Why do vegitarians and vegans think they are better than omnivores?

that's a self deluding attitude encouraged by the vegetarian groups because it reinforces the idea that switching to a vegetarian diet is a good choice. After all why would you change anything if not for the

'better". Only logical to think that "..since I now have a better lifestyle, I must be better than those who have different.."

Just look at how some vegans even look down on "regular" vegetarians" because they are not "strong and pure" enough..

they claim they have abetter life yet seem to be posting a lot about how they have a hard time finding restaurants, shopping, what to eat in foreign lands relationships with omnivores etc etc etc. The mundane things that no else has to worry about. Even worse the nit picky, I-can't-do-that-if-I want-to-be-called-a-vegetarian "rules" they have to adhere to all for the privilege of being called something that is about as important as navel lint.

Why do some meat eaters (we are ALL omnivores) assume that a different diet gives people a superiority complex?

Sweetie, I don't think my eating habits make me better than anybody. I make a difference by not eating meat. Maybe you help out at an animal shelter, or recycle better than I do, or give the guy begging on the street corner a dollar every day, or work with underprivileged kids, or help feed homeless crack addicts to hungry baby whales. I don't know that. So why would I judge you based solely on your diet?

Why do you feel the need to judge vegetarians and vegans based solely on their diets? What's it to you that we choose to NOT put something in our mouths? Do you have inferiority issues, that you feel the need to defend yourself from perceived superiority from people you've never even met? It's a very sad thing to witness.

Some vegetarians/vegans do think they're better than everyone else, but a lot of us really don't. I respect a person's food choices as long as they respect mine, and I actually normally won't even bring it up unless it just happens to come up in conversation and people want to know about me being vegan. Animals killed for food really aren't killed humanely, though. And they're definitely not treated right. Do some research on slaughterhouses, and you'll definitely see that for yourself. Where did you hear that thousands of grassland animals are killed? I think your source might be wrong...

Because in America, we are taught to have a need to be better than everyone else. For some people, fulfilling this need is creating some illusion that not eating meat obviously makes them better than those who eat meat. Some people use religion to fill this need. Some use money. Some use race. Some use social status or job status. We all want to feel like we are something special. Why? Because we grew up with our parents, family and friends telling us we were special. We believed them and when we get out into the real world, we realize we aren't really better than everyone else... so we find ways to cope with that fact and creat illusions like, "I don't eat meat, I'm better than you, cuz you're killing animals."

This thinking is creating a race of Narcissist's, where people truly believe they are right, no matter how naive they sound. I know a guy who is a huge narcissist. He will argue his point, until he is blue in the face, even if he is 100% wrong on the subject, like, Joe Montana wore #8 for the 49ers. We even recorded him one time saying something... and then one day he said something different to counter his original point. He argued and argued. We brought out the recording from a phone that it was recorded on... and he said that the phone recording was obviously fake. LOL... He couldn't even believe his own words coming from his own mouth. Nobody could prove him wrong in his mind. He truly believed that he was right, even though he argued the exact opposite point a few weeks earlier.... and he truly believed he was right that time too.

So you see, it's simply people's way of coming up with something that they think is right and trying to force their beliefs onto other people... you know, like most religions.

How do you combat this type of behavior? Just ignore it. You fuel the fire by asking questions like this. Of course, if we ignore them all together, we become close-minded, which isn't good either. By doing that, we too are falling into narcissistic behavior, thinking we are better than those who try to preach and force their beliefs onto others.

1. I have never, as a vegetarian nor vegan thought I was better than a non-veg. I do think I am better than an omnivore who doesn't respect my decision. I respect the decisions of the religious fruitarians who enter my house, and I expect the same respect from my non-veg friends and colleagues.

2. Yes, we realize that. Ever see The Secret of NIMH? Everyone knows this. It's not about being perfect, it's about minimizing death. You're still eating wheat, I don't. That same wheat and corn that's being grown is also being fed to farm animals. It takes less of that wheat and corn to directly feed a human than it does to go through the animal intermediary. So it's STILL less death. Again, it's not about being perfect, it's about doing what you can.

3. You do realize that over hunting was what put them in danger of extinction in the first place, right?

I'm not going to say that some veg*ns don't think they're superior to non-veg, because some do (as evidenced by some of the questions posted here, such as why vegans are smarter, or healthier, or whatever). There are also the vegans who think they're superior to vegetarians, asking why they won't make the switch. (In fact, just because I didn't say something 100% in support of veganism, I'll probably get a few thumbs down. Yes, that's also a sign that you think you're superior. There's pros/cons to EVERYTHING, and people don't seem to realize that).

But that's completely unrelated to veg*nism. If the person had a superiority complex before becoming veg*n, then they'll use the same superiority complex afterwards, using being veg*n as an excuse. I've had non-veg people who think they're superior to me, because they think I'm unreasonably limiting my experiences with food. Paleo/Primal people also think they're superior to vegans, as evidenced by many of their vegan turned paleo stories and looking fabulous! stories posted on the web, when in reality they have a very low adherence rate. It's a human, personality thing.

Making broad, general statements doesn't help anyone look superior, it makes them look petty.

Why do you assume that we think we're better?

Quit grouping us together.

We're not all crazy peta people. There is no vegetarian/vegan bible full of rules to tell us how we should all think and believe.

Every person is different. You're going to meet some crazy vegetarians/vegans and some nice ones.

Same goes for the non veggies.

I don't think they do. Some of them need to eat that way to keep a disease they have under control. Some, after eating vegetarian, find that they prefer it.

Because we have the intelligence to ethically-differentiate between deliberatelly-killing billions and accidentally killing a tiny fraction of that number.

Because we have the intelligence to prefer species extinction if the only other alternative is that it be re-bred and individuals belonging to it tortured and killed for human whims.

Because we care for our health.

Because we care for the environment.

Because we care about global food poverty.

Why can't everybody just respect each others diet choices?

cattle and other animals are killed in a humane fashion and well taken care of???

Never been to a slaughter house have we.