The vegan mistake

Valuing animal life, respecting animal feelings, and reducing the
size of one's ecological footprint. These are all worthy ideals
which motivate veganism and in general vegan diets, come closer
to achieving these ideals than omnivorous ones. However it seems
to me that most vegans treat their diet as the end in itself
rather than the means to an end. Consuming vegan foods that has
been flown from the other side of the Earth or that may have
had a deleterious effect on rainforest habitats is less likely
to cause offence than dishing up food with cutlery that has
been contaminated by meat. Why?

"Dave" <prplbn.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote
> Valuing animal life, respecting animal feelings, and reducing the
> size of one's ecological footprint. These are all worthy ideals
> which motivate veganism and in general vegan diets, come closer
> to achieving these ideals than omnivorous ones. However it seems
> to me that most vegans treat their diet as the end in itself
> rather than the means to an end. Consuming vegan foods that has
> been flown from the other side of the Earth or that may have
> had a deleterious effect on rainforest habitats is less likely
> to cause offence than dishing up food with cutlery that has
> been contaminated by meat.

Excellent point.

>Why?

There are a lot of different answers to that question.

People behave in certain ways because they get payoffs from it. As I see it,
one of the primary payoffs in veganism is the warm, fuzzy feeling one gets
being a member of an exclusive club. That may explain veganism becoming an
end in itself.

Ideas tend to evolve, not always in constructive ways, and veganism tends to
evolve into something akin to the idea of "Animal Rights" which is a tough
cookie to put back in the box once it's out.

And my personal favorite, a quote from John Mercer, "Sanctimony has a
powerful appeal to small minds."