Animals must not matter

1391:

Everyone says they want a peaceful world but few link peace with food choices.  Even amongst the most educated, very few believe Animal Rights represents a start to the end of violence in our world.

         

To vegans, however, it seems obvious that the only way to bring about lasting peace is to admit food comforts are linked to human violence.  It’s a tough call for meat eaters who’ve accepted that “animals must not matter” - their brutal killing (done by proxy) underlines this belief.  And if animals don’t matter, and killing them doesn’t matter then we ourselves are enslaved by this single belief.  That’s all it needs to weaken our ability to change ourselves and rescue our world we live in.

You’d think if there were even a slim chance to save our world by reducing such a routine violence, that we’d do whatever was necessary.  If it took bravery or a strong-will, we’d surely rise to the occasion.  But we are convinced we’ve gone too far, that we are too hooked on our favourite foods and the daily routines of our lifestyle.  By considering animals, by going vegan, that would seem to be beyond our strength to carry off.  It would mean too much of a personal sacrifice, dropping so many items of food from our shopping list.

         

Humans could be the planet’s greatest asset, but to date we’re its greatest curse.  We are softened by our little comforts and unwilling to forgo them.  Indeed, we’re not willing to question our role in the routine animal violence which carries across to our attitudes to almost everything and everyone we are in contact with.  Our obstinacy dooms us to inevitable self-destruction.  All the time we see animals as property, all the time we keep slaughter houses open, we debase life and can’t find peace.  Humans will never find ways to repair the damage we’ve caused, until we drop our casual attitude to violence. 

Unlike any other predator, whose food supplies are limited, for us there’s abundant choice, but only because we entertain violence, by imprisoning animals, breeding them and killing them.

“We tell ourselves that we are good, just, upright, kind and gentle people.  We just happen to enjoy eating animals, which is okay because they were put here for us to use and we need the protein.  Yet the extreme cruelty and violence underlying our meals is undeniable, and so our collective shadow looms larger and more menacing the more we deny its existence, sabotaging our efforts to grow spiritually and to collectively evolve a more awakened culture”.

“We will always be violent toward each other as long as we are violent toward animals – how could we not be?”

Will Tuttle The World Peace Diet