Those pesky vegans
Your right to eat what you want? Read more…
Have you had a vegan or a vegetarian tell you that unless you become one of them, you’re basically a murderer?
Do you have friends, or friends of friends on social media who post gruesome photos of tortured animals?
Animal activists, animal lovers, whatever, can be pushy and in your face. They can easily sound judgemental and not respect your own decisions for your own life. I know I have been vocal about criticising vegans too.
Can you bear with me if I ask you to consider why vegans get angry so easily, why they seem to lose perspective and want to be in your face like this?
They take non-human animals into consideration and as you know, we use animals and animal parts for everything: food, entertainment, clothing, it’s been a significant part of our society since, well, forever. And that’s exactly it. All around us are reminders that animals are used and killed. — Stop stop stop, hang on a second, you think you know where I am going there. All I am saying is that for somebody who has decided that animals matter, that each sentient animal as an individual matters, it’s got to be pretty damn hard to see reminders of things they hate all the time everywhere around them.
Now I know, it’s not an excuse. I didn’t say it was.
Next time one of those annoying vegans appears in your life, don’t make fun of hurting animals. Trust me, they’ve copped it all before. You might think your joke is funny but it’s the 100th time someone makes the same joke.
Vegans feel we should ask ourselves why we still eat animals. Do we believe that in our society, animals are better looked after than in distant countries — therefore it’s got to be ok? Actually looking at what is happening may tell us otherwise. Are animals on Earth so we can do whatever we want with them? It’s natural, it’s cultural, but it hurts billions of animals for a moment of pleasure we can still have without meat. Not convinced? No worries, but don’t dismiss people who care about animals as if they were lunatics and when they get judgemental and angry: remember it’s coming from a good place.
I encourage a friendly and pragmatic approach to animalist issues. (Animalist = like humanist, including animals). I see value in meeting the person you are engaging with where they’re at and trying to understand their perspective — reserving the right to agree or not.
From a vegan perspective, when you look at what we know now, animals are sentient (they are able to feel pain and pleasure and are aware of their own existence). It is aggravating to think that they are treated like meat making machines. Even fish get a few articles in Psychology Today. Vegans get frustrated because they believe that deep down, they have a point.
Either way, thank you for reading this far. Yes, vegans can be awfully annoying, I criticise them all the time, they drive me nuts, but I can’t blame them if I look at what animals have to go through because of traditions. I know things change, even if it takes time.
Cheers.
