1914:
Vegans aren’t missionaries,
but we aren’t so mild mannered that we are afraid to speak up. It’s all a
matter of balance - we want to be taken seriously and have what we say
considered constructively. The foundation stone of this is being seen as
fair-minded. We listen and we talk, always on equal terms.
Whatever we say should be said
on a ‘suggestion-only’ basis because we don’t want to sound dogmatic and do
want to show respect for the integrity of the person who is willing to listen
to what I have to say. We don’t need them to agree with us, in fact it would be
surprising if they did, but more importantly we shouldn’t let them go home to
be just as comfortable with their old habits as they’ve always been before. Ideally,
we can have a discussion, and allow new ideas to come through which enlighten
both sides. Better to have disagreement than polite accord. Ideally, we want robust
debate, each trying not to sound too certain of being right.
Vegans have an eye to the
future. We’re not out to win converts but to get people to think for themselves.
If people are conditioned by the mores of Society, they’ll be loyal to the
values of their society. We must tread a fine line between informing and
maintaining an essential equal footing. It won’t work if we-know-all and they-know-nothing.
Vegans need to act as a direction-guide for new information along a rocky and
resistant road.
However smart our approach,
however slick our arguments, however nice we may seem to be, we represent just
one side of a values-debate. We may know we are ‘right’ but to show that too
dogmatically might not be helpful, with this subject. Because the reaction to
dogma is always negative and no one ever has to listen to anyone in the
minority.
If we want others to listen
to us, we need to show we can listen. There’s always something valuable to be
learnt from listening to the other side of the argument. Our eye must always be
on the future, not winning little personal skirmishes along the way. There’s a
massive mountain range of perception to cross before we ever get on to the fine
details of a vegan view.
Since everyone wants to be
right, that creates an obstacle. For members-of-the-vast-majority, minority
views are easy to throw off. For omnivores, it’s a bit off-putting to meet and
talk with someone who thinks they’re right all the time. Over the non-use of
animals, and issues concerning nutrition, vegans may be sure we are actually
RIGHT. But however strong my feeling is,
it doesn’t give me ‘the right’ to earbash anyone. As much as someone might want
to hear something about veganism, they also want to know how a vegan behaves -
are we fair? Are we interesting to listen to? Are we boring and dogmatic?
The starting line: Our aim might
be to act like a launch pad with a rocket full of ideas, yet still latent and
un-fired-off. There’s a basic understanding of where we are coming from – just
a simple three-worder will do – ‘don’t touch animals’. And by ‘touch’ we don’t
mean that literally of course.
If that isn’t initially made clear,
then we might be mistaken for health nuts on a vegetarian diet with something
extra thrown in for good measure. It’s far more than that. It’s something with
a much stronger philosophical basis. If people want to know about that, then we
can then think about giving them some more details. And that’s the start of
passing over valuable information. If they don’t want to know, there’s no point
wasting time ‘guilt-ing’ them into listening.
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