Setting the stage

[This blog is also much longer than usual - 700 words]

There’s so much waste and cruelty and so much done against the greater good, that it makes some people despair. For others it quickens the importance of the work that has to be done before things get worse. And that work, the repair of rivers, forests and habitats, as well as the repair of our attitudes to animals, needs a mature, environmentally-aware set of vegan principles to power it. Veganism represents an attitude change which can inspire this sort of repair, by using a non-violent approach. Vegans are in a position to play an important part in restoration work, having cleaned up their act by going so far in attempting to shake off their ‘shadow’ (they’ve done it by respecting the natural order of things and reversing their own speciesism. Hopefully, apart from our attitude to animals, we’ve also learnt to be at-one-with-others and practise non-violence in action. If we’ve done that then, as vegans, we are in a position to help bring about a transition to a peaceful future.
If in the future there were to be peace, we’d see the beauty of animals, obviously intend them no harm, and we’d automatically be vegan. If we were truly at peace with the world we’d even be close to the people who hold different attitudes to animals.
But we aren’t at peace yet, which means vegans have to be the first to set an example, by taking on a self discipline that unfortunately, for the present, keeps us separated from others. That’s hard for vegans however there are compensations. We do enjoy a freedom others don’t. We should make the most of it to build a new template for human community.
Vegans and the society in which we live (being in it but not of it) are obviously trying to live as non-violent members of society, our aim being to encourage no ‘dislike’. People who aren’t vegan don’t need to be disliked and should feel free with us to explore all the ethical issues we talk about without being afraid. For vegans it may come as a surprise but even though we disagree with others about important issues we can still like whoever it is we’re talking to. We can even give the appearance of liking them too!. It’s a great step forward for any non-vegan to be discussing vegan issues, so we as vegans don’t have to win every argument – our aim shouldn’t be to put them right or fight tooth and nail to prove we are right but help maintain a creative flow of ideas and views.
Within any dialogue, however we answer questions raised by others, we should be making our own point too … by the direction we take things, maybe not getting anywhere near that point we want to get to but having that aim nonetheless. Then others will see we have an agenda and that we mean business … but not sacrifice everything to make our point. However serious our aim is, it doesn’t have to be so serious that it could make someone feel so uncomfortable that they read it as a feeling of dislike towards them. Once there’s animosity, the game is over in an instant, and that disliking will cloud everything that has gone before or will come after.
If I am having any sort of serious discussion, I can alter the atmosphere just by raising the tone of my voice, to indicate if I’ve lost patience or am ready to show more interest. We are all adept at showing likeableness or revealing that we have ‘a nastier side’. And if my nasty side comes through I can kiss goodbye to any good will. Once that appears I’m no longer listened to. It doesn’t matter how intelligent my arguments might be, as soon as I’m no longer liked or respected, every word I utter will fall on deaf ears. And if, as an opinion-holder, I’m disliked then it’s likely my opinion will be disliked too; a person might come to dislike veganism on the basis of disliking the vegan who introduced the idea, hence the bathwater is thrown out with the baby.