trading one group of assholes for another

I think I may have traded one opinionated, self-righteous group of assholes for another.

I had this epiphany yesterday after reading two sets of comments spewing hate, intolerance, vitriol and a holier-than-thou attitude that left a really bad taste in my mouth. Especially bad now that I belong to both groups of commenters.

One was a group of Christians posting about why gay marriage is so wrong, unnatural and damning; and the other was a group of vegans shaming a poster who admitted he wasn't vegan. At best, the vegans suggested that he should go fuck himself. At worst, they posted memes implying he should die a cruel and hellish death. Strangely enough, the Christians predicted a similar fate for homosexuals, the "hellish" part anyway.

I posted awhile back about how it feels to be Christan and love sex, and how I have rejected many of the social. political and economic ideals held dear by evangelical Christians because I find them antithetical to Jesus' teachings of love, forgiveness and acceptance.

I've started following several vegan groups now that I'm on the vegan bandwagon and have found them to be equally intolerant and hateful. I'm quickly learning why so many people hate vegans, and it's for the same reasons that people hate Christians. What I find most interesting about this parallel is that so many vegans are atheists. And many Christians feel that eating meat is a God-granted right. So far apart philosophically, yet their treatment of people who disagree with them is strikingly similar.

Just as I stepped back from mainstream Christianity to publicly declare I'm "Not Like That," I feel I must do the same with my newfound veganism. I promise my meat-eating friends and family members that I will respect their choices while I hope that they will respect mine. Not to say I won't discuss my beliefs. I will, and I will do it with respect.

How can you have an ideology that's based on compassion and love, whether it's for humans or animals, and be such an asshole? It really blows my mind that any group would think this is the right way to promote their agenda and gain converts.

I welcome your thoughts.