So here's the thing about vegans... people love to hate on them because they are often unwitting mirrors through which we reflect on our own ethics. For full clarity, I am not a vegan or vegetarian myself--I ate bacon on my cheese pizza last night and it was delicious.

I think deep down, a lot of us know vegans have good argument. Mass farming often puts livestock through awful conditions and has a net negative environmental impact. Regardless of whether or not you believe it is unethical to ever slaughter an animal for any reason, most of us know that at the very least it is better for our health, our environment, and for animal welfare if we can all even just reduce our meat intake.

To be a non-vegan makes the mere presence of a vegan or vegetarian feel uncomfortable to us. We rationalize certain behaviors--such as eating meat--by saying "well everyone does it." When we meet people who don't do it, they challenge that base assumption. And well, if they stopped doing the thing "everyone" does, what excuse do you have? It makes it so someone simply acknowledging their own vegan lifestyle feel like an attack on the morality of non-vegans.

Now consider the fact that your sister likely genuinely believes that cruelty against animals, including slaughter for food, is an inherently evil act. How do you just sit back and let your family keep doing something evil? How do you let them keep making choices that hurt themselves, animals, the environment, and society? How do you spend time with them and act like you aren't bothered when you are?

I think it's more than fair for you to spend less time with your sister because thats your right, and sometimes it doesn't matter if someone is coming from a good place or not, it doesn't make their condescension easier to handle. And it makes sense to want to spend your time with people who don't shame you, and not people who do. But I also think there is a version of this conversationwhere you both listen more to what the other person is really saying.

NAH