Saturday, January 24, 2009

Am I a hypocrite?

hyp⋅o⋅crite

–noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

Am I a hypocrite for being vegetarian, not vegan?

When people ask me why I'm vegetarian I tell them I have many reasons. I don't like to preach vegetarianism to people, but when they are genuinely interested I'll tell them. Evey time I do so I feel like a hypocrite. My three reasons for being a vegetarian are;

My Heath.
This is the only reason I do not feel hypocritical about. Being a vegetarian is a great diet.

Compassion
I feel animals should not be abused they way they are. I cringe when I think about the murder of animals. Is it hypocritical that I eat dairy and eggs? I know that getting milk from cows will not kill them, but at the end of the day, when that dairy cow stops producing milk she will be killed. I am supporting the companies that do this. I know all the animals will die eventually and they never got to live a natural life.

Environment

I have great concern for what we are doing to out planet. Eating animal products uses a lot of resources. It's horrible for the environment. Being a vegetarian reduces this waste, but it is still not the best opinion. Being vegan uses the least resources. Is this like saying I only recycle half the time?