~Veganism~

One of the biggest misconceptions about the United States is the concept of "freedom". People have moved here from around the world in search of freedom but really, what "freedom" means sometimes is the freedom to fight others' prejudices about you or your choices. Putting aside the picky arguers who argue that nobody should be free to commit murder or do a bazillion other similar things, it's simply not true that there is freedom to be yourself. If, what you want to do goes with the common stream, there will certainly be fewer problems. For instance, if you want to be a christian, eat beef, shop at Wal-Mart or marry in a heterosexual union, you probably won't encounter a lot of friction from others in reaching those dreams.

But what if freedom means not eating meat at all? Well, there are always veggies at the store, that's true. Nothing getting in the way of not eating meat from that aspect. But what about freedom from the probing by the people in your life? I've never been at a family gathering where everyone gangs up on Aunt Mildred and interrogates her why she's not eating the roast chicken. What kind of freak wouldn't eat that chicken, after all? And why doesn't Uncle Herb eat even a teensy bite of the lovely mashed potatoes? Sometimes exercising freedom means being strong enough to know why you're doing something. And being even stronger when others don't accept your answer.

I'm a vegan because I hate death. It's that simple. Anything I can do to not contribute to needless death I will do. For me, particularly, I've seen that animals aside from humans have feelings and thoughts...at times I'm convinced that non-human animals are actually more sentient and true than human animals who often don't know their own minds and feelings. So I have the freedom to not eat meat or animal products. And I have the freedom to fight or debate when people don't like what I choose or don't respect my choice. If they don't understand, won't understand or purposely choose to make my life more difficult, that's all part of the journey. In the 27 years I've been a vegetarian -> vegan I've been thankful to see that along the journey, I've not remained stunted, I've grown, I've changed for the better. That's also worth fighting for.