Perhaps one reason more vegetarians/vegans have checked into this thread is because every time there is a thread about it, we get a bunch of assholes making rude comments and dumb jokes, all of which we've heard about a million times already. Being vegetarian doesn't threaten anyone, and me saying I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean that I am preaching at you about anything.

There is nothing inconsistent about beng a vegetarian and not being into animal rights. If the reason for being vegetarian is because of the health benefits, animal rights wouldn't necessarily enter into the question at all.

I now don't wear leather shoes or belts, but for the first 15 years or so that I was a vegetarian, I did. I had three responses for people who decided I needed to be hassled about that:
1. It's none of your business.
2. Everyone makes their own choices, please respect mine.
3. I don't eat my shoes and belt.

The reason my wife, who is a vegan, doesn't drink milk is because cows are kept perpetually pregnant in order to keep them producing milk. Most of the resulting calves are slaughtered. She became a vegan the night we were camped next to a cow farm when they were taking the calves away. We listened to the mourning cries of bereft mothers and the squeals of terrified calves for several hours. And yes, it is easy to tell when an animal is suffering pain, either physical or emotional.

Anyone who can't imagine the difference, from a vegetarian point of view, between eating an animal and eating a vegetable is a moron, or is purposely acting like a moron in order to make a moronic point. I've heard the "you're killing vegetables" and "vegetables feel pain, too" lines so many times I could puke. Please get real or get lost.

John Peekstok