Corrected...Or Not.

We've had a great morning here at the Burke house! Lily slept in her "Big Girl" room by herself till about 1 am! Tonight we're gonna shoot for 3 am! And, just like I hoped, Eamon and Lily both slept great! I even got about an hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep! I know that seems crazy, but when I heard her cry from the other room, I thought it must have been like 4 or 5 am! LOL!


Does this look right to you?
Me either.

Recently, I told a friend of mine that there is no civilization on Earth that has survived being vegan. He has been vegan on and off for ten years, eating soy day after day, and loosing a bunch of weight-which isn't necessarily great... Also, his sexual preference has changed from heterosexual, to bisexual. Interesting, huh?

After my comment [on FB] one of his friends piped in with this:

"Keep telling yourself that, [M]ae."

Me [with MUCH restraint]: "Show me proof otherwise."
"There's never been a 100% vegan civilization just as there's never been a 100% omnivorous civilization. There have always been people who went their whole lives without consuming meat or dairy. There are plenty of people in Tibet who are over 100 years old and have been vegan their whole lives"

I didn't even reply. There was so much wrong with this that I didn't even want justify her with an answer.
After talking to Eamon about it last night, he helped me articulate what I was trying to put in to words all week.

So, lets do this.

First
"There's never been a 100% vegan civilization just as there's never been a 100% omnivorous civilization."
Correct.
However, one mark of a civilization is that there is religion. Most religions have a period of time where they fast. They often go days, or weeks eliminating meat and animal products. Some cultures do this once a week, others once a month, bi-annually, or yearly. Even so, there are plenty who are still allowed fish, butter, and unfertilized eggs.
BUT the majority of all thriving civilizations are omnivorous or non-strict vegetarians. If someone could find me a society that lasted a significant amount of time with a majority of vegans, please email me @ maeannette@gmail.com

Second
"There have always been people who went their whole lives without consuming meat or dairy. There are plenty of people in Tibet who are over 100 years old and have been vegan their whole lives"
Hmmm, can't justify awarding any points to this, but here's half a gold star.
The main reason I didn't argue my rebuttal to this is because the majority of my friend friend's are Atheists. I can never successfully argue anything with them, so I tend to stay away from it. But here is my first argument:

• As far as "people in Tibet", those would be Tibetan Monks who are called by God to live the life they do. They are ordained by Him to do so, and will be blessed in their endeavors, as many, MANY men and women have.
• Monks that "go their whole lives without consuming meat or dairy" do not reproduce! And those that do, have sickly children. [And MOST of those have NOT been vegan "their whole lives" it's usually a choice!] There have been a handful of criminal cases in the past ten years against parents of vegan children whose babies died from being fed a vegan diet. And while this is a sorrow I cannot understand, and my heart is broken for these families being charged of killing their own babies, there is a point being made here. These parents were uneducated in their decisions and misinformed, and their babies-and eventually themselves- were the price payed :[

NOW- I'd love to hear your thoughts on this- both sides.
If you are vegan or a strict vegetarian- please reconsider your choices. Your health, as well as your children's depends on it!

Mae