Like follz said, animal rights aren't just somebodies "beliefs" - Animals being abused, tortured and cruelly murdered for our own gains and pleasures and KNOWING that is wrong, is nothing like believing in something you cannot see, touch, taste, hear or smell... "Religion" and I use the term loosely, cos I don't particularly like the word, is totally based on faith... whether the faith is justified or not, is not something I pretend to know.
I actually get very highly offended when people try to compare my veganism to religion, because I am not religious. I believe in a whole bunch of things that kinda come together and make a "spiritual soup" But I am not religious. To me religion is the bane of our existence. Religions started wars, they started massacres and they killed far far far too many innocent beings. Spirituality however is what keeps us going. IMO. The only way Veganism relates is that in my world, we love one another. We don't cause another pain or hurt or terror. Anyone who doesn't "believe" animals have rights is a downright moronic tosser, who obviously has no brain and no heart. Sad really.
In terms of God wanting us to eat meat. "God" said, thou shalt not kill. That right there is enough to tell me that God does not want people to eat meat... Cos you can't eat a live chicken. I don't need to look anymore into biblical fallacies to understand and live by that statement.
