Declined friends request to sign petition

You need to be true to your own beliefs and not be allowed to be swayed for a friend. If she/he was a true friend they should appreciate your beliefs.

Animal testing still continues. They banned it in this country for cosmetics but most companies import from places where it still happens. Testing for cleaning products is also ongoing. I can’t understand why people continue to buy from these companies, it’s abhorrent. Animals suffer so much, many tests are done on pregnant animals and newborns. There are plenty of make up, skin care and cleaning products that have the leaping bunny on them (M and S and Sainsbury’s own brands are good) which means they are cruelty free. As for animal testing for medical reasons I don’t think people realise that millions of animals have horrific tests conducted on them every year. The majority are unnecessary. The pharmaceuticals get paid phenomenal amounts to do this so they can make massive profits- it’s not in their best interests to find cures. They’d go bust and hundreds of thousands of people would be unemployed. These days great results come from using computers and many many more non animal tests. I recommend that people look at The Humane Research Trust.
I would add that Cancer Research UK have been in existence for well over a century, have tortured millions of animals to death and have spent hundreds of £million’s yet are nowhere near finding a cure. Meanwhile it’s still a leading cause of death. Two of my children have had cancer issues so I have an invested interest in why there is no cure. Petitions are down to personal choice but I chose to sign for the use of animals to be stopped. We need to be looking at other successful alternatives and not keep flogging a dead horse.

You have to be true to yourself Cambsnan. I don’t think I’d have signed either. I deplore using animals unnecessarily in experiments, but I maintain that some experiments may still be necessary in the development of new medicines. I’d rather an animal was used than a human baby suffered bad side effects from an untested medicine.

This is entirely your decision .
You are fully entitled to your own opinion

One of my friends supported The Reform Party and met Nigel Farage and his mother .
She asked me who I was voting for and got in a temper when I said that I certainly wouldn't be voting for
The Reform Party .
She's still furious with me .

I wonder why people think they have the right to behave so badly towards people who they disagree with. Sometimes we see it on GN. It’s everyone’s right to hold their own opinions and as long as they don’t cause actual harm to others, then it’s up to them.
The lack of tolerance in today’s society concerns me.

I don't think that friends should necessarily share views on everything. Maybe it's easier to get along with someone if you share core beliefs, but I have friends from all political persuasions, and even amongst those who vote as I do there are differences of opinion on some things.

I never understand when people online feel the need to say 'I don't agree with much of what you say, but I agree that Paris is the capital of France' or whatever. Similarly, I don't see it as 'hypocritical' to share some of a party's views or policies and not others. Most people can think for themselves and don't need a manifesto to tell them what to believe.

My sister is always signing petitions (several every week). I very rarely sign them as there are very few topics that I feel I am qualified to have a strong opinion on. There are always two sides to a story.

Friendships develop over time and from different beginnings. So I have valued friendships of over 70 years from early school days. I also have later friendships from interests in common. So there is bound to be differences of opinions but adults should be able to accept each other and agree to differ, leave certain subjects to one side and enjoy the things you share. It is rather sad to lose a friendship that matters, but whilst you may give information and facts about something, you should not be demanding anyone changes their beliefs or opinions. If this sort of bullying goes on the friendship may not survive.

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One has to be able to be friends while disagreeing on some issues. One of my oldest friends voted for Brexit, but we have not let this affect our mutual respect.

I sign.petitons but only for things I agree or believe in. People get very annoyed when out if I won't give money for animals or religious organisations. I believe in people first and I am atheist. Plus I wouldn't give to organisations that get tax beaks from the government so Oxfam ,red cross etc. But I do support local charities,st John's ambulance,air ambulance ,lifeboats and the like . My brother is very political I am not but never fall out over our different views.

We all have a brain ,common sense and a conscience. Everyone is unique. If everyone agreed with eachother we might as well be robots.

A good friendship should survive differences of opinions. I have a very close friend who regularly goes on cruises, which I abhor for the impact on the environment. She knows how I feel and we bypass the subject when we meet because she isn't going to change her mind.

I believe one of my closest friends voted for Brexit on her husbands advice I still consider her a very close friend it hasn’t changed although I don’t like her decision
However I recently found someone I know, not as a friend but a person I would chat to, has racist beliefs probably through sheer ignorance which she was proclaiming loudly on social media , I can no longer bear to speak to her so I just nod and move on swiftly (she knows why)

We all have a brain ,common sense and a conscience sorry Whiff I strongly disagree I know many people without any of those things ( well I suppose physically we all have a brain but many don’t use it at all)

I understand (direct information) that some pharmaceutical companies even employ people to play with the animals they use. I still feel that such experiments should be kept to an absolute minimum and only when vital.

Of course, some medicines will be for animals themselves and will need to be trialled on them. It's a complicated issue.

We must each do as our conscience tells us. I don’t think cosmetics and beauty products should be tested on animals, and we passed legislation against it but a lot of companies ignore it by getting the testing done in China, not the most progressive of countries in it’s treatment of animals. There are dogs over here rescued from China where they were kept in small cages and cruelly treated. My neighbour has such a dog who, unsurprisingly doesn’t like Chinese people.

I am not sure about the testing of medicines on animals. Their make up is different from ours so how effective is it anyway. Many years ago my brother worked as a laboratory assistant. They tested thalidomide on mice who were not affected. Look what happened to humans.

No point taking things personally.. if she's upset that is her problem.. you have your own integrity..

25Avalon

We must each do as our conscience tells us. I don’t think cosmetics and beauty products should be tested on animals, and we passed legislation against it but a lot of companies ignore it by getting the testing done in China, not the most progressive of countries in it’s treatment of animals. There are dogs over here rescued from China where they were kept in small cages and cruelly treated. My neighbour has such a dog who, unsurprisingly doesn’t like Chinese people.

I am not sure about the testing of medicines on animals. Their make up is different from ours so how effective is it anyway. Many years ago my brother worked as a laboratory assistant. They tested thalidomide on mice who were not affected. Look what happened to humans.

If thalidomide had been tested on pregnant mice, all the birth defects would not have happened. After thalidomide had been found to be the cause, it was tested on pregnant animals and caused the same effects as in women.

Well said! The uncaring nature of a lot of people is very upsetting. A lot of the experiments that are carried out are so that the researcher can publish the results - published papers = promotion in the scholarly world. Most of these experiments have already been done - surely they know by now that such-and-such a chemical will not do any living thing any good?

It's always a good idea if you don't know enough about the subject of a petition you are asked to sign, to learn about it rather than refusing. If something is important enough to warrant a petition then there's likely to be a strong argument, so I would never blindly say no unless I do forcefully disagree and then it's highly unlikely that any friend would ask because they would know already what my opinion was.

In full agreement with Gillycats - animal experimentation is just not necessary in medicine. There's plenty of academic research out there to demonstrate this but unfortunately those who have a vested interest in continuing (Big Pharma) blatantly ignore it.

I would politely tell friend that I couldn't sign something when I didn't know the full picture and would want to investigate further before signing.
I don't agree with animal testing for cosmetics etc but do agree with it for medical reasons. How are drugs going to be tested, investigated even discovered without this? I would much rather drugs were tested out on animals (as humanely as possible of course) rather than them being tested on humans.

I wouldn't fall out with someone who disagreed with me or had different beliefs, unless they were immoral or truly abhorrent to me. However, I wouldn't be able to maintain a friendship where no difference of opinion or perspective could be expressed.

I have friends with differing opinions to me and they don’t mind reminding me of it regularly, nor do I hold back from telling them what I think, but we usually end up laughing and part on good terms.
Is the same with family, particularly my OH, he’s always been more conservative and I have always been more lefty, so our discussions are usually robust,
I think if I only ever wanted to be around people I agree with I would be a very lonely old trout.
Btw, yes we can get hot under the collar on GN, especially on news and politics but hopefully I haven’t pee’ed anyone off too much.
🤣

You have a perfectly sound reason for not signing this petition.

If your friend cannot accept that you do not sign things on another person's say-so, but prefer to make an informed decision yourself, and if you either do not have time, or the inclination to study a subject, say, as you did, that you do not know the ins and outs of the matter, then she is very narrow-minded.

I have a similar "friend" who seems to have dropped me because I could not agree with her that the editorial in the Diocesian magazine was patronizing and ill-informed.

My reason for saying I could not agree with her was that I had not had time to read the said magazine, which I felt was reasonable grounds for saying I could not say whether her estimation was correct or not.

Well done for sticking to your guns!