Disclaimer: this article is extremely opinionated and may be offensive to some people. Read at your own risk.

On June 10th of this year, I made the very controversial (but shouldn’t be) decision to become vegetarian after wondering just what it meant to be a true animal lover. You see, for years I had prided myself on loving animals, but never had I ever questioned what graced my dinner plate every night. Like many people, I saw a hamburger, not a slaughterhouse full of cows suppressed so close together that they would have to be de-horned fully conscious and without pain medication to avoid their accidently injuring each other. I saw grilled chicken, not poor souls that have never seen the light of day. I saw milk and cheese, not the artificial insemination of female cows. I saw food, not violence and death. I see everything differently now. I see my body as a temple. A temple that will not be a tomb for other creatures.

I am unable to pinpoint the exact moment in time that I made the choice to stop eating meat, but I can tell you that as time has progressed, I have been unable to view cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys as anything less than our equals on this earth. The only real moment of change that I can recall is the moment that I began to wonder why we cuddle some animals and put a fork in others. It just stopped making sense to me. Call me a hippie because I most likely am, but don’t ever call me an extremist for believing in basic human kindness.

I will always be ashamed to be a human being, and I make absolutely no bones about that. To be a part of a civilization that prides itself on claiming to understand empathy, but prances around with their wool coats and their hot dogs holding up animal rights signs is asinine to me. How hypocritical can people be? How ridiculous can a human race be to possibly condone the consuming of violence and death? I may only be one person, but if my words have the power to save an innocent animal’s life, then you better believe that I’m going to say it loud and say it proud until the day that I am no longer roaming this earth.

Just for kicks and giggles, let’s say that I was perhaps going to attempt to understand the argument of a meat eater. (I know, it’s crazy to think that I would ever try and understand their brains, but just try and play along.) Assuming that I would be able to carry on a halfway intelligent conversation, some quite humorous arguing points tend to come up on the opposing side. Allow me to share a few with you now.

1.Humans are carnivores

This tends to be my opponent’s favorite argument, but let me quickly reject that by saying very simply that humans are not carnivores. Humans are not even omnivores. This is simply the lie that we continue to tell ourselves so that we are able to stomach the fact that we are killing millions of innocent animals on a daily basis for absolutely no logical reason. Going back to my argument, what are the typical traits of carnivores? Sharp claws, open to close chewing motion, perspiration through panting, and an intestinal length of only 4-6 times the length of their torso. (fun fact: that’s why it’s absolutely impossible for a true carnivore to clog their arteries, and what’s the number one killer of the human species? HEART DISEASE from CLOGGED ARTERIES.)

2.    Humans were born eating meat.

This statement is about 43 flavors of wrong. Here’s a newsflash for ya: all human beings were born vegan, we just acquired a taste for milk, cheese, meat, and eggs after they were shoved down our throats during childhood. Oh, and another thing: humans have ZERO carnivorous instincts. If you don’t believe me, try this experiment: place a baby in a crib with an apple and bunny rabbit. If the baby eats the bunny and plays with the apple, will you do me a favor and give me a call? Because if that happens, I will stand up in front of everyone and have an 8 oz steak dinner.

3. “But the meat I have is organic, free-range, grass-fed. non-GMO, and they said they sang to him before he  was killed.”

Regardless of how they were raised, every animal in a slaughterhouse meets the same violent, cruel, and unnecessary death. Would it make you feel better if you were sung to right before you were killed? Didn’t think so.

4. “You’re just one person. You won’t make a difference.”

Tell that to the chicken, the cow, the turkey, and the lamb that I decided not to put in my body or wear on my back.

5. “But plants have feelings.”

Plants have no central nervous system; therefore, they have no capacity to feel pain, but good try, little buddy.

6. “But where would I get my protein?”

Where do you think your protein gets its protein? In fact, our ancestors, apes and gorillas, were vegan. Wow, what do ya know? Another fun fact, if we would stop filtering our food through another creature’s body to prepare them for optimal slaughter, we would have enough food to end world hunger twice.

7. “But I love animals.”

If you support an industry that slaughters one hundred billion animals in a year, then in what sense are you an animal lover?

8. “Ew, please don’t show me that video.”

I find that meat-eaters have an incredibly hard time stomaching the videos of animal slaughter that they are supporting every day. News flash, just because the blood didn’t get on your clothes, you didn’t hear their cries, or you weren’t the last person they saw, doesn’t mean you aren’t directly involved in the killing. I believe that if you are brave enough to take the life, then you have an obligation to see just what it is that you are participating in.

Call me a hippie, call me a tree-hugger, call me whatever you like, but never call me an extremist. If you are honestly willing to look me in the eye and tell me that eating meat is a personal choice, then I honestly believe that you need serious help.  I don’t know who told you, but you have absolutely no right to take the life of another living creature. Sorry to break it to you, but you are not God. When you finally realize that what’s on your plate was once a living creature with feelings, there will come a time where you can’t disconnect yourself from that any longer. You will begin to care again. It’s the painfully harsh truth, and I am sincerely sorry that you have to hear it from me, but you are absolutely not an animal lover if you eat meat. If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: if it’s wrong to eat a dog, it’s wrong to eat a chicken. You have been fed a lie. You have been manipulated and bought out by the meat and dairy industry. It’s time to wake up before it’s too late.