Response to Shelby

In her blog Shelby asks what is the best way to talk to people about vegetarianism without being threatening or rude?

I think this is a tricky situation. As Shelby points out in her post, many people are already threatened by vegetarianism before you even start talking. Honestly, who can blame them? People have no desire to be told they're doing something that is morally or ethically incorrect, especially when consuming animals is such a deeply rooted tradition in society.

I think the best way to begin talking with someone about the morality of consuming animals who is not a vegetarian is to remember that you, as the vegetarian, is the "weird" one in the conversation. What you're doing is not normal behavior, so if you start getting upset or being condescending you're pretty much sealing the argument against yourself. We walk a delicate line here. We're telling someone that they're not only doing something that we don't personally agree with but that they're acting unethically and violating morality. It's a big claim to make, no matter which side of the argument you're on.

We all know that there are some people you just can't talk to. They've already made up their minds to the point that they don't want to hear you out. I think the only thing to do here is to lead by example and hope that maybe someday they'll realize that being a vegetarian doesn't mean you live in a tree or wear burlap (necessarily).

However, I think it's important to talk about vegetarianism to people who do and do not consume meat. It's a huge lifestyle decision and a moral choice that everyone faces every single day, several times a day. Everyone should try as hard as they can to keep an open dialogue going about this issue. It's too important to let petty differences get in the way. After all, lives quite literally hang in the balance.

My question is for those of us who are not vegetarians (I promise I don't mean to offend anyone, I'm honestly curious): How would you defend your consumption of meat to a vegetarian/vegan based on morality and ethics?