Socking It To 'Em!

1537: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Animal Rights/Veganism is a subject non-vegans discuss amongst themselves in order to disparage it and to work out resistant arguments to it  The stock response is usually that vegan activists are 'dangerous extremists';  which means we're 'bagged' and doors are closed to us.

But not everyone has a closed mind, especially younger people.  Having made fewer independent food choices, they aren't as likely to be so defensive.  But can they rely on the information they find about plant-based diets?

First and foremost, vegans must come across as well informed and concerned about peoples' safety, as well as having high personal standards and a friendly sensitivity.  But we don't have to be too self-effacing or backward in coming forward.  If we are affable enough, some chutzpah can get us by, as long as we maintain a sense of humour and some friendly familiarity.  Personally, I don't try to be a 'best buddy', but I do try to be open and accepting of any views, thus proving that I'm ready to 'take it' as well as 'dish it out'.

People often want to know what vegans eat and the favourite question is: "Where do you get your protein from?"  The answer has to be at our fingertips, otherwise we can't carry on past this health concern.  The Answer is:  Legumes, nuts, seeds, beans, chickpeas, tempeh, tofu, soy products, leafy greens, seeds, non-dairy milks, wheat gluten!!  Whew!!  Having rattled this list off, we can then progress to other important and more delicate matters - the rights and wrongs of using animals.  Most people are prepared to put up with a bit of cheek from us here, even to the point where we can send them up for eating 'dead animals'.  But there’s a hairsbreadth of difference between friendly joshing and hitting them with a value-judgement.

Out of loyalty to the animals, I sometimes feel that I should be deadly serious and confront people wherever and whenever I can, to show just how deeply I feel about this subject.  But I notice that as soon as I start 'getting heavy', they stop smiling!  They immediately feel threatened and no longer find it easy to identify with me.  In other words, they go on the defensive.

Passing on information (with a subtext of judgement) is not productive.  Use of too many statistics is dull.  Slogans are irritating.  It's all very confronting.  Being bombarded with facts and figures is the equivalent of carpet-bombing and inevitably any connection we might have had is broken. Even if we get into high disagreement, I would still try to maintain equality and show respect for any personal view (even if I know they're misinformed!).  However far apart our views may be, our feelings for each other shouldn’t be compromised.  The human-to-human connection should be kept open.  We’re never anything else but two individuals chatting about the possibility of reassessing our attitudes (regarding the use of animals).

If we're speaking to a roomful of strangers and some level of mutual good feeling is maintained, there’s a fair chance of constructive, lively interaction.  Keep sparring - but keep it warm.  We are, after all, representing the good name of an important cause.  As soon as we forget this, communication dies and the reputation of our fellow advocates is damaged by association. 

The best teachers I had at school never lost sight of their students.  They had an eye for trouble and saw everything, even when they pretended not to.  They stood no nonsense, but never withdrew their affection.  They were always 'onside' with the students.  And I think that’s how we vegans should come across.  Not let anyone get away with incorrect information or rudeness, but not allow ourselves to slip into zealotry either.   No cowardly tactics either!  If I’m asked to explain something and try to hide my lack of knowledge behind an emotional rave about animal cruelty - it's just too obvious.  It immediately destroys my credibility.  

On some levels, people are very well informed.  Most adults know (more or less) what’s going on with animal usage and animal cruelty these days, but they don't necessarily know all the details. Presumably, we vegans do, otherwise we wouldn’t be so keen to talk about it!  With this tricky subject, our strength is in having useful information to impart, so that we can fill in the gaps.  If we can’t answer a question and we have the guts to admit it, that can be impressive.  We shouldn’t be afraid to lose a skirmish or two.  It’s the long term (mainly psychological) battle we’ve got ahead of us, so we come out at the end as a person with whom other people can identify.