I use to be an animal rights activist. I am still vegetarian and have been for over 10 years. However as my mother always taught me, you get more with honey, then you do with vinegar. Meaning, I get more positive response by sitting and chatting with people about being vegetarian, rather then shoving it down thier throats with protests and violence. I think people like the ALF give me and people like me a bad name.
Whether ALF gives you a bad name is determined by who you are. If you simply choose to eat only plants, then it does not. If you intend to acheive the same ends (animal testing/eating) than it does to some extent.
Quick Quiz: Do animals have rights or are rights a uniquely human concept?