#and also being raised christian makes your veganism inherently insufferable. i stand by this.

[neonstatic]

speaking of. my childhood best friend was a vegan. that was back when it was still fairly new and a mockable offense. and she used to always get asked “why are you vegan?” over and over. questioned about her morals, her health, her allergies. challenged to have a bite of burger or pizza, to see her reaction. would she be able to tell there’s animal products in this. would she feel sick. would she be mad. would she cry about it. and it would always piss me off, just how invested other ppl were in her business. 

which made the shift in the attitude towards veganism so very interesting. because it went from “it’s cringe to be vegan” to “it’s good, no, ideal to be vegan.” and now ppl would look at her (the vegan) then at me (the non-vegan) and then it was all, “well, why aren’t you vegan?” which, well, i had to do a lot of thinking about it and answering because she would never intervene when i was questioned by ppl. ever. bc ofc she also wanted to hear my answers. 

see, we were both raised christians. so: black-and-white morals, superiority complex, victim complex, this is all ingrained in us in some ways. i was never religious through all of this whereas she used to have a pretty strong faith up until we were teens. last time we spoke, she was a solid atheist à la Religion is Stupid (but if one of your close friend is homophobic they’re still a good person. go fkg figure.) anyway i believe, in some ways, that she’s traded christianity for veganism. for all the nuance she got from distancing herself from the strict religious regime we were raised in, most of that was flushed down the toilet once she started getting into veganism more deeply. for some, veganism isn’t just a lifestyle, it’s a belief system.

you’re either a vegan or you’re not. you either like and respect animals, or you look down on and abuse them. you’re either a good person (like me) or a bad person. she had that “i’m better than you” air to her at times. not always! but it showed sometimes. and she was always eager to propose an alternative to meat, milk, eggs, etc. which, hey, i was in for it. i’m not that big a fan of meat myself. but as time went, it did feel as if she wished i would become vegan already. 

why was she close friends with a carnist? how could she possibly be a good vegan if she couldn’t convince her own best friend to convert to the lifestyle? how could i watch the same documentaries, read the same articles as her, and not come to the conclusion that veganism is the solution? “i just don’t see it that way” never was enough of an answer because to her, there was no other way to see it. if you didn’t think going vegan was the key then you didn’t get it, you didn’t care about animals as much as she did. and since i couldn’t change her mind, i finally said, “yeah, i guess i just don’t care about animals as much.” and ohhh y’all when i say that she HATED that, but i could tell it did smth for her ykno? it reinforced her belief that she cared abt animals more than me, better than me. that she thought about being a good person more than me. that she was better for leading a “cruelty-free” life. she truly had a hard time swallowing the fact that i could care for animal welfare but that it didn’t equate to me cutting them off my diet. it was only logical that i didn’t care about those things. that i just didn’t understand these things like her. and it would result in off-hand comments much like your aunt who insinuates you wouldn’t feel so aimless in life if you looked for “His guidance” every now and then. 

oh she loves you so damn much... in spite of your life choices. she’s willing to look past all the bad because there’s still hope there. if only you will stop being so stubborn and listen to her already and Do The Right Thing.

like. it’s weird!!!! or at least it was. i can only hope she’s relaxed now but i can’t know for sure since we aren’t on talking terms anymore. 

(she used to really like peta :/ yuck.)