by the Rev. PrkStRangr@aol.com
I think of myself as a "Vegevanglist".
I am compelled to lead others to the light of
vegetarianism. It is because I know that we must increase our numbers to
have any real effect on the world. And I can't help but share the human
and humane benefits of veganism with the people I meet.
I remember back to those Sunday mornings when the
Jehovah's Witnesses would pay me a visit. I would stand on the porch
with them and subtly turn the discussion around to "stewardship of the
world God gave us" and the biblical arguments for vegetarianism. I
remember how they stopped coming around anymore.
This coming Monday, March 20th, is the annual Great
American Meatout, one of those few times we can all go forth and try to
convert the heathen.
This is the sixteenth year for the Meatout which was
created by FARM, the Farm Animals Reform Movement. It is patterned after
the Great American Smokeout which makes sense, because like the tobacco
industry, the meat industry is a US Government supported mega-industry
which spends mega-money for media propaganda to keep people addicted to
their products. The diseases related to a meat based diet cost much more
annually than the treatment of tobacco related diseases.
And some of us vegans would rather smell second hand
smoke in a restaurant than to smell cooked bird, mammal, aquatic
creature or reptile.
So I think it's a good day to write a letter to the
editor of your daily papers or email your local radio and TV stations
about the Great American Meatout. Spread the word to your classmates and
coworkers, urge your meat-eating friends to pledge to kick the habit for
one day and eat no animals on March 20th.
go here for more info
Meatout 2000 - Kick the meat habit!
http://www.meatout.org/
Here is what I emailed to my media, you can use parts of
this or go for the health arguments or even try the compassion arguments
if you feel up to it.
Dear ___
Monday, March 20th is the 16th annual Great American
Meatout. Please take a day off from meat and think about how much better
off you and your family would be if you ate mostly a plant based diet.
Think about not only the health reasons, but also the environmental
reasons.
*A vegetarian diet saves water:
*Fifty percent of all water used in our country goes to
produce livestock, from the meat processing to the water used to grow
animal feed. Seventy percent of all grain and soybeans grown in our
country is fed to livestock. Our future water shortages would be much
reduced by less reliance on a meat-based diet.
*Loss of habitat, wild lands converted to lands to
pasture cattle, or grow feed for them, is a main cause of extinction of
species. For these reasons alone, anyone concerned about environmental
quality should think about a vegetarian diet and kick the meat habit for
at least a day on March 20th.
Sincerely...
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