Relationship between family about my lifestyle

[Asphy]

I used to like meat ( though i really didnt know what they were ), as time grew older i've began eating vege food as part of my interests, no one told me vege is a good lifestyle, jusy like it because of the "juice" inside it.

Currently, i am 15 years old and having problems with my father and mother. Over the past 2 years, ive started to become a vegetarian ( same with my friend and my older brother ). Why? Because of the cruelty, suffer and pain people give to the animals, i have watched several videos about Slaughterhouses with animals being killed. I was disgusted with it.

My brother ( who is a Buddhist ) taught me why i shouldnt eat meat, thats why i stopped. Father who apparently calls me "skinny" due to my physical appearance, so does my mother. Both who encourages me to eat meat to gain a "proper" appearance. One day, a family day including my older brother went to our house to eat. My brother who also had no interest into meat, he once told me that if you eat meat, it will make your father happy.

"You dont want your relatives to cry and suffer pain? Or unhappy with you through out your life? When someone offers food who is close to you, you must show respect to them by eating what you are given."

I had no choice but to eat meat that is on the table, i love both animals AND my relatives. But which one will i decide? I dont consider myself as a vegetarian...

[animallover7249]

You DO have a choice. Your relatives might be offended (but they shouldn't be, and it won't last) but not eating meat will not KILL them, eating meat does directly kill many animals. Explain to your family why you don't eat meat and ask them to respect your morals.

I understand you feel torn as you want your family to accept you, and you don't want to hurt their feelings. I am 17 and have been veg for years. but, when I first when veg my uncle told my grandmother I could eat shrimp. So she bought me shrimp. I felt horrible because she bought something she thought I could eat, but I wasn't going to eat all those dead bodies. I told her I appreciated the thought but vegetarians don't eat any animals, and that includes sea animals.

My family is also full of hunters and fishers so I am totally the black sheep. The other day my dad was telling his friend about how when I was really little (like, so young I barely understood what meat was) how I ate what he killed and how he "doesn't know what happened but now [I] havnt ate any meat in years" and stuff.

You just have to remember why you don't want to eat meat. You don't want to support death, abuse, and murder. You're not doing it for your family, you're doing it for your own reasons. They should respect that. :)

[Shifu]

Maybe it is respectful to eat the food when it has been made for you, but your family should also respect YOU - i.e. by respecting your decision not to eat meat. It doesn't have to been an either/or decision - you can have both your family and vegetarianism :)

Perhaps you could have chat with them and explain why you want this lifestyle, and make sure they understand that it doesn't have to effect the family relationship. Love shouldn't be dependent on food, and I'm sure they wouldn't, for example, force a family member to eat a hot curry if they know that person doesn't like spicy food. And they should not pressure you to eat meat, whatever your reasons might be.

To make it easier, you could offer to cook dinner sometimes (so that you all eat a vegetarian meal together, as a family). And on family ocassions you can help to prepare all the food - so that the vegetable side dishes don't have meat put in them.

If they are concerned about your health as a vegetarian, then go through some info with them about how healthy the lifestyle is.

[Pixelle]

"You dont want your relatives to cry and suffer pain? Or unhappy with you through out your life? When someone offers food who is close to you, you must show respect to them by eating what you are given."


I'm aware that this is a difficult problem to get around in your culture but ultimately, I think you should ask your family if they want YOU to suffer?

Would they rather see you feeling extremely uncomfortable and sad eating meat just to please them so that they can feel like good hosts, or, would they like to show some respect for you by letting you eat what makes you most at ease. I think just the act of you eating with them is showing enough respect, what you eat when you are there is really irrelevant.

[Byzantea]

By the same logic, if you cooked vegetarian meals for them then they must eat the meals to make you happy and accept what you have given them.

[jenni-anti-fur]

Sorry You Have to Go Through This...and I sorta did...I went Veggie when I was 16...and My Dads Mom...Normally people call her Grandma...Not me we werent close...she made a Ham...and I wouldnt eat it...I ate the Salad and side dishes and I even brough Veggie side dishes to share....but she was sooo angry during the whole meal...saying I ruined it and that she may not be able to forgive me...and how disrespectful I am...and on and On...Well I was Lucky that My Parents stood up for me...and Basically told her to mind her own business...Things between us were never the same.

Peace Love and happiness

Jenn:dunce: