Vegans and non-vegans alike are welcome. Post an intro here first to have your account authenticated by a mod, then you'll be able to post anywhere.
Even if you're here to lurk, please drop a short intro post here to let us know you're not a spammer so you aren't accidentally deleted.
Hello, I'm Sarah. It's nice to be part of a community with similar interests and opinions as myself while still having the opportunity to converse with others who have different interests and opinions. I look forward to having insightful and intellectual discussions with many of you in the future.
I just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in environmental science, which actually means I'm broke and jobless. Now that I have all the free time in the world, I can finally catch up on my life. As you can see, I'm awkward with introductions; I never know what to write. I suppose I can talk about my relationship with god and meat, but I have a feeling nobody really wants to hear it. Here's the short version: I've been atheist since 9th or 10th grade, and I hate eating meat and buying into our corrupt meat industry. I currently eat meat, but I'm slowly moving away from eating it. I stopped drinking milk a long time ago, and as for eggs and cheese, they are like alcohol, addicting and delicious for someone without self control, like myself for example.
“Satan has certainly been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years.”
― Anton Szandor LaVey
Jishmeister wrote:Hello, I'm Sarah. It's nice to be part of a community with similar interests and opinions as myself while still having the opportunity to converse with others who have different interests and opinions. I look forward to having insightful and intellectual discussions with many of you in the future.
I just graduated with a Bachelor's degree in environmental science, which actually means I'm broke and jobless. Now that I have all the free time in the world, I can finally catch up on my life. As you can see, I'm awkward with introductions; I never know what to write. I suppose I can talk about my relationship with god and meat, but I have a feeling nobody really wants to hear it. Here's the short version: I've been atheist since 9th or 10th grade, and I hate eating meat and buying into our corrupt meat industry. I currently eat meat, but I'm slowly moving away from eating it. I stopped drinking milk a long time ago, and as for eggs and cheese, they are like alcohol, addicting and delicious for someone without self control, like myself for example.
Hello and welcome to the forums Sarah! I'm sure you'll find and meet some great people that would love to hear your stories.
I'm glad you've joined us. I hope you'll like it here.
Jishmeister wrote:I hate eating meat and buying into our corrupt meat industry. I currently eat meat, but I'm slowly moving away from eating it. I stopped drinking milk a long time ago, and as for eggs and cheese, they are like alcohol, addicting and delicious for someone without self control, like myself for example.
I know how you feel. It took me a really long time- although I knew I was moving in that direction. Cheese is like crack. And it's hard to get away from it, because it's everywhere (while alcohol advertisement, and thankfully cigarettes today, is less common).
I don't think self control is one of those things that either you have or you don't, but it's something you build. By stopping eating some of those things, I found I could exercise more self control in other areas of life too; one learns some useful techniques and discipline that work for almost anything.
My entire family (minus my brother and I) are Muslims. My mom's side don't seem to really practice the religion, but my dad's side is more strict. I have many cousins on his side who wear the hijab and are over dressed all the time. My parents never tried to really force it on us. They just taught us that there is a god that loves people and watches over us. As young children, we believed our parents. But as I got older (old enough to notice boys, for example) I noticed my dad was more strict about me and dating (as well as drinking alcohol and eating pork). Even hanging out with friends who were guys ircked him. I'm his only daughter and I know part of it is that he's my dad and he'll always worry about me finding a nice guy, but the other part is that he lets this ridiculous religion get in his way of making rational thoughts. Like, he expects me to marry someone, but I can't date because it's 'haram' and it will lead to sex before marriage, which is also 'haram.' It just doesn't make any sense. Other than that, we were never religious. Now, we drink and eat whatever we want, we don't bother praying 5 times a day, or overly covering up.
Don't get the wrong idea of my dad. He's been so great. He's always supported us in every way, and though he can be quite the controlling stubborn micromanager, he's also a goofball and has a funny sense of humor. He also loves Bill Maher's movie Religulous (sp?).
“Satan has certainly been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years.”
― Anton Szandor LaVey
Sounds like you had it pretty lucky, as far as religious families go. Some get disowned for not believing anymore- it's really sad that religion can tear apart a family due to stubbornness.
No alcohol is pretty reasonable for kids, who can be pretty crazy as it is; unfortunately, saying 'no' only makes them want it more.
No pork would be reasonable if he has reasons for it- like health, environment, animal welfare- but not so much because pigs are magically unclean animals forbidden by Allah. Why didn't Muhammad say that pigs were forbidden because they're as intelligent as young human children? That's the kind of thing that, if it occurred in religions, would make them much less absurd.
The 'not eating something' is a commonality for Jews, Muslims, and Vegans- although we think their reasons are crazy, I've gotten more respect from Jews and Muslims because they understand how annoying it can be to be "tempted" with this or that all of the time. They usually don't wave things in my face like Christians usually do.
Do you find the forum to be quiet and inactive?
- Do your part by engaging in new and old topics
- Don't wait for others to start NEW topics, post one yourself
- Invite family, friends or critics
@brimstonesalad: I live in the U.S. I am Lebanese American. I agree, I was lucky with my family but also have relatives who were disowned for converting, or marrying someone of a different race and religion. It's a shame how much conflict religion causes.
“Satan has certainly been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years.”
― Anton Szandor LaVey
As you can see, I'm awkward with introductions; I never know what to write. I suppose I can talk about my relationship with god and meat, but I have a feeling nobody really wants to hear it. Here's the short version: I've been atheist since 9th or 10th grade, and I hate eating meat and buying into our corrupt meat industry. I currently eat meat, but I'm slowly moving away from eating it. I stopped drinking milk a long time ago, and as for eggs and cheese, they are like alcohol, addicting and delicious for someone without self control, like myself for example. 
