The Cost of Being Acceptable

1826: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

As soon as we start to view animals (any animal) as being of 'significance', as being 'sentient', we have to think seriously about how we 'use' them in our daily lives. Once the flood gates open and our thoughts and feelings have been stirred, there's no going back. If we can pass on from the fear of all that implies, we might feel an uplift in knowing that we are a long way from where we once were. It's risky and potentially transforming and it can mark a change in our relationship with our own souls and with the many enslaved animals presently on Death Row. The change: To no longer consort with The Abattoir.

When we embark on a plant based diet and throw away our woollen clothing and leather shoes for something better, we pass the point of no return. This is often considered as insurrection or treason by people from whom we once sought approval. We are seen to be disassociating ourselves from the values of the society to which they conform. We are deliberately moving to a different source for our consumer goods, somewhere where animals haven't been tortured just to make things for us.

But there are obstacles along the way. It's not always as straightforward in practice as in theory. There are many influences holding us back. We might still consider that we belong to Society, where in so many other important ways, we want to conform to certain standards of behaviour. All of us want to be accepted and liked and decisions have to be made when we enter adulthood concerning this matter of 'acceptable behaviour'. We are actors on a stage, putting on a show for those from whom we seek approval and love. We are inculcated with timeless values and the right and wrong ways of doing things. It's here that we face the temptation to compromise when it comes to our responsibilities. It's here that we find reasons why we can't fulfil them (but sounding good when we do) and refining it to an art. The upshot is that we 'sound good' but 'do nothing'.

We have a choice - and it's not an easy one to make. If the people we love don't agree with our convictions, do we persuade ourselves that their acceptance of us is worth more than sticking to our own (perhaps newly discovered) principles?