A tricky balance

Vegan’s might have principles concerning their eating habits and their attitude to animals but do we fully apply the same principles when relating with each other? Some vegans are not forgiving of people who hurt animals. But this includes almost everyone in the human race. Judgement-making, when it’s about morality and values, is a slippery slope – by disapproving of almost everybody, then almost everybody feels the dislike and returns it. If we say that every person is involved in animal crimes it’s simply because they are still eating them.
People are implicated by using their money to lend financial support to animal industries. In our present society we have consumer-sponsored attacks made on ‘fellow beings’. So the question is are we, as vegans, capable of broadening our harmlessness to living without judgement, over these big issues involving aggression?
If vegans do make a value judgement about certain human behaviours it can be poison because of the personal-dislike element. It’s as if we are willing to play Russian Roulette with our relationships along the lines of “if you aren’t with us, you’re against us”. It’s easy to make enemies of non-vegans. If we, as vegans, are trying to set the standard of non-violence, we have to show generosity by looking for the best in people, and giving them the benefit of the doubt. If that sounds a bit Polly Anna the other side to this balancing act is far too dangerous. The aim is surely to be ‘on-side’ without okaying what we know they (the meat easters) actually do. We only have to separate the deed from the person. We are teachers not preachers. Vegans should investigate what makes people tick. We need to keep asking the same question - why aren’t people impatient to become vegan, and why aren’t they concerned about ‘the animal problem’? We need to put our fellow humans under the magnifying glass, to see why they go along with the routine murdering of animals, or even why they enthusiastically support it.