The affection approach

468: If an omnivore is willing to accept the idea that animals have rights, it means they don’t like to see them exploited for human use. That’s the dividing point - likely most people will not cross that divide. And because they won’t, this subject is a sensitive matter. I think it’s important, when I’m talking Animal Rights, that I don’t get people’s backs up unnecessarily. I’m never sure how close they are to accepting my arguments … so I try to respect their intelligence, if only to get some respect back - tit for tat. If I find myself not showing respect, there’s no way they will listen to me; figuratively speaking, I’ll never get my toe in the door. They have to be emotionally on-side if I want them to listen to our ‘message’. Animal Rights information should be like ‘vegan take-away’ - something to be taken home, to be chewed over. However, let it be said, this is not yummy food we’re selling, it’s more like a difficult-to-digest idea. To pass our ‘juicy morsel’ over the counter, the customer needs to know it’s at the very least safe. In other words we need to cultivate trust in our ‘product’. But even so, there’s likely to be heated views anyway - you may love your meat, love your whole diet, your treats and snacks. I may be firmly against all of that. We differ, but come together we must. If I’m the one initiating discussion, my smile, voice-tone and body language need to remain untouched by any show of opposition from you. Nothing should prevent me from remaining calm. Throughout everything, my affection and respect for you should be constant. My information might be hard to handle but my approach should be casual. It’s only when something is raised casually enough, to indicate safety (as well as attractiveness) that it can become interesting enough for the other person to risk engaging with it. And if you trust me enough, you may even dare to ask the really tricky and confronting questions without fearing that I’ll turn on you. When I get a confronting question I know we have engaged, and it’s likely we’ll both be learning something valuable from each other.