Being non-judgemental

1565: 

When I’m talking about Animal Rights it’s impossible NOT to show my inner feelings. Try as I might, if judgement’s on my mind it’s going to appear in my voice. My words may be carefully chosen, but if I harbour any negative personal feeling it’ll show up in the tone of my voice. Whatever the subject of passion might be, alarm bells start ringing whenever the voice rises - the passion and urgency always show. So you say to yourself, “Avoid, avoid”. When a vegan starts talking Animal Rights, it’s almost impossible for us to win people’s hearts if we don’t seem to be on their side, or at least making a serious attempt to understand their side.

The biggest challenge for vegans, who are explaining their views, is knowing how to win people over on some level, in order to get them to stay focused for long enough to listen to what we have to say. Somehow we must convince people that we are not judgemental types, and if necessary make a direct point of saying so. Then it’s up to them whether they will believe that about us or not.

To get anywhere near to being convincing, I first have to BE non-judgemental, truly so, and be convinced myself of the futility of making moral judgements, whether it’s about the abuse of animals or about anything else I consider to be wrong. Instead I need to see it in much the same way as a doctor sees a disease, without rancour or disrespect, but simply as a failing in a very complex system. The cause of the failing needs diagnosing, so a good doctor won’t disparage the illness but simply look for a cause and something to strengthen the immune system's ability to counter the destructive element.

They say there’s cancer in everyone’s body and that we’d be wise to stay healthy and keep our immune systems robust, to lessen the chances of cancer taking hold. In much the same way we need to keep a healthy resolve ‘to avoid making judgements’, so as not to fall into all the classic trap of being 'too right' for the taste of ordinary people, and thus turning them away from what we’ve got to say. When it comes to big-time reluctance, any excuse will serve to avoid taking responsibility for one’s own problems. The favourite avoidance technique involves ‘shooting the messenger’. Vegans, who present as arbiters of moral judgement, are asking for trouble. They are standing in the firing line and doing neither themselves nor anyone else any good.