confronting – does it work?

Unless vegans are asked to comment, it’s likely they’ll only impress the converted. Anything they say uninvited, about animal rights or vegan issues, is likely to set off alarm bells. People don’t like being morally confronted at the best of times, but they hate it when it concerns their meals! If vegans dare to question food choices, people will put us in the ‘whacky’ basket. They’ll feel justified in denigrating anyone who voices their opinions about another’s private habits. They’ll see it as excessive chutzpah. But for some activists that would be okay. They say these people deserve to be confronted … but the freewill of people allows them to walk away from confrontation. So, who wins?
The alternative to this bulldozer approach is for us to strike a balance when talking about Animal Rights. It depends on who we are talking to. Face to face we can soon judge whether there’s a genuine interest to hear what we have to say or if a person is building a brick wall against what we are likely to say. If we ignore the signs and treat everyone the same way, those who are in resistance to us will associate us with the stereotypical bully activist and have no trouble in pushing us away. And these are the very people we should be trying to reach.
Society is split on this issue, as to whether there should be rights for animals or no rights. The latter are in the vast majority. In most parts of the world this question is never brought up. But in those few countries where the question of rights for non-humans is widely discussed, no other subject hots up as quickly as this one! There are dramatic clashes shown on the TV news, between those representing the animal industries and animal activists. The activist tries a bit of moral bludgeoning, their adversaries denigrate them … and it’s been like this for decades, some progress is made but nothing in the deep psyche of the population is touched. There are still many people who have never even thought about these issues. And these are the ones who are more surprised than anything else when the subject is aired. For them, using animal-food is as natural as drinking water or sleeping at night time. A meal is never seen as an act of violence. In all innocence they might show some curiosity and ask us why all this fuss is being made. Maybe they learn something important. Maybe it shocks them so badly, their sky falls in. But enough for them to want to take up a vegan diet? Perhaps not. For those who are more familiar with the subject and our advocacy of animal rights, our arguments may be so familiar that their responses have already been rehearsed for maximum resistance. It’s likely they will avoid us and our arguments like the plague.
Animal Rights is never discussed willingly by anyone who uses animal products. This is the big stumbling block in animal advocacy.