A sovereign story

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Some people think vegans have tickets on themselves. They condemn us for being proud of our compassionate natures. But, in truth, we don’t ONLY feel compassion for exploited animals. We also want to protect the people who eat them, especially kids who have no real say in their choice of foods or clothing. In a more ideal world, kids would be given the facts and be allowed to make up their own minds about such crucial matters as to what foods they put into their bodies and how they relate to animal-killing. As soon as they are old enough to understand, they should be allowed to refuse animal foods if they don’t want to eat them. But of course that would upset the apple cart. I’m sure that if they did refuse, it would become highly inconvenient for unsympathetic parents.

            This brings us back to the adults who parent children and their responsibility to the overall welfare of their kids. To encourage a sensitive, kind child to participate in the enslaving and killing of animals would surely amounts to child abuse. But we can’t say that too publicly without too many people feeling affronted and coming down on us like a bag of bricks.

             Making confrontational statements is usually counter productive. But what we can do is make what we have to say interesting enough to ignite people’s curiosity, and lead them to see how their children could develop so much better on plant foods. If we need to take the heat off parents, for not considering their children’s feelings, then perhaps we can put it this way: For the adult who takes on a vegan diet, it will be great for their health, for their kids, for the planet, etc, but it will also be the beginning of a most important stage in their own self-development. If they can bring themselves to listen to our story they might be nudged towards acknowledging the sovereignty of animals, and then probably be able to see that as an essential part of the upbringing of their children and in recognising their sovereignty too.