Animal Rights via Non-Violence

1393: 

Vegans accuse omnivores of having double standards - “You say you love animals but you eat them”.  Obviously this sort of statement isn't a crowd-pleaser; it doesn’t go down too well at the dinner table.  In fact you might as well say “You eat meat?  Wow!  That’s so uncool”.  An obviously hostile statement.

         

Personally, I wouldn’t be so up front.  I’d rather say, “It’s your choice”, implying that it's none of my business.  But what a cowardly response! It's better to be hostile than slimy with just enough judgement in my voice to show disapproval.

           

With the animal-eater, we can go two ways: if we speak too softly we’re not heard.  If we speak more loudly we offend people.  But if we ever get into conversation on this subject, whatever we might say, it is almost certainly going to offend, shock or irritate.  Unless it's completely ignored.  If it is taken up, our comments will be counterattacked, and then both sides have been offended, and it all potentially developing into an unwinnable fight.  There are no winners or losers in this sort of fight, so if we want to be constructive, it depends on how carefully we put things.

How do we say something strongly without inviting overreaction, which then makes further discussion impossible?  I find it’s best to use understatement – “you might consider this: eat predominantly plant-based foods for a week and see how it feels”, or “imagine a world without abattoirs, where you’d have to do your own killing”.  And if we do want to point out some horrible fact, it’s best to deliver our ‘shocking message’ without hammering it home too hard.

         

The whole process of changing a person’s mind over animal-use isn’t simple, quick or easy.  Inevitably, ego rises up to defend a position which one has always held.  When it comes to an omnivore's diet, it has formed over perhaps decades.  So, our attempts to effect a mind-change won’t be achieved by using any kind of force.  Persuading is a delicate art.  Sensitive animal issues should be packaged as non-judgementally as possible (easier said than done!) and delivered so as NOT to corner people.

By becoming vegan, we must avoid becoming the ‘vegan Nazi’, who might have a reputation to live down.  Others might have given ‘vegan’ that sort of image, and we have to undo that image in some way, before we deliver any message.  A good start is to de-anger our voice.  Perhaps all we need to do at first is to state our regard for animals – “They are our friends and we don’t eat our friends”.  And see how that goes down.  A sense of humour helps.  It shows we don't take ourselves too seriously and want to interact with our so called ‘adversaries’ in a completely non-violent way.