Harmlessness

1349:

We need to have confidence in order to say what we have to say.  We need to be exemplars of non-violence, and we can show that by sticking to non-violent food, which symbolises the principles by which we live.  Harmlessness is the basis of our eating, shopping, thinking and talking.  But it also must underpin our approach to other people.

But it’s here where we find ourselves in a tricky position, over our ‘approach’.  We need to be assertive and not indecisive, but we also need an obviously non-violent approach.  One way of being effective is to go against our impulse to preach, and become not closed-off to opposite suggestions from the ‘outside adversary’.  As animal advocates and activists, we don’t always have a good track record with our 'approach', simply because of our unwillingness to listen to opposite arguments.  But this is surely the key to effective communication.

         

We most of us still have a lot to learn about ‘the non-violent approach’.  Is that because we hate violence but still have some of it in our own lives?  And do we still have it because we entertain some doubts about non-violence itself, in the manner of, “Nice idea but too ineffective”?

By being neither one thing nor the other, we might move forward far too slowly.  So even though we set a good example in our eating habits, we might not, otherwise, be that different from our omnivore friends.  In our society, non-violence isn’t taken too seriously, because we think it seems a bit whimpish, and by doubting it we emasculate it.  This is why we never get to discover its true usefulness.

It should be more obvious to vegans than anyone else, that in something as simple as one's choice of ethical food, the non-violence as a principle is very powerful indeed.  Very inspirational!