Check the talk

1430: 

In any conversation on serious issues such as Animal Rights, all the time I’m checking myself, to be sure I’m not becoming too volatile, or that the conversation isn’t becoming too one sided (too much of my stuff, not enough of the opposition, or vice versa).  If a person’s opinion is mocked or ignored, they’ll feel put out or feel like they’re being lectured at.

Conversations about animal foods, about animal farming and killing, need to be interesting and worthwhile, disagreements notwithstanding.  It can be stimulating for all concerned, whenever one is exploring the pathways of thoughts and beliefs.  Without the moral overtones that this subject usually brings with it, wherever our discussions take us can be fascinating.  And as with a conversation on any serious topic, in the end we are surely all aiming to leave it on a positive note, so that, if necessary, we can resume it at a later date.

For vegans, Animal Rights is a deadly serious subject, and it can be grim at times.  But for us there is an up-side.  Taking this subject to heart brings meaning into our lives, and it follows that for us to pass on what we know, we need to become proficient in talking about it.  Ask any animal farmer, and they will admit animal husbandry is a complex subject, so for us who simply study it from books, we can't know everything pertaining to this subject.  Animal advocates usually try to learn the most interesting parts.  And sometimes, it’s only our own interest in learning the complex details of animal farming that keep us from losing impetus.  If we can absorb enough to enable us to talk competently, we can, in theory, change people’s attitudes.  And from there, we can bring them closer to understanding the main issues involved in Animal Rights. But there’s a danger here.

Becoming knowledgeable and learning how to talk informatively, leads towards a belief that one is RIGHT.  And it seems that as soon as we think we are right, we get careless.  We come to rely on our arguments too heavily and then lean too heavily on moral imperatives, trying to shock people into a quick conversion.  We drift away from the difficulties of human habit-change and begin to apply pressure, with horror stories about ‘conditions on animal farms and slaughterhouses’.  And sometimes that’s what is needed to tip the scales and get people thinking.  But it doesn’t always work, and even when it does it doesn’t get them thinking too much further. Often, our persuasions have a ‘Will o’ the Wisp infatuation about them; the impact of ‘our truths’ soon fade.

The fact is that entrenched eating habits are not easily or quickly changed from the outside - the true resistance to vegan ideas is so fierce that clued-up people won’t tolerate any sort of moral battering.  So, it depends on what we say and how we say it.  We might make a mild mannered mention of milk; what happens to cows and calves in the process of producing milk.  Or we could be mentioning the details of some grotesque animal torture.  What is appropriate to speak about depends on how we gauge the atmosphere; when to go into any sort of detail, we must recognise when to let it rest; when to resist the coup de grace of going in even harder.

By not becoming too rabid about this subject, we can show that we’re not trying to win personal kudos by promoting it.  By caring  about how we’re coming across, when talking to someone, we live to fight another day.  We might not stand much of a chance of being understood, but we can win some respect for what the Animal Rights movement is trying to achieve.

People may not agree with us, but people are our business; they are the customers of the Animal Industries who we hope to persuade to become non-customers.  These are the ones with whom we need to keep on side.