You are trying your best, I applaud you.
But why do you find the need to push your ideas onto others?
There are a few things in your post that stands out.
1 - You meantion that "only my way is the right way"
Do you know how you sound now? yes...you sound like the person you are describing.
2 - when you mention animal, why put the word innocent before it? Do you do that when a cat bring in a mouse? Why is my character disrubing? Because i eat meat?
This is EXACTLY, and I mean exactly why most people detest vegans (those that push their ideas onto others through "morals"), why all the memes exists. It's stuff like that, to judge people who eat meat as bad people because I ate a 2% tinned chicken soup last week (which was 5 months out of date by the way! I hate to waste food!), and I am "disturbing". It's not like I just went into a classroom with a semi automatic and let rip. Am I being dramatic? Are you being dramatic?
All the other good things that I do doesn't count, I am judged by the fact that I eat meat? No, I will not apologise for it. In fact, it is you who should be ashamed to even bring that up to people, it's a disgusting human trait. I would hope you don't do that in real life, I am sure you don't, because it really put people off.
Don't believe me, try go down the street, walk pass the butchers and shout at them what you just called me. Go to an ice cream place and shout at the girl working there.
Morals apply to more than not eating meat, it applies how you speak to other people. Eat your veg, be nice. As my mother say.
Why thank you sir.
Yeah I take your point about lecturing, however what is seen as 'standing on a soap box' lecturing can also be described as an easily done test, that anyone can do (almost like science) - go and stab or hurt an animal - its not pleasant, and its universally true.
Most meat eaters say they don't wish to cause pain - but in eating meat, they are, it's back to this 'its he reality of it I am afraid'
So what you perceive as 'my way is the only right way' what I mean is: surely you cannot disagree that causing a self aware animal horrendous pain is somehow ok? Maybe thats what you see as 'vegan elitism'
This pain can be listed in tons of ways, env damage, immediate pain of the victim, the list goes on. You can also have meat sellers that say 'its fineeeee I kill them humanely!', never actually seen a meal that was killed with general anaesthetic personally - I mean, if the meat industry must go on, the least they can do is put them to sleep first with true anaesthesia - but they won't.
Its also more than that, the bigger picture, you can eat a cow that lay on the finest bed for its entire life, but in supporting that 1%, still, the entire meat industry allows 99% of animals to be treated abhorrently.
It's not shameful to bring attention or information to people that largely have no clue - most people don't see the suffering that goes in to their meal - to leave them ignorant is an insult to their intelligence, its as if to say 'you can't handle the truth'
As a side note to the Japanese you admire - they are the worlds biggest abusers of the fishing industry (sea food does the most env damage by far, way more than even cattle), also their continued insistence on hunting rare whales is appalling.
Yeah defo be nice to people, but also be nice to all creatures.
