Why do people get so provoked by vegans?

I don't think it's people are provoked by vegans in general. I think it's like anyone else preaching their decisions as if we all have to agree with their choices. It's no different than bible thumpers shoving beliefs down your throat, Athiests shoving their non-belief beliefs (wow reads funny) down your throat, etc. While it's not every vegan, bible thumper, or Athiest, it's just a handful who act that way and people just get annoyed. In reality, most don't care and don't act out like that. But like any group, you have SOMEONE who is extreme and annoying about what they believe in.

But the difference is someone wouldn't post "I'M BURNING A BIBLE RIGHT NOW!" on a Christian thread. Why do people feel the need to post "YUM! I WANT STEAK! THOSE COWS DESERVED IT!" on a vegan thread? That happened yesterday after someone posted the results of a study. I don't comment on threads with meat in the title, so non-vegans should do the same if they only intend to upset the others.

After reading through the entire thread that this person is referring to I must admit that this is the type of vegan that makes my blood boil,
I dont preach my beliefs to anyone, I dont want to be scolded, or compared to a slave trader because I choose to eat meat,
the OP I have absolutly no problem with anyones choices, as long as they are not illegal or directly concern me or my family.

And yet, if someone truly believes that what another is doing is murder, or slavetrading, or some other heinous label, I believe it would be disingenuous to expect them *not* to "preach" their opinion to others. I will still be annoyed by it, and may tell them that I find them annoying, but I would not say that they should not do it.

(Full disclosure: I am an omnivore who cares about how animals are treated (for various reasons) and do not have any ethical dilemma in that. I also consider myself keenly aware of hypocrisy, whether it be in the group whose opinions with which I agree or the other side. And for what it's worth, I still struggle with reconciling the field kills of cute furry animals in the harvest of a veg*n's food with the kill of slightly more than ONE grass-fed/finished cow per year to feed my family. Or said another way, I do not see how indirect deaths are somehow morally superior to more direct deaths.)

Full disclosure: I didn't read your whole post, as it is rather long.

I don't feel provoked by vegans, however I do get highly annoyed by ANYONE who preaches to me about their way as being the only path. This goes for diet (vegan, paleo, no carb, low carb) or religion and everything in between. People getting all preachy is just plain obnoxious and I have no patience for them online or in real life.

I don't have a label for how I eat. I eat some meat. I eat lots of vegetables and fruit. I try to be a "vegetarian until dinnertime," limiting meat consumption, if at all, to one meal a day. I try to avoid foods made by industrial giants, including freaky fake "meats" and anything made by companies such as ConAgra, Morningstar Farms (aka Kellogs), etc. I am good with what I eat and am happy for anyone else who finds a diet that fits their lifestyle.

This visual presents the extent of harvest kills for various types of foods:

http://www.animalvisuals.org/projects/data/1mc/

Interesting. I'll have to poke holes in this...er, I mean, *read* this later.

(And for what it's worth, I suspect their "beef" is CAFO beef, which, in my opinion, is raised very differently compared to how mine is raised. And wow, look at the eggs. Surprising...however, again in my specific case, (although most likely for entirely different reasons), it makes sense as my "egg provider" (again, "family farm") has experienced a significant loss (~6 chickens in the past few months) due to predators. Fortunately, that same family farm has successfully trapped about a dozen of these predators.)

This visual presents the extent of harvest kills for various types of foods:

http://www.animalvisuals.org/projects/data/1mc/

Interesting. I'll have to poke holes in this...er, I mean, *read* this later.

(And for what it's worth, I suspect their "beef" is CAFO beef, which, in my opinion, is raised very differently compared to how mine is raised. And wow, look at the eggs. Surprising...however, again in my specific case, (although most likely for entirely different reasons), it makes sense as my "egg provider" (again, "family farm") has experienced a significant loss (~6 chickens in the past few months) due to predators. Fortunately, that same family farm has successfully trapped about a dozen of these predators.)

I don't mean this to sound as silly and condescending as it's going to but...I guess insects weren't included as "animals".

Okay...so I have a question about vegan stereotypes.

How many people think vegans are almost always city-folk with very little exposure to the realities of the natural world and farming?

Mother in law is still a vegan,
yet she eats fish, eggs, cheese, etc.. That part I don't
understand.

Are you sure she's not pescatarian or does she call herself vegan?

Mother in law is still a vegan,
yet she eats fish, eggs, cheese, etc.. That part I don't
understand.

Are you sure she's not pescatarian or does she call herself vegan?

Actually she calls herself a vegitarian. Is there a difference?
I thought they were the same...

I didn't read all of this thread either, but I think I am one of the obnoxious vegans that people are talking about here. The reality is however, that I never tell anyone what to eat, but rather I keep throwing scientific studies in their faces, showing a definitive correlation between eating meat and chronic diseases. The reactions are usually pretty strong. The dumbest ones usually say something like "studies are all slanted and skewed by researchers who have an agenda," or "you haven't proven causation - correlation does not equal causation." They ignore the fact that studies have been done since the 1940, and virtually all of them show the same thing: eating meat is correlated with deadly chronic diseases. Every reputable medical association in the world recommends eating no meat or at worse less meat.

I recently got into an on-line argument with a VEGETARIAN who was very angry at my approach. He messaged me and said, "What the Hell are you doing. What do you care what those idiots eat? They will get cancer or heart disease and die. This is Darwinism. Survival of the fittest."

I had to say he had a good point. However, I do care for several reasons:

1. I don't want to pay increased health care costs because of them.

2. I was once a meat eater, so there is hope for everyone

3. The animal suffering caused by eating meat is horrible. We are an evil species.

4. I invariably get messages or friend requests from people saying my direct approach has help them.

The latter category is worth talking about. Anyone who has studied sociology knows what "magical thinking" is. It is also known as "cognitive dissonance." People compartmentalize their thought processes and hold conflicting views. For example, some people may say, "The scientific approach is good. It has given us civilization." Yet these same people will make up excuses for not believing thousands of studies that correlate meat eating with chronic diseases. Magical thinking somehow protects them. They think these studies are either bogus, or not properly done, or in the usual words of the most statistically challenged of them, "that causation is not proven." (When asked what study they know of does prove causation, they can't give me one.)

My approach which for some reason many, many people find offensive, is simply this: Look at the science. Are longitudinal studies perfect? No. Can scientists slant or skew results? Yes. However, I really do not think they do a lot (probably the exception is those studies funded by special interest groups, because there, the outcome of the study is tied to the funding.)

In any event, until someone tells me a better source of information than massive longitudinal studies, they will inform my opinion, for better or worse.

Hmm...

After reading this, I'm not sure why anyone would be provoked. LOL!

... but rather I keep throwing scientific studies in their faces, showing a definitive correlation between eating meat and chronic diseases. ...

There is no such thing as a definitive correlation study.