I have just a short time on earth. If I truly want to make a change in this world, I cannot spend that time in a state where I cannot think cleary, and I certainly cannot afford to partake in activities that will limit my time on earth. It is because of this that I do not eat meat either, as it has been shown to be unhealthy, and that vegetarians tend to live

I never decided to become straight edge to fit a crowd, infact, when I took this path, I did not know anyone else who had the same beliefs. I was not aware of the large following, I did not know about the violent fringe groups who call themselves straight edge. I did not take this path to be part of any group at all, in fact, this choice has left me with less friends than before.

I used to drink heavily, I used to take drugs. That was almost a weekly thing for me. Me and my friends would do that all the time, it was what we did together, how we passed the time, together. When I started to think about what I was doing, I stopped drinking with them. I would just sit with them, and I realised how uncomprehendable their conversations were. I realised that they were rude, insensitive, and rather ignorant. They would constintly mock me for not drinking with them anymore. I slowly started to feel like I belonged with them less and less. I now seldom see them, and I when I do, I make sure that they won't be drinking.

I recently changed schools. My old friends threw me and another friend who was leaving our old school a party. I knew what it was going to be. They would all be sitting around, drinking, in my honour. I couldn't understand how they could explain to themselves that they were drinking in the honour of someone who looks down on the consuption of poison. So i didn't go, which stands to reason. Since then, one 'friend' in particular has been very judgemental about my not drinking. I did not stop drinking to join any group whatsoever

I am completely against anyone who calls themselves straightedge, yet beat up people who are drinking. I can understand that they feel angry about people smoking near them, as I cannot stand that, but I can see no reason what so ever to resort to violence to counter this. There are many other options avaiblable wihout bringing any form of physical violence into the equation. Also, violence tends to be a negative side effect of alcohol and drugs, one which I try to escape as much as I can by not consuming anything that effects my already healthy anger.

I can understand that some people may not want to drink, smoke and do drugs, yet don't want to call themselves straightedge. If they are doing this because they don't want a label, then I would expect them to feel this way for every labal, for example, by not calling themselves vegetarians if they don't eat meat, or not calling themselves Christians, or athiest, depending on their religious beliefs. If they do not do this, then they are being ignorant. If they don't want to be called straightedge, because of the violence, yet also call themselves any of the labels above, they are still hypocrites, because Hitler was both a vegetarian, and a Christian.

These are just some of my thoughts, and stories on straightedge. If you don't agree with them, don't get angry at me, these are my beliefs, I am not forcing you to agree with them, I am simply informing you of how I feel, and why.


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