Confessions of a vegetarian

[epski]

Confessions of a vegetarian (http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/98/227/text/03_1.html)

Arizona student newspaper columnist brings up the idiocy of vegetarians who eat poultry and fish but goes... "a different" way with his solution:

I have become a vegetarian out of protest. I will continue to label myself as such in the most opportune of circumstances; for example, as I bite into a double quarter pounder with cheese inside the local McDonald's. With any luck, I will make great strides in exposing the hypocrisy that is slowly becoming vegetarianism.

[goatee]

Hopefully in time he'll become a real vegetarian. I'm glad he is exposing the imposters.

[eggplant]

Uh, yeah, eating a quarter-pounder really helps the situation...:rolleyes:

[ALL]

very nice :D

I see these imposter "vegitarians" all the time in my biz.

Sometimes they even claim to be vegan ...
Just before the order the calamri

[das_nut]

]I see these imposter "vegitarians" all the time in my biz.

Sometimes they even claim to be vegan ...
Just before the order the calamri

Vegetarians don't eat cute animals.
Vegans don't eat cute animals nor anything that comes from a cute animal. :p

[epski]

very nice :D

I see these imposter "vegitarians" all the time in my biz.

Sometimes they even claim to be vegan ...
Just before the order the calamri

What biz is that?

[Brandon]

The significance of such a seemingly minute detail must not be underestimated. There are two serious problems here. First, we have an entire generation of "vegetarians" who not only lie to those around them but to themselves as well. Second, great swaths of people blindly buy into an ideology they know little to nothing about.

Exactly! I live with one of these false-vegetarians. He tells people that he either is a vegetarian, or that he is a semi or near vegetarian. To top it off he's Jewish, and recently bought some cheese at the frickin' mall that contains pepperoni, which is pork- something that jewish people historically eschew.
I actually enjoyed reading the article, as I think that the author is able to spot the liars and hypocrites even as someone outside of veg*nism.
Now, like goatee said, if only the author would actually take the next step...

[Amy SF]

[color=green]To top it off he's Jewish, and recently bought some cheese at the frickin' mall that contains pepperoni, which is pork- something that jewish people historically eschew.

That doesn't bug me as much - a lot of Jews don't bother to keep kosher. I don't. On the other hand, if he made himself out to be a religious Jew who wore a skullcap, prayed a lot, kept the Sabbath, and went to synagogue all the time, and still didn't keep kosher... :think: Then I think your criticism of his pepperoni-eating would be apt.

[Brandon]

Amy, it's just another symptom of a bigger problem: hypocrisy. He's made lots of anti-pork, pro-kosher comments in the past. Then I have seen him eat pepperoni pizza because "it was free". I didn't mean to make it sound like his judaic background was an issue, just his hypocrisy in that area combined with his "vegetarian" diet.

[Sokara]

UofA woot.

I think his perspective as an omnivore makes the story. He's no worse than any other omni.

[shineonyou]

i would like to think that those of us who are true vegetarian or are true vegans and who label outselves as such are doing a lot more to squash hypocrisy... i don't see how he's really helping and i don't see why he cares. he's not the one who has to deal with being offered meals he wouldn't choose to eat.

[epski]

Oh, he's not really trying to help. He just thinks he's clever. Common malady.

[ilovemydragon]

Exactly! I live with one of these false-vegetarians. He tells people that he either is a vegetarian, or that he is a semi or near vegetarian. To top it off he's Jewish, and recently bought some cheese at the frickin' mall that contains pepperoni, which is pork- something that jewish people historically eschew.
I actually enjoyed reading the article, as I think that the author is able to spot the liars and hypocrites even as someone outside of veg*nism.
Now, like goatee said, if only the author would actually take the next step...

Jewish does not mean kosher. If he isnt kosher then he didnt break any kosher rules. There are also 3 levels of Judaism more or less (Orthodox, conservative and reform) and they in many ways very differant. Orthodox Jews do not consider Reform Jews "Jews" at all.

[Brandon]

Jewish does not mean kosher. If he isnt kosher then he didnt break any kosher rules. There are also 3 levels of Judaism more or less (Orthodox, conservative and reform) and they in many ways very differant. Orthodox Jews do not consider Reform Jews "Jews" at all.

Thanks for the information. My knowledge of Judaism is pretty much based in what my roommate has told me, and I'm willing to bet he isn't a reliable source. RE: my last post, he claims to eschew pork, but I've seen him consume things to the contrary.

I probably shouldn't have posted here in the 1st place, my arguments with his lifestyle run more deeply than just this issue. I have no idea what kind of Jew he considers himself, but I am guessing he's not much of one. He is apparently celebrating Christmas this year, and not Hannukah, so that is a bit confusing to me.
Anyway, I didn't mean to air my ignorance in regards to Judaic culture, nor step on any toes. I just don't like my roommate.
That being said, do carry on....:)

[manics_fan]

Does the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) really say thst chicken and fish aren't meat? because that's pretty stupid if it's true. If vegetarian organizations are going around saying that then of course we're gonna get more chicken and fish eating "vegetarians"

[Tesseract]

From American Heritage Dictionary:

meat, n.
1. The edible flesh of animals, especially that of mammals as opposed to that of fish or poultry.
From the IVU website:
Vegetarian: For the purpose of membership of IVU, vegetarianism includes veganism and is defined as the practice of not eating meat, poultry or fish or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs.
The IVU is being as clear as they possibly can that vegetarians don't eat the flesh of any animals.

At one time in the English language, 'meat' meant any food. It then became narrowed to mean only the flesh of animals, but we still have relics of the early meaning in the form of nutmeats and sweetmeats. It is now in the process of becoming narrowed again to mean only the flesh of mammals. Like it or not, it IS happening. I suspect that in another three centuries or so, it will mean only beef. Not even pork or lamb will be 'meat.'

If you want to avoid confusion, do not depend on people to have the same meaning of 'meat' as you. Say you don't eat animals instead. I am tired of vegetarians whining that they are the only ones who know the correct definition of 'meat.' Face it, the correct definition is changing. Language does that from time to time.

[Kyo]

I agree with Tesseract. It's not a good idea to define vegetarians as people that don't eat meat; that causes confusion and is part of the problem. I see some people on veggieboards define it that way but think we should be more explicit. Then we won't get those dumb arguments like: vegetarians can eat fish because fish isn't a meat. The definition should be clear enough that it's meaning doesn't depend upon whether or not fish and chicken are meat.

[shineonyou]

Does the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) really say thst chicken and fish aren't meat? because that's pretty stupid if it's true. If vegetarian organizations are going around saying that then of course we're gonna get more chicken and fish eating "vegetarians"

in english, meat is oftened used to mean beef, pork, chicken and fish, even if it doesn't always mean all four. but this is the INTERNATIONAL Vegetarian Union, so I think we need to think outside the English box. to my best understanding, in both spanish and german, the word that would be translated as "meat" doesn't refer to chicken or fish, and in japanese, the word for meat doesn't refer fish.

in anyone else familar with any other languages? does it work similarly in those languages? this may be kind of straying off topic, but i am studing three languages this semester along with linguistics class so i think about these things a lot!

[Adagio]

It means roughly the same thing in French (viande) as in English (meat), at least in the local vernacular.