Hello

[Hightower]

Hi everyone.
I'm a new vegan, just started. Frankly I'm not a very strong willed person, and I've been a very heavy meat eater up until now. I decided to become a vegan for the same reasons I'm an atheist: I seek knowledge and I follow the evidence. I've heard bits and pieces of information about the meat industry before but til now I've chosen to ignore it so I can keep eating what I want. Every time I ordered chicken wings I'd eat it and enjoy it, but I couldn't help but think to myself "several birds had their wings cut off, and just for this?". More research into the matter only made things worse. I had to make a choice, I didn't want to be a part of the problem anymore.
I don't agree with all things vegan, but I'm choosing not to support the industry that causes so much suffering. Hopefully joining this forum will give me access to the advice and knowledge I need to make this a sustainable lifestyle.

[Volenta]

Welcome! Great to hear you made the change, and it's indeed the most rational choice to make.

I don't agree with all things vegan, but I'm choosing not to support the industry that causes so much suffering. Hopefully joining this forum will give me access to the advice and knowledge I need to make this a sustainable lifestyle.

In my opinion you don't have to be very passionate against unnecessary suffering to be a vegan. It just the insane amount of suffering that the industry causes, that if you care only a little bit, you already should go vegan. There are many differences in opinion within the vegan community, so it's alright to disagree with some things. I love to hear though about the things you think you're disagreeing with.

[thebestofenergy]

Welcome!
If you need any help, feel free to make a new topic in the vegan support section.
We already have some topic about health and recipes.

[TheVeganAtheist]

Welcome to the forum and to veganism. Just curious, what specifically mean when you say "i don't agree with all things vegan"?

[brimstoneSalad]

Hi Hightower,

Nice to meet you, I'm glad you've joined the forum.

Congrats on going vegan.

Don't worry about not agreeing with everything every vegan says, we don't agree with each other on many points. We aren't a hive mind
You can find a number of arguments I've had with TheVeganAtheist here, on things from Farming and Zoos, to Semantics and appropriate word usage in activism (e.g. "meat is murder" etc.).

I'm choosing not to support the industry that causes so much suffering.

That's all it takes, at heart.

[Hightower]

Thank you for all of the friendly welcomes!
@TheVeganAtheist, I've heard a few arguments that I don't understand yet. Specifically against pet ownership and honey. I haven't done a lot of research into the various motivations behind veganism yet. Only that when I decided to start paying attention, It didn't take long to realize I needed to give up meat, egg, and milk products. I especially don't like being played the fool. I grew up thinking that you need meat to build muscle, and milk to build strong bones etc. That kind of misinformation really grinds my gears so to speak.

[Volenta]

@TheVeganAtheist, I've heard a few arguments that I don't understand yet. Specifically against pet ownership and honey.

We have a topic on pet ownership here where we discussed the problems. You yourself started the honey topic, so there you can find what the case against honey is about. Feel free to respond.

[PrincessPeach]

Welcome ! Did you become an atheist / vegan around the same time?

[brimstoneSalad]

Specifically against pet ownership and honey.

The pet ownership issue is usually more about where the pets came from- e.g. rescue pets, vs. breeders.

Since there are so many dogs and cats, for example, who are euthanized in shelters, buying a dog or cat who has been bred instead of adopting a rescue means another animal in a shelter will die. Since the only major difference in a rescue and bred animal is usually aesthetic, it's a bad choice to buy form a breeder (there are also health consequences from inbreeding).

Volenta linked to a good thread, where we discuss hypotheticals about breeding in the future, if the shelters were empty and animals were no longer killed as a result of choosing a breeder over a rescue.

Exotic pet ownership is another issue, which has to do with arguments of animal cruelty, and that these animals are often obtained by being trapped in the wild, and shipped (where many of them die in the miserable conditions in transport).
There's also a concern over whether some pets can be happy when kept with humans, in human environments (dogs and cats probably can, for others it's not so clear- rodents may also be able to lead happy lives with humans).

I especially don't like being played the fool. I grew up thinking that you need meat to build muscle, and milk to build strong bones etc. That kind of misinformation really grinds my gears so to speak.

I know what you mean. It's really disgraceful how much misinformation the industry - and old wives tales - spread.

The vegan community isn't completely free from misinformation either, but it's a bit better (and the vegan skeptic community is better still).

[Hightower]

Welcome ! Did you become an atheist / vegan around the same time?

I stopped believing that a god exists when I was a preteen, I'm going on 30 now. I've only started a vegan diet this week. I've heard that vegans are good at cooking and I have to say it seems to be true. I've never made anything more than a hamburger helper before but early this week I made a big pot of vegan spaghetti from a recipe I found online. I've never even sauteed something before but I did my best and it turned out quite delicious!