just wanted to say hi

[jessie]

I was very excited to find this site. I've been looking at several atheist forums and vegan forums, but never thought of looking for a combined forum until now. I'm glad to find people who have a similar mindset and can relate.

[Lightningman_42]

Hi Jessie, welcome to the forum. I hope you like it here. How long have you been an atheist and a vegan? We'd all be happy to here your atheist-story and/or vegan-story.

[Cirion Spellbinder]

Welcome Jessie!
How did you find the forum? Was it easy to find?

[jessie]

Hi ArmouredAbolitionist. Thanks for the welcome!

I was raised catholic, though I never believed the stories such as Adam and Eve or Noah's Ark, I just didn't bother questioning it. Since elementary school I felt that my religion had a lot of contradictions, lots of unexplained or unanswered questions, and just wasn't possible. I basically followed all the rituals just because it was normal to me. In highschool the exposure of other religions made me further question my religion but still considered myself catholic. It wasn't until I turned 19 and was in college that I realized I truly wasn't catholic and started following Buddhism. I didn't believe in reincarnation, but it was the mildest religion I could find. Finally, I was exposed to a certain Christian religion where they get visions in their dreams and speak in tongues which I thought was crazy. That's when it hit me. That religion I grew up with believes that these stories are true and I felt like I was so blind just bc it's what I was used to. I ended up becoming antitheist and have been the past 3 years.

I always claimed to be an animal lover. I wanted to be vegetarian after watching food Inc for my class senior year highschool, but could never do it because I loved meat or because it was just easier. Then in college I was again shown a video about pigs in factory farms for my philosophy class. I again wanted to be vegetarian but gave up after a couple days. I educated myself more and more about the animals and how to eat a healthy vegan diet. Now I've been vegan for a couple months. I have been so dedicated this time around not only with my diet but with my products like makeup, deodorant, and toiletries.

Since becoming vegan my biggest issue is finding like minded people and dealing with the criticism of family. I haven't had to deal too much with atheism issue since I mostly keep it to myself and allow my family to believe I'm still Buddhist (though they don't like it either) just to keep the peace.

[jessie]

Hi cirion! Thanks for the welcome! I felt tired of searching for a forum with active members and decided to see if there was a place for specifically vegan atheists. I highly doubted it but typed vegan atheist on google and this site popped up! It seems fairly new and active. How did you find the site?

[garrethdsouza]

Hi Jessie, there are other similar groups too like skeptic vegan discussion group on Facebook which thankfully are devoid of all the woo.

[SkepticalGorilla1985]

Hi Jessie welcome!
If you don't mind me asking what kind of criticism are you receiving from your family?

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome Jessie, I'm glad you found us.

If you search "vegan forum" it should still be on the first page, or no? With "atheist forum" it's probably on the second page.

Anyway, I hope you like it here! Thanks for the great intro and summary of your experiences.

[jessie]

Hi garret, thanks I'll have to take a look at that group!

[jessie]

Hello skepticalgorilla! Just things like how God made food for us to eat, that plants have feelings too so I shouldn't eat plants then, that I'll be missing protein and other vitamins, or why am I focusing time on animals when there are people who are more miserable than animals. I'm pretty good at explaining myself, but then they just say I used to eat meat so it shouldn't be a big deal. Other than that they have embraced it for the most part. They eat the meals I make which makes me feel like I've been able to at least lessen the impact.