793:
I’m an advocate for animals being given rights (obviously!)
but I wouldn’t necessarily tell anyone that gratuitously. This subject is as
off-limits as atheism might be for those with religion, so I’m cautious about
opening it up, and anyway, why do I need others to know my strong views about
this? I don’t need them to approve my stand. But it’s not as easy as this. By
leading a life (self-) governed by vegan principles, and that still being
regarded as unusual, it’s likely I might want their approval of me as a person.
So, I want them to see me as the sort of person they might admire, or at least to
be thought well-of, for my being willing to talk about it, even when they don’t
agree with me.
From my
point of view, I like to know how open another person is. I’m not very
interested in grudging toleration or polite approval of me, especially if I
know they have a closed mind on this matter of animal-use.
Vegans need
to be less interested in others’ “knowing that I’m a vegan” and more interested
in their knowing that I have empathy; that I am, on all fronts, interested in
how others feel. What I really, mostly want
to get across is something about me, not at first about what views I
hold. I want others to know how I feel, in order to let them feel safe enough
to show their feelings too, whether or
not they coincide with mine. My main interest is in strong views, whether they
be similar or opposite views. With strong views we at least avoid indifference.
I’d rather know what others are feeling, whether hostility or affection, than
not know.
If you meet
an open soul on your travels, ‘this subject’ might come up. It might be one of
many things you talk about. I can tell a lot about a person who is willing to
talk about these matters, especially when they already know where I stand on
them. If they know that I know where they stand, and are still willing to talk,
I respect that.
If I meet a
person who is adamantly closed-off on this subject then I can pick that up
almost straight away, and I know that talking about it with them would be like
pushing rocks up hill - the more talking I do, the more antagonism will be
shown by them and, for my part, that would amount to so much wasted breath.
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