As a fellow vegetarian, I find your dad's reaction repulsing. Humans CAN and DO survive without meat, and I've never felt better health wise after I stopped eating it. Don't let anyone change your mind. Anyone who says you're weak because you don't eat the corpses of tortured animals is dead wrong. Having the willpower to give something up shows a strong mind and desire to do what is best for yourself and animals.

... Why did you think that was important enough to tell him, though?

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If you wanna' really screw with his head, tell him that the exact opposite is true. That is, if you were truly "weak," you'd be afraid to admit that you were a vegetarian. And in fact, because your dad did such a fine job of raising you to NOT be weak - you have learned to make your own independent decisions and not be swayed by what others think and say. "Thank you, father!" That oughta' be good for a few moments of stunned silence.

This is a tricky one. At first glance, YDI. If God didn't want us to eat meat, he wouldn't have made it so damn delicious. But on second thought, FYL because you no longer get to enjoy that deliciousness and are doomed to a life of ass-tasting, unsatisfying food. But on further review, YDI because you chose that punishment for yourself based on a misguided principle. In any case, your dad sounds awesome and i want to hang out with him. I picture him like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. He probably told you that and then yelled at some Asians to get off his lawn.

How the **** is it a debate over personal preferences? The question isn't whether you want paper or plastic. Something actually has to die for one side to be happy. How can one even justify that? Also, there are tons of successful vegetarian athletes, tell them that they're weak for not eating meat.

That's ridiculous. Assuming you like the taste of meat, it is actually extremely strong-minded and strong-willed to give it up. Either way it's commendable for obvious humane reasons. You're dad's a complete asshole. What's interesting, though, is that if you read the book "The Secret Life of Plants" it says that plants feel pain and even scream on a frequency we can't hear. So, I'm thinking life is some kind of sick joke. We HAVE to kill and eat SOME TYPE of other living beings to survive. I've heard of holy men who have learned to get their energy directly from the sun and have no need to eat. I don't know if that's bs or what.

http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/2009/carnivore.jpg 'nuff said

I'm an omnivore, but I don't think it should matter if other people choose to be vegetarians or vegans. I don't like it when other people try to dictate the life of someone else; it just really irks me. My best friend, who has been a vegetarian since the age of eight or nine, hasn't eaten meat respectively for the animals. She feels guilty afterward because she really cares about them. However, when she does accidentally eat meat (like when her mother puts meat in the meals by mistake) she doesn't selfishly throw it out. She tries to give it to another person who would appreciate it since she doesn't want to think that the animal went to waste. She isn't the type of person who gets upset when someone else is eating meat around her, since I have long since been doing that (and a lot of other people she knows do too). Yes, humans steadily evolved to eat meat but that doesn't mean it's a necessity. If the vegetarian is smart and isn't in it because it's popular (which some of them aren't because they're actually dedicated) then they'll replace the nutrients they would originally get from the red meat with something else; easy as that. :] Although, OP, I don't understand why you felt the need to tell your father like it was some sort of... large event. I understand that this is a change you're willing to make, but it seems like you were somewhat bragging about it (maybe that's just me and my interpretation of it). I also didn't really like your father's reaction. He's quite close-minded. He'll get used to it and get over it after a while hopefully.

Wow I CANNOT believe all of the assholes who seriously think there's no reason at all to be a vegetarian. Maybe if the animals we eat were treated more humanely this argument would have even an ounce of credibility but HELLO: "The vast majority of chicken meat we find in grocery stores and restaurants comes from “broiler” chickens intensively confined on “factory farms.” Each year in the United States, more than 8 billion chickens are raised on these farms. These chickens suffer both acute and chronic pain due to selective breeding, confinement, transportation, and slaughter." -http://www.chickenindustry.com/cfi/broilerindustryreport/ "Cattle are exposed to harsh living conditions, rough handling, and often outright abuse and cruelty throughout their short lives. Cattle are routinely castrated, dehorned, and hot-iron branded without anesthetics. Cattle released on the open range must fend for themselves for several months, often succumbing to weather extremes and other dangers. Animals transported to feedlots and slaughterhouses are often shocked with electric prods, beaten, kicked, dragged and deprived of food and water for long periods. Overcrowded trucks cause broken limbs; injured and sick animals are routinely dragged out of trucks and onto the kill floor where slaughter techniques remain primitive and brutal. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that the sickness, injury, and premature death of cattle represents an economic loss of $4.6 billion a year in the United States." http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/Health/beeffact.htm Someone please tell me why this is okay and you feel no guilt at all for supporting industries that cause so many millions to suffer? I bet you'll say it's because they aren't human and you don't care. But they suffer too! You are the ones who are less than human.