Ravenworks wrote:Hi there, thanks for the detailed reply to my introduction
I didn't grasp the reasons of why I was vegan till my teens to be honest...
Why not? Didn't your parents explain that meat/dairy/egg industries abuse animals and that you can be healthy without supporting them? I imagine that if/when I have kids of my own that I will present a simple explanation like this (as to why I decided to raise them vegan), without going into all of the gruesome details that would horrify them. I would probably make an analogy, saying that they should never bully other kids for their own enjoyment, and that I want them to show the same respect to animals. I hope that my children would understand their veganism with a simple explanation like this.
Ravenworks wrote:Friends were always baffled that I could eat anything at all really. They seemed to think EVERYTHING contained animal products. I found it a little difficult, as I just wanted to fit in with the other kids, so being made to feel different was sometimes really embarrassing - especially when some kids would make fun of me or ask lots of probing questions.
Do you think that you (as a child) may have had some positive influence on other children around you by explaining your reasons for being vegan, and helping them understand by reminding them of their own fondness of animals? Most children have a fondness of animals, before they develop the arrogance and selfish indifference too common amongst adults. It seems to me like children generally have a better understanding of animal-ethics than adults.
Ravenworks wrote:Thankfully as an adult, none of this bothers me any more. Perhaps if I brought up children vegan, I may relax their requirements to avoid ALL animal products, when they're at friend's houses for example - just to make their lives a tad easier.
It's probably not such a big problem to allow your children (and yourself) to eat some nearly-vegan foods with tiny traces of animal products. It may be useful for children to understand practicality, and not obsess over 0.0001% of a problem (focus on the forest; not just the trees). I am, however, quite concerned about vegan parents allowing their children to eat nonvegan foods that are mostly animal-derived. For example, making an exception of allowing your children to eat dairy ice-cream if they are at an ice-cream shop with their nonvegan friends. Doing this would allow your children to set a bad example for their nonvegan peers; implying that convenience is a good excuse for doing something that is otherwise unethical, and reinforcing the very popular notion that we should all feel free to consume whatever quantities of animal-derived foods we feel comfortable with.
For parents to strictly deny their kids nonvegan foods (except maybe the 99.9% vegan things I mentioned earlier) might also result in some positive opportunities:
For example, imagine a vegan-child refusing dairy ice-cream offered by his/her friend's parents. The nonvegans will probably respond with something like,
"So your parents never let you eat ice cream!? 
That's so sad! 
You're missing out. 
" The vegan child will then have an opportunity to talk about vegan ice-cream (how delicious it is; how they're not missing out on anything), a product which most people do not even realize exists.
The nonvegan parents will then be fascinated by the concept of vegan ice-cream, but say,
"OK well that's fascinating but why can't you have anything with milk? Milk is good for you! Cows make milk for people; we don't need to hurt or kill them for it!"
The vegan-child then replies,
"I can be healthy without milk, and people do hurt cows. They take the babies away from their mommies, which makes them both sad. Then they kill the babies, and later the mommies when they stop making milk. It's because the farmers want more milk for people so they can get more money. Money makes grown-ups do weird stuff sometimes..."
Imagine that! A child teaching grown-ups something about ethics! I'm sick of this popular assumption that adults know everything. Maybe it's time for children to teach their parents* a thing or two about ethics. Anyways I'd sure be a proud father to have a child who not only stands up for animals, but inspires others to do the same.
*Not necessarily your parents though; it sounds like they're compassionate, well-informed people who wanted you to respect animals.
Ravenworks wrote:...definitely the ethical side for me. Although the environmental benefits are becoming clearer to everyone I think.
Yeah, me too. My reasons for being vegan are (in this order):
1. For the animals!
2. Environmentalism
3. Too inspire other humans to learn more about nutrition and to be healthy
4. For my own health
Ravenworks wrote:It's fantastic that you came about the decision to switch to vegetarianism and then veganism by yourself, as opposed to being simply brought up that way like me, although I like to think I would have made the choice anyway.
Thank you.
I think that you would have too!
Ravenworks wrote:Were your family and friends supportive/understanding of your decision? Sadly I know quite a few people who's family are less than supportive but maybe you were one of the lucky ones :p
My parents: No, not at first. When they first learned that I made the switch, they were shocked and intimidated by me going vegan. They tried to convince me that I was not being healthy and needed to eat animal-products. They also seemed to think that I was implicitly criticizing their character simply by being vegan, when really my reason was not to personally fund animal-abuse. I sometimes got angry with them as many new vegans do. Although I didn't know how to act or speak about veganism at first, I wish that I had been more mature as a new vegan. I'm always trying to improve. It's been over a year-and-a-half now; I've been patient with my parents and have presented them with my arguments. They're "animal-lovers" in an emotional sense, but have now thought more about the ethics. They now agree with me and have greatly reduced their animal-consumption, but sadly lack the confidence to fully switch.
The rest of my family: They know but they don't really care. They haven't been hostile/defensive about it, but also have not expressed much interest.
My friends: Most have been very curious and open-minded, and I've had fascinating conversations with them. Only a few reacted like my parents initially did, or worse.
Ravenworks wrote:Was there a single thing that triggered your switch away from meat (Earthlings documentary for example) or was it a gradual buildup?
The latter. My forum intro-post from over half a year ago describes it:
https://theveganatheist.com/forum/viewt ... ?f=4&t=769
I've always "loved" animals in an emotional sense, and it was mostly Gary Yourofsky's speech and TVA's SMEC videos that convinced me to switch.
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing."
-Albert Einstein
