Thanks for the Invite

[Guest guest]

I too want to thank patchouli_troll for inviting me to the group. I have

found it informative. I don't have much time to check my mail and like to

skim through the daily digest every few days. I really enjoyed the

interchange about a week ago in which there was a remarkable display of

common sense about third world countries needing to eat meat when confronted

with

hunger. I think most people view vegetarians as a radical fringe element

and it was nice to see a well balanced intelligent discussion. As for me,

my name is Richard and I'm a single male, age 47 and live in KY. I grew up

on a farm and have 14 brothers and sisters. Yes, we were Catholic and I'm

the ninth one with 8 brothers and 6 sisters. I now live alone and don't

cook much so the recipes aren't much interest to me but I do scan them to

see if there might be something easy to fix that I would want to try.

 

Since becoming a vegetarian about 5 years ago I have never discussed why I

made the choice to quit eating meat. I tell anyone who asks that I thought

it might help me to lose weight. I try not to discuss my views about being

a vegetarian with my friends since I believe most people view this as a

critique of their own meat-eating behavior especially when I tell them it

was an ethical decision for me suggesting that they are somehow unethical.

Although I consider myself a spiritual person, I have converted to atheism

and being a vegetarian is intertwined with these beliefs. For me, becoming

an atheist was a recognition that humans have no divine place in the

universe or on earth. Humans have the same worth as any other animal, no

more, no less..

 

Additionally, I try not to bother my family and friends with special

vegetarian diet requests when I eat at their homes and usually bring grilled

veggies or salads with me. I see this group as a source of information and

look forward to hearing more. I hope this group helps me to feel more

accepted and provide a forum for intelligent discussion relevant to all

vegetarians.

 

I do have a couple of questions that perhaps someone from the group can

address. I'm not a vegan. I don't eat chicken or fish but do eat dairy

products and eggs. I lived around cows all my life. I don't see anything

wrong with consuming dairy products since cows have a good life--at least

all the dairy cows I've ever seen.. I've also lived around chickens and

don't have a problem with eating eggs, however, I've heard, through word of

mouth, that chickens are treated poorly and they certainly seem to live in a

small confined area, but then so do other caged birds. I've also heard that

chickens are given electric shocks in order to get them to lay eggs. Do you

have any information on this? I'm not sure I could avoid eating eggs since

they are used for so many different products but did want to have more

information. Like I said, I don't cook much and rely on many prepared

foods. Of course I always check to be sure there was no meat products used.

I was also wondering about the use of leather. I have a leather chair that

I bought many years ago that seems somewhat inappropriate for a vegetarian.

It was an expensive chair and I guess I feel a little guilty. I don't buy

anything leather or made from animal skins now but curious as to what others

have done who have chosen to become vegetarian. This message turned out to

be a lot longer than I anticipated and apologize for the length and any

misspelling. Thanks again for inviting me to join.

 

Richard