Why do vegans dislike non-vegans?

… Hey, excuse me, not all vegans dislike non-vegans … but our image precedes us. Our reputation (as aggro activists or people-haters) is part of what we’re known by.
We’ve used aggression and confrontation in the past but it isn’t as relevant any more. It’s no longer a matter of getting noticed or getting our message ‘out’. Today we need the facts at our fingertips so that we can speak outrageously BUT without value-judging the people we’re talking to. And that might mean withholding information as much as delivering it.
Having said that, I have to admit there’s nothing’s better than a good stouch with a meat-eater!! It’s a release from the frustration of being ignored. But whatever our motives for educating others we must some fun for ourselves. We must preserve our own sanity. To that end there’s nothing like stirring people up to give us a good feeling (there’s not much fun to be had in serious talking about “animal abuse” because it just isn’t a jokey-jokey subject).
But in the end it all comes down to effectiveness - how what we say is taken and how we, as advocates, are accepted. Talking up “animal rights” always brings on heat. If anything it’s a ‘stir-up’ but that is quite distinct from personal aggression.
‘Aggro’ over “animal rights” or “veganism” is the face of some groups and those who represent them. If we’re lucky enough to get some press coverage of issues, TV coverage, etc, it seems like real progress and that makes us feel good … but it doesn’t get us far in the long run if we’re still coming across as angry. Some vegans are so consumed with anger they wear it like body odour.
If I look carefully at my own anger, I have to admit that sometimes I just want revenge! I secretly want to attack meat eaters as pay back for attacking animals. Big mistake!!
Do we, as vegans, try to make ‘them’ see the error of their ways, make ‘them’ feel uncomfortable? Do we provoke people in order to wake them up, to stimulate change in them? Maybe it’s valid enough, but not if we talk down to people or if we doubt them or if there’s disapproval in our voice. If we’re always condemnatory we seem to be thinking, “they’ll never change”.