Why do people think that vegetarians and vegans are brainwashed?

I don't understand how they could get that assumption, I quit eating meat because I love animals and I know that they are sentinent beings. I never even saw anything showing how animals are raised/killed until after I quit eating them. And I am from a very small town in the country with no other vegetarians. So, where did I get brainwashed people?

Don't mind them. They're just slow.

They more than likely believe that god & Jeebus created animals for us to torture, slit their throats and consume their flesh.

The "DEVIL" must be the one that brainwashed you into defying the almighty and taking a less violent path.

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON YOU!!!

well.. you stopped eating the cows that produce methane gas and slowly but surely kill us, and started eating all the plants that provide us with oxygen...

lol

but on a serious note, i don't really get that either, some people just don't like meat at all. i have a few friends like that. i believe you call the people that claim you were "brainwashed" ignorant, or narrow minded. because they only think one way and don't take the time nor the effort to look at opposite sides of the spectrum..

if you love animals, more power to ya..

I didn't know people considered vegetarians brainwashed. That is ridiculously hilarious to me!

I admire your love for animals, for they are precious creatures which are worthy of being spared. People don't know what's logical about not eating what you want. Yet, in a world like ours, I can only say that I value your existence and those like you.

some animals are pets and others are good in gravy. You just have to know which ones belong in each category

People simply do not understand opinions and values different to their own.

Throughout history those who have dared to be different have often been seen as weak and somehow not normal

It is only through education that more people can understand the choices people make. However you can not educate someone who is unwilling to learn

50 years of huge PR machines touting the Meat, Eggs & Dairy Industry. Major Lobbying.

Interesting back news, companies like General Mills(& allot of other grain based companies) started out of the original "Natural Health" eatting movement(Veggies)

Slaint茅(to your health)

You asked a question, people will answer. The interesting thing to watch out for is, are you going to listen to all answers or just going to accept those that agree with your own personal beliefs?

No idea, V&V have normally made a conscious decision to be V or V.

The "veggeis are brainwashed" brigade all believe we are 10 year old gullible empty heads.

In actual fact, the typical vegetarian will be from AB class and have a high disposable income, this suggests they are professional educated people

Somehow the veggie-haters can rationalise that reading information is brain washing, but ga-zillions of images of meat and "happy cows" everywhere you look isn't brain washing.

The picture of a free range turkey on a packet of Bernard Matthews drumsticks can only be described as brain washing.

People are scared of what they dont understand. Any kind of break from what is deemed "normal" makes some people believe you are brainwashed or New Age. Hope that helps?

honeslty, i dont know.
people just cant accept other peoples ideas-vegys have to accept that meat eaters EAT meat and meat eaters have to accept that vegys dont.

sheesh live and let live we are all fighting anyway.

I am vegetarian too. First of all, go you! You're vegetarian! :D

I think that people are not all that welcoming to vegetarianism as a concept because we humans have eaten meat for soooo long now, it is usually hard for someone to imagine not eating meat. But with factory farms now, it's a lot easier to realize we need to make the change.

Meat-eaters probably think we are brainwashed because they don't understand how we can not eat meat. They become quite defensive: it's hard to talk against vegetarianism. It is common to say that it's hard to get the right nutrients, but that is a myth. Not enough people know this. Nutrients come from so many different sources!

Anyway I think people say we are brainwashed because they are just being defensive and trying to find some way to insult us: they just don't understand. We vegetarians should not respond in anger, but educate people.

Dont worry about being brainwashed--some people are just so stuck up and closed minded that they cant accept it when people try to be themselves--dont let people push you around when you are trying to be you.

Because the same mantra is repeated (as if brainwashed and hypnotized) by almost every vegetarian/vegan and AR activist and can be found almost in verbatim from PETA's and pro vegetarian/vegan website/posters/propoganda materials. You also seem to quote from the same books, the same authors, the same websites, the same videos. The tendency of some to lecture and preach is also a sign of a brainwashed fanatic. Obviously, not all vegetarians and vegans are like that. Many have very deep convitions without judgement. It is the few intolerant, self-righteous,holier-than-thou new converts (and probably young teenage food faddists oing the next "cool" thing) who are giving you a bad name. But then again, many vegetarians/vegans stereotype and wrongly assume that meat eaters are unhealthy, cruel, animal abusers and just about everything that is wrong on this earth so I guess the feeling and your question is mutual.

It does seem silly , doesnt it? And ironic, too, since it's the meat and dairy industries and the idea that animals are happy and living wonderful live on picture book farms that is doing the real brainwashing. Look at how many times we see "you need protein from meat" or "you need calcium from milk" and that will give you a good idea of who's brainwashed, since science has proven the opposite of those statements to be true.

I respect vegetarians because I too know how bad of a life most feed animals live. Most people don't realize or care about it. I like meat too much to give it up. So I just make sure I get my meat from farms that give the animals as close to natural life as possible. Most people are ignorant about things they just don't understand or care to learn about. That is why they have the stereotypes.

I am not a vegetarian

I think a lot of people might think they are brainwashed because they have experienced the religious fervor with which some vegetarians expouse their diet.

Mostly because I've seen what vegetarians look like after a couple of months of no meat. It can be a little pale and rather tiny, it makes you look kind of sick (like early stage cancer).

And it can be hard to imagine anyone continuing to do that to themselves without brainwashing.