Just Say “No” to Vegan Condemnation

Lately, there’s been a huge upsurge of people joining the raw foods movement. Let me state right up front, I am high raw but not vegan. I sometimes eat vegan or vegetarian for days at a time, but am not a purist nor extremist. I don’t do so for ideological reasons, only for health reasons. When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I was a vegetarian for eight years. But I jumped down off that idealistic and judgmental lifestyle and decided to care about people, regardless of what they put in their mouths.

You see, 2-1/2 years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes, high triglycerides and high cholesterol. The doctor wanted to put me on metformin, but suggested since my levels were more in the pre-diabetic range, I might be able to turn it around with diet. So I went gung-ho to do just that, change my diet.

All my life, quite literally, I studied diet and health. I’ve helped people with their health, as I’m a healthcare provider and was a registered counselor. So I knew how to accomplish this goal.

Immediately, I went to a high raw, juicing, and somewhat paleo diet. I avoided all grains except occasional quinoa or rice, no sweeteners except stevia (whole leaf) or xylitol (birch), and low glycemic fruit sparingly. Probably just as important, I avoided all processed or refined foods and fast food restaurants. I also started walking half hour or more a day. In 12 weeks, I lost 30 pounds and my blood sugar was normal. Triglycerides and cholesterol were normal.

So what’s this got to do with condemnation?

Well, for some people, diet has taken the place of church. People seem to think they become awakened, or enlightened, by eating raw food. And if you don’t eat the right raw foods, you won’t “get to heaven,” so to speak.

Some vegans call their diet a “cruelty-free” diet – condemning people who eat meat as perpetuating cruelty. It doesn’t matter that Moses, Jesus or Mohammed ate meat. Meat, during that time period and now, was prepared by hanging an animal by its hind feet, slitting its throat and letting it bleed to death while conscious (though nowadays, perhaps unconscious). This is/was the Jewish custom of making meat kosher, or the Muslim custom of halal. They were, and still are, abiding by their religious doctrine.

If one believes the story of Jesus, not only did he eat lamb (most likely prepared kosher style, as he was Jewish) and fish, but he helped his disciples catch a mass of fish. Jesus also manifested the loaves and fish for the masses to eat. He proclaimed that bread was his body, and wine was his blood.

And yet some vegans must believe they are more enlightened than Jesus. Their new religion is, don’t kill animals and eat raw food. They are interpreting the 10 commandments, “Thou shalt not kill,” meaning any animal, not just human animals. They are saying that, in the Garden of Eden, that “perfect” place to live, meat was not in their diet. So we should go back to that diet. Some go by the theory that we aren’t intended to eat meat, based on our tooth structure. It’s a theory, nothing more. If you continue to eat meat, they condemn you as sadistic.

Never mind that the Inuit lived on, almost solely, whale meat for thousands of years and their health changed for the worst when a western diet was introduced. Or that virtually every tribe throughout the western world, hunted and ate meat for thousands of years. They were ignorant savages apparently.

We know that most of our food supply is contaminated by chemicals, or GMO, or hybrids, or bad water or acid rain. And corporations make inferior imitation products to make more money. It’s true that junk and processed foods should be avoided.

Avoiding foods like this is definitely what inspired me to begin growing an organic garden.

But here’s how it’s gone with the raw food vegan, estimation of the evolution of diet – the condemnation just keeps getting more intense:
If I live off the land, sowing my own crops, raising animals for meat, eggs and dairy, go fishing & hunting, nope, not good.
–>>You’re only good if you’re vegetarian.
–>>Nope, you’re only good if you’re now vegan.
–>>Hold on, you’re only good if you’re 100% raw vegan.
–>>Wait a second, make that 80% fruitarian (carbohydrates), 10% fats and 10% protein.
–>>What? Grow crops with cow or horse manure? You’re contributing to the abuse of animals. You terrible person, collecting animal crap!
–>>Don’t touch that honey! You’re exploiting the lives of bees. Bees should only fertilize the crops I want to eat and leave their honey alone.
–>>You want to eat garlic or onion? What’s wrong with you, poisoning your body with alkaloids?
–>>You want to eat a tomato, eggplant or potato? What’s wrong with you, poisoning yourself with food from the nightshade family?
–>> You want to eat any vegetables at all? Humans were originally made to eat only fruit.
–>>That banana skin better be good and brown, otherwise don’t bother eating it. It’s not as nutritious if it’s yellow.
–>> Wait a second. Is that tofu? Don’t you know that soybeans are the bane of human existence!? I don’t care if they aren’t GMO, they are evil and poison to your body.
–>> Hold up there. Fermented food like wheat or soy-free liquid aminos? That’s just another word for MSG! Besides, it’s cooked!
–>> Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, pickles, etc). Oh, don’t eat those! You have candida and they make yeast grow!
–>>Watch out for that piece of whole wheat organic bread. It has gluten in it!
–>> You want to cook your food? Why? Humans didn’t cook food in the beginning. Besides, you are certain to get a degenerative disease, won’t be able to digest properly, and won’t get all the nutrients you need if you cook them away.
–>>I mean, get with the program. And believe me, if you don’t, I’ll be sure to label you as the evil influence you really are! It’s because of you that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. So become enlightened like me, by eating raw fruit. It doesn’t matter if bananas are cloned and denatured – a mono-crop, and forget about watermelons with seeds. Give me seedless, I don’t care if it lacks nutrition! At least it’s not killing a poor chicken.
–>> Restricted calorie (by eating low glycemic fruit or foods) and smaller, more frequent meals went to…unrestricted calories, binging and gorging yourself on 1400 calories of bananas & dates at one sitting. Who cares about gluttony or sustainability?
–>>There was once bulimia and/or anorexia before…now it’s –>> I started binging on raw fruit. I don’t have an eating disorder now! Fruit saved me! Halleluja!
–>> Don’t even begin to mention wine, beer or coffee, or you’re surely going to end up with cancer or worse.
–>> Human breastmilk is not vegan. But don’t discuss this, it’s irrelevant to this conversation. Or I’ll make it irrelevant.
–>> Jesus and his parents ate lamb and fish. Blasphemy! He even helped his disciples fish! Murderers! Jesus turned water into wine, and multiplied the loaves and fishes. What, he fed people and ate fish? That’s irrelevant to this discussion, because we know better now. In fact, we’re more enlightened because we eat raw fruit.
–>>We vegans are peaceful and ethical by nature. But eat meat and we’re coming after you and be at your throat.
–>>Forget that, at some point in my life, I’ve eaten meat, worn leather or fur. That’s behind me. I’m enlightened now, and I’m going to make sure you become enlightened just like me. So this gives me the right to condemn anyone who does what I used to do.

Meanwhile, I’ll pet my five dogs and 10 cats (because I’m such a loving and peaceful person), who I buy cooked or raw meat for, to support a 23 billion dollar pet food industry. What do you mean? My animals are only eating scraps humans don’t want to eat. And yes, soy in dry animal feed is just fine, but not for you humans. My pets are so much better than you and deserve to eat this (cuz, you know, they’re omnivores, unlike you, and I can prove it by the shape of your teeth and again, I was in the Garden of Eden, or I read it on the internet, so it must be true), but you surely don’t deserve to eat meat or anything any other animals eat, because all you ever want to do is abuse and exploit animals, you evil human animal you! Oh, what? I don’t feed my dog meat. I force my dog to eat vegan, just like me. My vet even said it was just fine!

I think I’ve heard enough condemnation for a lifetime. Haven’t you? I just step away from these people….very slowly….but deliberately. They are free to eat what they want, just don’t tell me what to eat.

So yeah, I eat vegan sometimes. But if you don’t, that’s just fine with me! Live and let live. I don’t want to give vegans a bad name. Most of them are doing that all on their own.