Cramming Plant-Based Food Down Your Throat (or 'Now I Know How Believers Feel')
A lot of people criticise believers for trying to cram their faith down people’s throats and, as an atheist, I am not unsympathetic. There’s nothing worse than being committed to a course in life and someone else treating you like you’re on the fence or misguided.
However, I’ve always ascribed to the view that I understand where believers are coming from. If I thought I knew of a sure-fire way to avoid eternal damnation, you’d better believe I’d be telling EVERYONE about it. This is important, people. It’s the sanctity of your immortal soul that’s on the table. You NEED to know this. There are some people who probably think that prayer is the hand sanitiser and mask for COVID of the soul.
As an atheist, I’ve never felt much compelled to impress my faith in absence on others. I try to live and let live. So long as you’re not hurting anyone, go wild.
But that changed a little when I became a vegan. Seriously, if you’re an atheist and you ever want to walk a mile in a believer’s shoes, become a vegan. It’s transformative.
My partner and I went vegan at the same time. There were a couple of factors at play. We lost a couple of our cats and realised that we were spending hundreds of pounds trying to keep our animals alive while also supporting an industry that killed millions of other animals. MADNESS! There was also the health factor. We wanted to be healthier and, when we looked into it, veganism was the answer.
That’s where Michael Greger, M.D. and his website, Nutrition Facts, comes in. Doctor Greger and his team of volunteers comb through all the reputable, peer-reviewed studies in nutrition to find the scientifically proven truth about food. As it turns out, the best diet for health is a plant-based diet. Hands down.
Now, here’s the crunch. When you look through the literature, you’ll see the negative impact the meat and dairy industry has on the world, the millions of needless deaths from associated cancer, diabetes and heart disease, the pollution, the animal cruelty and suffering, the misery of people who lost friends and family, the money and time lost, especially in the United States, on sickness and healthcare. After you’ve been a vegan for a little while and you’ve started to feel better, happier, healthier, you realise that veganism is almost a magic bullet.
And you want to tell everyone. You want to tell them that you feel better, that you don’t get sick so much anymore and that your old health problems are clearing up and that veganism is how we can all contribute to things like global warming and pandemic prevention. Because it’s not just better for us and better for animals, it’s sustainable and better for the planet too.
Not only that, but they can go vegan. Just about everyone I speak to always says, ‘I could never do that’, but they can. Of course they can. I did. I never thought I could live without cheese. That was the real sticking point for me but, once it was out of the house and I committed not to buy it anymore, the craving went. For a while, I was ‘mostly vegan’ and still ate dairy when I was in restaurants but eventually even that stopped. You can do it gradually. Whatever works for you.
But, once you’re a vegan, now you’re in a quandary. You have this information but, if you start talking to people about it, you’re going to get into arguments and you’re going to sound preachy. Yeah, I can maybe see where the faithful are coming from. I have information that could save people’s lives, reverse their diabetes, eradicate their heart disease, prevent cancer, but how do I get people to engage with it? Maybe I should get myself a box and stand in the street quoting from ‘How Not to Die’.
I think the very worst part about preaching veganism is that it’s evidence-based, but even rational people, who reject faith for lack of proof, won’t consider it. How unbelievably frustrating is that?
I think being vegan has given me a little more sympathy with the faithful, even if it hasn’t made me more of a believer myself. There is evidence out there if you want to look at it and make your own, informed decision. Start with Nutrition Facts and ‘How Not to Die’.
But I’m not going to cram plant-based food down your throat. I’d like to believe that, once you’ve seen the proof, you’ll do it yourself.
However, I’ve always ascribed to the view that I understand where believers are coming from. If I thought I knew of a sure-fire way to avoid eternal damnation, you’d better believe I’d be telling EVERYONE about it. This is important, people. It’s the sanctity of your immortal soul that’s on the table. You NEED to know this. There are some people who probably think that prayer is the hand sanitiser and mask for COVID of the soul.
As an atheist, I’ve never felt much compelled to impress my faith in absence on others. I try to live and let live. So long as you’re not hurting anyone, go wild.
But that changed a little when I became a vegan. Seriously, if you’re an atheist and you ever want to walk a mile in a believer’s shoes, become a vegan. It’s transformative.
My partner and I went vegan at the same time. There were a couple of factors at play. We lost a couple of our cats and realised that we were spending hundreds of pounds trying to keep our animals alive while also supporting an industry that killed millions of other animals. MADNESS! There was also the health factor. We wanted to be healthier and, when we looked into it, veganism was the answer.
That’s where Michael Greger, M.D. and his website, Nutrition Facts, comes in. Doctor Greger and his team of volunteers comb through all the reputable, peer-reviewed studies in nutrition to find the scientifically proven truth about food. As it turns out, the best diet for health is a plant-based diet. Hands down.
Now, here’s the crunch. When you look through the literature, you’ll see the negative impact the meat and dairy industry has on the world, the millions of needless deaths from associated cancer, diabetes and heart disease, the pollution, the animal cruelty and suffering, the misery of people who lost friends and family, the money and time lost, especially in the United States, on sickness and healthcare. After you’ve been a vegan for a little while and you’ve started to feel better, happier, healthier, you realise that veganism is almost a magic bullet.
And you want to tell everyone. You want to tell them that you feel better, that you don’t get sick so much anymore and that your old health problems are clearing up and that veganism is how we can all contribute to things like global warming and pandemic prevention. Because it’s not just better for us and better for animals, it’s sustainable and better for the planet too.
Not only that, but they can go vegan. Just about everyone I speak to always says, ‘I could never do that’, but they can. Of course they can. I did. I never thought I could live without cheese. That was the real sticking point for me but, once it was out of the house and I committed not to buy it anymore, the craving went. For a while, I was ‘mostly vegan’ and still ate dairy when I was in restaurants but eventually even that stopped. You can do it gradually. Whatever works for you.
But, once you’re a vegan, now you’re in a quandary. You have this information but, if you start talking to people about it, you’re going to get into arguments and you’re going to sound preachy. Yeah, I can maybe see where the faithful are coming from. I have information that could save people’s lives, reverse their diabetes, eradicate their heart disease, prevent cancer, but how do I get people to engage with it? Maybe I should get myself a box and stand in the street quoting from ‘How Not to Die’.
I think the very worst part about preaching veganism is that it’s evidence-based, but even rational people, who reject faith for lack of proof, won’t consider it. How unbelievably frustrating is that?
I think being vegan has given me a little more sympathy with the faithful, even if it hasn’t made me more of a believer myself. There is evidence out there if you want to look at it and make your own, informed decision. Start with Nutrition Facts and ‘How Not to Die’.
But I’m not going to cram plant-based food down your throat. I’d like to believe that, once you’ve seen the proof, you’ll do it yourself.
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