Vegans shouldn't have sex with meat eaters?

[edgiko]

There's a group in New Zealand vegans shunning vegans who have relations with meat eaters.

Do you think this is taking Veganism to an extreme?

I think it does. You can't be 100% vegan. It's only something you try to achieve, but so many everyday products we use are not vegan. I'm sure we're familiar with cars and junk

Comments

[purple_lamb_lol]

I'm in a relationship with a meat eater and I hope to eventually inspire him to lead a lifestyle that's better for animals but:
"When you are vegan or vegetarian, you are very aware that when people eat a meaty diet, they are kind of a graveyard for animals,"
and
"I would not want to be intimate with someone whose body is literally made up from the bodies of others who have died for their sustenance."
sounds extreme and more likely to alienate than influence. Obviously it's up to them who they're intimate with,
but I definitely feel they would have no right to judge me for being with my soulmate although he happens to eat meat,
and for believing in compromise instead of condemnation.

[mcb_homis]

I guess any group has the right to shun people they find not behaving within the groups accepted behaviors; that said you don’t have to belong to that group either and there beliefs are only binding if you want to belong.

The idea of vegans and omnivores in intimate relationships seems to be analogist to a relationship between two people (both devote) of very different religious backgrounds. Why would you want to have a relationship that intimate with someone that held a moral system that much different than your own. Certainly I could see being co-worker/associate/friend but to be involved in an intimate relationship, no I personally would not do it. And going into such an intimate relationship with the expectation that you WILL “convert” them to your beliefs whether that be, religious, dietary or just habits like squeezing the toothpaste tube in the middle is a bad idea IMHO.

[trancendenz]

There are a lot of people that deal in opposites, that have different political views, etc.

I personally would like the fact if I was dating something with a different view point about politics, etc. because then it gives something to discuss. It's the people that get angry when they discuss that can't deal in opposites.

[smumma6125]

"And going into such an intimate relationship with the expectation that you WILL “convert” them to your beliefs whether that be, religious, dietary or just habits like squeezing the toothpaste tube in the middle is a bad idea IMHO."

Agreed, I sure the hell wouldn't want to get with someone who has this odd hidden agenda in their minds that they would try to convert me just cause I don't follow their worldviews. :B

I think relationships should be built on trust and love rather than this but that could just be me.

[likethewatch]

Anyone who feels that strongly about veganism *can't* have a relationship with a meat-eater, any more than a born-again Christian can with an agnostic. To have a successful relationship, you have to have mutual respect and enough core values in common not to face deep conflict three times a day plus snacks. Someone who thinks my body is made of dead animals isn't going to want to have sex with me, and if I know they think that, I don't want to have sex with them, either. Separatist vegans will go the way of separatist lesbians: neither group can reproduce with a high level of success (ref Nina Planck) and without medical intervention (ref test tube babies). So let 'em, it's their lives, and I'll go on eating delicious meat and having delicious sex with others who don't mind at all that I enjoy a full, natural diet.

[tiredshaw]

Interesting, my daughters might object to you saying that vegans can't reproduce with a high level of success.

[likethewatch]

They might, but the history says that humans can't maintain a vegan society, and the science suggests it's because of those nutrients that are so essential to human health and reproduction that are only found in animal foods. There has never been a vegan society, so we have no evidence people can reproduce more than a couple of generations with no animal foods.

[tiredshaw]

What evidence is there that vegans can't reproduce for more than a few generations? We currently live in a society where (relatively) fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains are available enough for many people to not need to eat animal products any more. There are even inexpensive non-animal derived nutritional supplements for those that don't think said food items provide enough nutrients.

[tiredshaw]

If you're talking about sex, it should absolutely not be an issue. Relationships are different though. A vegan and an omni can have a relationship but it'd probably be inconvenient.

Differences in Ideologies

[theevilchemist]

"I think it does. You can't be 100% vegan.

While this may be true, there is a huge difference in ideologies between someone who makes it a part of their life to "get as far away from zero as possible" and someone who doesn't care, just as there is a difference in thinking between someone eats a burger and someone who burns kittens alive on a barb-b-que.

"The point is, that shouldn't be a factor in a relationship.*anything* can be a factor in a relationship, whether it be age, gender, height, weight, physical appearance, religion, ethnicity, profession, income, desire or disinterest in having children, distance, legal status, socio-political beliefs, personality the list goes on and on and on

Re: Differences in Ideologies

[weeona]

Man.

I'm giving you one internet.
All your comments, especially the ones in the thread above, have been full of win.

Thanks for sharing such thoughtful, well reasoned posts.
:)