The difference is that I am not asking you to take anything on faith. I am saying it is wrong to torture animals, and you (most likely) agree with me. Some people think it is fine to kill animals for food, but most people would not DIRECTLY treat animals the way our food production factories do. So there is a lot of mental gymnastics involved. But that's not the same as religion. You can go to a factory farm and see animals suffering.

I absolutely understand why people are so resistant to being told that eating meat hurts animals. I wasn't born vegan, and I grew up eating the typical American diet and ignoring where my food came from.