i'm coming in late on this discussion, but i thought that i ought to contribute my $0.02. i've been straight edge for about 4 years now, and vegan for almost a year. everyone has their own interpretations for different "movements", but the basic guidelines are no drinking, smoking, or drugs. people also add on not having promiscuous sex, eating meat, taking medication, etc. i think that having sex is a big deal; and that personally, i don't want to just do it with any alright looking girl i talk to at the local coffee shop/show/whatever. i'm vegan because i don't agree with the practices of the meat and dairy industries, but that's completely unrelated to being straight edge. i try to avoid relying on medication as a crutch, but if i'm in serious pain, i have no objections to taking an ibuprofen for my headache or whatever. as long as you stick to not drinking, smoking, or doing drugs; you are straight edge by definition.

as far as the whole violence thing goes, i avoid it at all costs. i actually have very few straight edge friends compared to all of my other friends, and try to get along with everyone no matter what their beliefs are. i think the golden rule still applies to everyday life: treat others the way that you'd like to be treated. it's as simple as that. it's really sad that people associate being straight edge with being violent, and often "gang-like activity". in fact, i'm pretty sure that in salt lake city, the entire straight edge movement is labelled as a gang. it really only takes a few bad seeds to turn a respectable group in our eyes, into a violent gang to joe schmo.

so i'm not really sure what the point of this was, i just got off on a tangent. basically, treat me with respect, and i'll treat you with respect. everyone's entitled to their own beliefs, and do whatever you feel is best for yourself...