Giving ground to gain ground

1139: 

Abstaining from doing something wrong is not necessarily ‘doing good’ or being a good person.  If there’s benefit from abstaining from wrong-doing, it’s no more, for example, than you benefitting from my not robbing you; I’m not ‘good’ because I’m not being a thief.  Therefore, when it comes to being vegan we must regard that as the norm, even though the majority are in the habit of being ‘thieves’.  My non-thief nature isn’t necessarily anything to do with goodness.

As soon as vegans act as if they are ‘good’, or we imply a greater goodness by way of our love for animals, or worse, start talking about our own goodness, we stray into dangerous territory.  People understandably think we’ve got tickets on ourselves, and there’s none uglier than the do-gooder.

To the outsider, ‘being vegan’ might seem like self punishment for the sake of appearing good.  Our own animal-liberation focus mustn’t appear as if we are trumpeting our own wonderfulness, in case people think we’re ‘in it’ for the wrong reasons.

If Animal Rights advocates want to promote a high ideal, there can be no boasting or criticising others for being unprincipled, especially if they’re simply mindless consumers.  By the same token, it’s the consumer who bears the responsibility for animal cruelty as much as the people who directly instigate it.

Instead of laying guilt trips on people, for what they eat, wear, condone, etc., it might be better not to show our hand so openly (or reveal our thoughts) but instead stick to the business at hand - mentioning what is happening to animals and assume (even if we know otherwise) that people know very little about ‘food’- animals or that they are too shy to admit how little they know.

Our aim, apart from keeping a personal low profile, should be to talk about animal issues without seeming to want to convert, or without trying to spook people.  Our aim is surely to get a better reception from those who are initially opposed to what we have to say.

If I can give out one thing, it might be to let others see that I accept where you’re at, even though it’s obvious that I would like you to be moving towards something better.  If people can feel us trying to consider their feelings, they won’t mind what we have to say.  If they can feel from us, that ‘we’re on their side’, and that we want to give others the ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’, that will always seem like non-judgement.  Our interest, at this point, might not have to be about what people are doing now but what they could be doing later.  We should be focusing on their potential, wanting only that others are starting to consider certain things which they might not have been considering before.

This looks like an overly mild approach to meat-eaters, but by our addressing each other with respect, there’s likely to be a better mutual reception and a more honest reciprocation.  There’s a better chance that each of us will be more willing to listen, and give each other the benefit of the doubt.