vegetarian sources, fyi. I've dealt with that too.

If I were to become fanatic about it, then I'd have to figure out what to feed my pets.

It needn't be an "all or nothing" thing. While some vegetarians do buy vegan food for their pets, most don't. (Again, it's not a game of "who's the purest of us all")

It's easy to be vegetarian if you only have yourself to think about, but it isn't in a social context when you are the only veggie and you are coming from a Christian/ republican oriented mindset of your community.

Oh, I can totally relate! There is no question that it's easier when you're single. I was doing raw vegan when I met my hubby, and he was still eating meat. We compromised in the middle, with middle-of-the-road lacto-ovo vegetarian meals prepared at home. We never bought any meat, except for his occasional cans of tunafish.

He respect my vegetarianism, and I was very grateful that he didn't buy meat and cook it at home, smelling up the house. So I cheerily made him tunafish sandwiches whenever he asked for it.

When we ate out, he usually got chicken or fish. (He had already given up red meat at the time I met him.)

We agreed to raise our son vegetarian, so after he was born, there was no more meat of any sort in the house (except dried kitty kibble). Who is now grown, and has never had a bite of meat in his entire life. (by the way)

We coexisted like that for many years, until my hubby finally decided to go 100% vegetarian. And guess what was the trigger for this commitment? This thread!!!

Not what *I* wrote, because he's heard all that before, many times. What the meat-eaters wrote. That is why he suddenly decided to give up the once-weekly shrimp and go totally veg.

Ironic, eh?

But I do get your point, and can appreciate the challenges. We live in Texas - cattle country. My family are all Republican, Christian meat-eaters. But they already think I'm weird anyway, so this didn't really add much more weirdness.

Much harder to deal with were the co-workers, who teased me mercilessly! I was their plaything, the subject of ridicule. They told jokes about "Monica mowing their lawn" and other such meanness.

That happened as recently as 6 years ago.

Family, not so much trouble. Remember I said I went back to eating meat for a couple of years? Well, during that time, when my hubby and I went to my family Christmas gathering, I fretted about what my family would think, when I ate the turkey. I considered just not eating it, so I could continue my 'vegetarian' persona, and not 'lose face.'

My husband never cares about what other people think, so he advised me to just eat it and not care if anyone questioned me. I dreaded having to explain to them that I'd had health problems, because surely they were going to pounce on that as 'proof' that a vegetarian diet wasn't healthy! (In case anyone is joining this conversation late in the game, eating meat for 2 years didn't help with the health issues at all, so I went back to being vegetarian and found the solution a few years later.)

Well, guess what? No one even noticed.

Now, if I go to a family gathering, I simply eat the mashed potatoes and veggies. They are distasteful, since my sister uses unhealthy margarine and her idea of 'veggie' is opening a can of peas, but it doesn't matter. I am there to visit family, not eat. I eat something beforehand, and that way I can just nibble a bit and no one notices.

I have a niece and nephew who were brought up in a hunter-bullrider family. Guess what? The niece recently wrote me on FB asking for vegetarian recipes! She's in her 40s now so apparently she has some health challenges. Cutting back on meat is not just more acceptable nowadays - it's getting downright trendy!

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Vegetarians who shut up about their chocies and are supportive to everyone who wishes to reduce their use of animal products, and non judgmental to everyone else do exist.

I fear though that this topic is representative for the majority of us. I think the best we can do is ignore it in the hope it goes away.

So are you saying you think this should be a taboo topic? That if someone starts a discussion about eating animals, in a discussion forum, the vegetarians should not participate?

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Okay. You win.

I must say at this point that for some reason, I feel utterly misrepresented (as a vegetarian trying to discuss in this thread). I am not taking anything personally, just generally as sides do seem to have formed.

I have made monumental efforts to discuss this subject objectively. It has been said that being encouraging would be better than instilling guilt. Instilling guilt was never my intention, and I will point out again: guilt comes from within, not without. Just as you cannot disempower someone else.

Let me just say that I did not think it was necessary to treat you all with kid gloves. You are not the sleeping masses. I thought we could discuss this subject without the typical hyper-sensitive reactions. I apologize now, for any insensitivity, or hurts I may have caused.

I feel at this point my participation has become nonproductive. I feel I have been repeatedly ignored and misrepresented. I don't know how to rectify this, other than repeat continually.

I want to thank those for their willingness to discuss the topic. I have nothing more to say at this point. I may jump back in at a later time perhaps. I wish you all the very best.

DITTO for me. That is exactly how I feel. And DITTO to Pablisimo also! Well said! I agree 100%! and in fact have said those exact things, many times over, in this thread over the past 3 years.

Diana, maybe you and I should just leave the discussion altogether. Apparently, that is the only thing that will satisfy them.

When we both leave, they'll likely have a party, celebrating, and commiserating about how awful and judgmental we were, and blaming us for their own feelings.

But that's ok. The thread will remain, for the benefit of any members who might stumble upon it, and might actually READ the damn thing, from the beginning, instead of jumping in at the end.

Carry on.

NOTE to any newcomers: I am leaving this thread for the time being, though I reserve the right to hop back in at any time if I decide to, even if it's 5 minutes from now. So if Shemaya or anyone else now posts quotes from Ra or Q'uo regarding meat, claiming that they prove Ra/Q'uo are in favor of eating meat, PLEASE go back and read the entire thread, before forming an opinion! That is, IF you truly want to know the full picture of Ra's and Q'uo's stance on this.

The reason I say this is that, at first glance, a couple of the quotes do appear that way, but they were directed specifically to Carla, as a direct answer to a specific question about her particular condition. When a more general question was asked, Ra responded "animal foods to the extent necessary for the individual metabolism" - deliberately leaving out the word 'meat.' Keep in mind that animal products can mean eggs and dairy, not just meat.

And I leave you all with 2 questions:

1. Why are you (the meat-eaters who are complaining) making this about YOU, instead of about the animals?

and

2. Are you truly eating ONLY the animal products necessary for the individual metabolism?