To just ignore this. Or would it be better to speak my mind?

[Bearsandtoys]

I have a friend who has recently gotten very into animal rights. To the extent that she has become a vegan and is bringing her baby up as one too. Probably 9/10 of her fb posts are about the horrors of the meat and dairy industry. I agree that these industries are nasty, however I think there's only so much one person can do. I choose to do a worthwhile job and eat meat, she has chosen to 'sell her soul for money' (her words!) and be a vegan. Fair enough, her choice. Today she has pissed me off though, she has linked me to some educational resources on fb (I'm a teacher) on an animal rights website and then tagged me in the post. Should I ignore this or should I explain my views on the subject? Obviously fb is evil etc but other than that, what do you think?

i don't like hectoring

and i would say soemthing

I would defriend on the basis that I will support anyone in anything they do, but they instant they try to shove it down my neck they are gone and I'm not even on FB.

'Thanks for tagging, but sorry, not my thing!'

Job done.

I think you should do what Farrow says .
I know plenty of Vegan activists that don't try and shove their opinions & beliefs down my throat & vice versa .
Its not fair to do that to a friend or anybody .

I'd do what LRD says.

This happens to me on fb sometimes. No biggie.

Just un-tag yourself and say nothing. Not worth the chew.

un-tag and defriend.. not nice to have a hectoring friend..

I've got a friend who has similar issues

I agree with a lot of what she says/believes, but I can't handle the disturbing pictures/videos and not keen on the superiority thing going on.

I've only ever had one conversation with her on fb about it and we were both very careful about what we said

Otherwise I just ignore/hide the things I don't like because I still like her as a person.

Do what I do, tell her animals shouldnt be made of meat if they arent to be eaten, and wander off nonchalantly

Arrrrrrrrrrghh I hate these type of vegans. It's like it's their only thing in life. Tell her she's actually putting people off veganism. I am vegan and have been for many years. I never post on Facebook about veganism or animal rights. It's pointless and people just judge you as some kind of freak and ignore anyway. The best way to convert people is by living by example. I have fun, live a healthy life, I make amazingly good food. These are the things I show people. People like her just back up people's misconception about vegans that we're all animal rights freaks and that's all we talk about and we judge everyone around us who doesn't listen and eats meat. This is not the case. Tell her to get a life and quit giving us all a bad name, she's doing the cause more harm than good!

I know some vegans, serious vegans, and they have never done anything like this. If anything, they're deliberately non-evangelical about it - they'll humour me about "Mmmm, bacon..." for example.

Agree with blobandsnail. We have these people round to eat two or three times a year - I have even made sweet potato and buckwheat burgers for them...by my own fair hands, from scratch.

Your chum, however, would get a plate of grass and a couple of acorns.
Wee in her soya milk and watch it curdle!

Start posting some delicious meat recipies andctag her back :)

The way people go on about meat around me thing doesn't annoy me actually. I just think people are a bit pathetic when they do that. Especially as most people do it soon after they find out I'm vegan and I've not even mentioned the fact they eat meat. Its like they're setting themselves up for an anti meat debate. It's people like your friend that cause reactions like that!

The mmmm bacon thing is great, I love the smell of bacon! Always throws people when they go "mmmm bacon" and I go "yea smells great doesn't it!". But it's the smoked smell that I like most. Smoked tofu does the same thing for me.

Press the unfriend button.

That's odd, I thought it was just me who had a friend like that - well, I say friend, but she doesn't want to speak to me anymore as I am a "flesh eater" - she is off the scale; I have blocked her posts now but they were along the lines of "all children need to be shown how an abattoir works, the younger the better, they don't need lies they might cry a bit when they see an animal being slaughtered but its good for them to know the truth" along with pictures of crying toddlers pointing at dismembered carcasses. However, ask her if she is free to go on a protest, or write to her MP about animal rights and suddenly she's ever so busy. To be honest I think its more a problem with anxiety than a real desire to further a cause.

(I mean in her particular case, I'm not making sweeping statements about vegans being anxious!)

My friend is definitely happier since she took the decision to become a vegan, and I see what she's posting as her just discussing it with the other people she knows who think the same.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.

I suppose the difference is that the OP's friend made a point of including her, which to me is her trying to force it on her a bit.

I'm always surprised by the stick she gets from people on a scale from 'mmm bacon' jibes to outright hostility. I can't believe anyone else could get het up about what someone else has decided to eat/not eat.

But then that could apply to evangelical vegans