I know your not here to tell me what to do, as neither am I to you. Nothing wrong with discussing different views. I will say this if I could only eat non-meat things sure, i would. But for one, I feel we are "meant" to eat meat as well as plant life. And like I said earlier I'd couldn't just stop eating seafood, I've ate it all my life same goes for landmeat.
I don't believe we were 'meant' to do anything on this Earth other than to figure out how best to live on it. Some of us take different paths.
I've been vegan for... wow, almost a decade. I am far more healthy and vibrant than I was as a meateater.
I am vegan because of some of the ideas already put forth here - a love of life. I do not swat flies either - the reckless killing of a life form simply because it's 'buzzing around' or slightly annoying doesn't sit well with me. And as for the idea that they spread germs, well, I have never been sick since I went vegan. Seriously.
It doesn't bother me if people hunt for food - many tribal cultures used every last part of an animal they killed, meat, skin, bones. They also gave their kill great respect (there is a reason all animals are deified as gods in most tribal cultures) and understood what they were taking from this Earth. Eating meat when there is no other option (surviving a long winter being a perfect example) is understandable.
Unfortunately, many hunters no longer hunt for food. They sport kill. Many others use hunting 'for food' as an excuse to sport kill - I for one have no need to hunt for food - I'm quite well fed. For me to go hunting and then claim it was necessary for food would be a bit of double talk, since I've established I can survive quite well without meat in our current culture/environment.
What I do know is this: for the same reason I recommend a television addict take a month off from television, I also recommend a meat eater try a month or two without meat (actually, I recommend going vegan because it's too easy to really mess up being vegetarian due to miseating - Many vegetarians start eating way too much cheese and such, and don't feel well as a result). I'm not asking anyone to change their mind about it, but simply to exist for a month without. The first 2 weeks or so will find you craving protein, but if you do this in an educated manner you will learn how to replace this (nuts, beans, quinoa, tofu, hemp, etc). An educated vegan is quite well balanced, however, and has very few toxins in their body (we still have to breath the air around us).
During this 'month off' you will discover a few things -
1. Researching everything that goes into your body will be as awakening as researching Ron Paul, or our banking system, or any of the other paradigms we've been born into.
2. You will most likely feel far more 'aware' as a result, simply because it's one more area of your life that you are thinking about. This isn't to say a meat eater doesn't put thought into what they eat - surely, some do - but the simple fact is that a vegan must and many meat eaters don't.
3. Assuming you eat factory farmed meat (that is, meat you don't catch yourself) you will begin to reduce the toxin level in your body significantly. All those hormones and chemicals and preservatives.
4. You may just start to think about the lives of animals. Factory farms are disgusting, disgusting things. And spending your money on factory farmed meat means you are directly responsible for supporting those conditions. Being vegan, I can safely say I no longer support a lot of cruelty in the world. Yes, I'm still human, and yes, I still live in our society so I'm not perfect. But it still feels... good. Really good.
My point, really, is that if someone on this board eats only meat they or their friends catch, then that's one thing. I can respect that. But as soon as you get into factory farming
Also - I take offense at the word 'veginazi'. I know many, many vegans. None fit the 'stereotype' that media likes to portray. It's been my experience that what usually happens in a 'confrontation' is: a vegan orders salad (or whatever) at a restaurant. Someone asks 'what, aren't you hungry?' or, perhaps, makes fun of them in some way. The vegan, depending on their personality, gets defensive or starts explaining why. It falls on deaf ears. I've never, in all my years, seen a vegan start verbally attacking a meat eater at a restaurant. I have seen many, many meateaters verbally attack vegans.. not because they were preaching, but simply because of what they were eating.