My fellow veggies, please read this. It's long...

[flvegan]

In regards to recent threads in various forums here at DU that turn in to anti-PETA, anti-veg flame wars, please hear me.

This is frustrating, I know. Please, don't put folks on "Ignore" for their opinions on hunting and eating meat. I hate drawing lines in the sand. It helps noone. Let me give an example...

I'm a vegan, but I'm also an animal rights activist. I've been called "over the top" and extreme. Whatever. Here, greyhound racing is not only legal, but prevalent. When I became active here, other AR folks wouldn't participate in anti-racing protests as some participants would wear leather shoes, or eat McDeath afterwards. It just didn't fit the vegan/AR image. So, I posed the question: What would the dogs say? They'd probably want every person to speak for them, regardless of their other beliefs. Hopefully, they'd come full-circle. Now, everyone is appreciated.

My organization holds protests, and I'm thankful for every person that comes out for that specific cause. If they wear leather, sure, that bugs me, but that's a different fight. Maybe these are folks in transition. I cut red meat out, but ate poultry. I went vegetarian before I went vegan. I'm no less a person, and my commitment is concrete.

DU is a place for progressives/dems/liberals fed up with the Bush regime, neocons and rethugs in general. This is common ground for us. Let's keep our disagreements in a time/place mentality. Sure, if someone wants to berate veg folks or cheer hunting, have at them. However, some of those, as I've learned, that hunt, eat meat, wear fur, have very valid, important, educational things to say in regards to our common cause. If I put every meat-eating pro-hunting asshat that I knew on a mental "ignore" I'd really be losing out.

Tolerance is a very difficult mindset. When one is passionate about a number of things, the lines can be blurred. Find your common ground and hold fast. When you disagree, don't let that taint what you can stand together on.

I can admit it. If I waited for the vegan animal rights folks of the world to end animal abuse, I'd die seeing little change. Common ground...embrace it. Don't divide. Egos aside. They have no place here.

I've grown to the point where I could see two almost simultaneous posts from the same handle, with my response. Like this:
LOUNGE THREAD
Post: I just bought my wife a mink stole. Ask me anything!
My Response: Shit. Do you know how many animals they had to anally electrocute for that, you f'ing moron?

GENERAL DISCUSSION THREAD
Post: Bush is spending $40 million on his 2nd election theft party. What can we do?
My Response: Let's go to the streets in DC, brother. Rattle the cage. I'm with you.

Common ground. We'll never agree on everything here, but we need to be united on what we agree on. I'm certainly not advocating surrender. Fight like it's the end of the world on animal issues (I do), but don't block out the other stuff. Stand together when you can, disagree when you must.

Sorry that I took so much of your time in reading this.

[smbolisnch]

1. Great post, Flvegan.

I completely agree with you. I have been a member for 6 months or so, and lurked long before that. In that time, my ignore list up to today has grown to 4 people.

I don't put everyone that disagrees with me on ignore, for the very reasons you just talked about. The people on my list have either insulted me personally and intentionally OR have a habit of being rude and nasty to a lot of people on DU, randomly.

I agree with everything you have said, and I hope you don't think I or anyone else is being too closed minded or intolerant. I can't speak for the others in our group here, but I feel like my ignore list is valid and fair. I just really don't think that anyone who would make a deliberate attempt to hurt my feelings or my friend's feelings can bring anything to MY table. :shrug:

I hope that makes sense. :)

[flvegan]

2. Nope, smbolisnch, I hear you

If they insult you personally or have no merit at all, hit the "ignore" and go on your way. I'm not aiming my suggestion at anyone, nor do I think that anyone specifically has or is going to put a hunter or meat-eater on ignore. I just don't want any of us to close our minds to some of the tasks at hand, nor be reactionary due to our personal passions.

[smbolisnch]

3. Great, and I totally agree!

I wish that everyone would just be able to find some common ground. *sigh*

[Gothic Sponge]

4. Good post

I agree, we are all fighting on the same team, but some of us just have different priorities. I didn't put anyone on my ignore list.

[Piperay]

5. I agree with you

I don't put anyone on ignore just because I disagree with them but I do not want to come across the posted (with pride) picture of a slaughtered deer. People that just talk about hunting are one thing but I don't want to have that kind of thing stuck in my face unexpectedly, when they do that they cross my line. :-(

[livinginphotographs]

6. I don't put anyone on ignore.

And I've had some nasty posts come my way (and some go right back at 'em :) ). I completely agree with your sentiment, but I do keep a mental note of the over-the-top pro-hunting asshats, and take all of their other posts with a grain of salt.

[JackieO]

7. Thanks

I've been thinking about the common ground thing a lot recently and this reflects a lot of my thoughts. It's interesting how someone you have profound disagreements with in one area can be one of your greatest allies in another fight. I personally am finding it harder and harder to tolerate abject speciesism however. I realize I'm in the minority and try to be political and choose my battles wisely. I'm in it for the long haul.