Why I am not a vegan

[Monica]

But there is a big difference: Many of the meat-eaters have repeatedly attacked US as people, with various insults regarding us personally, whereas we haven't done that to any of you

I accept that that is your interpretation of what was said, but I do not accept that is what actually happened (maybe in certain rare instances).  I'm positive that if you actually questioned the intent of virtually any previous poster whom you interpreted as personally attacking you, their intent had nothing to do with attacking you, personally, but rather simply pointing out an alternate perspective.

A personal attack is when the person directs their comments AT someone in particular, and the comments are ABOUT THE PERSON, instead of about the topic.

If you go back and re-read all the meat threads, you will see that it is almost always the meat-eaters who make the PERSONAL comments ABOUT the vegetarians/vegans as PEOPLE, whereas the vegetarians/vegans' comments are about the TOPIC.

That is the difference.

It's easy to confuse the two.  People often instinctively interpret the opposite viewpoint to theirs as an personal attack.  It's human nature.  I also think people oftentimes (perhaps even unconsciously) play the "personal attack victim" card to deflect relevant points, so they don't have to put forth a logical counter argument.

Indeed, that is exactly what has been happening. The meat-eaters perceive our comments about meat-eating as personal attacks, when they aren't. They're just alternate viewpoints, stated about an ACTION, rather than about a PERSON.

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