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Why veganism is more than a diet
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My readers may have noticed a lot of my entries mention nothing about the hottest recipes or health benefits of a plant-based diet. In fact, I often post on subjects having nothing to do with food or dieting but the less popular vegan lifestyle.
In fact, the strict definition of veganism as defined by the Vegan Society in England describes "veganism" as "ways of living.."
Why does it matter?
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I blogged earlier about the confusion we sustain when we as animal rights advocates say things like "don't eat meat" or "stop killing animals" when we could be encouraging lifestyles which are critical to any use of an animal. Of course we should abstain from killing animals and eating them, but statements like these reinforce two stereotypes
1. animals are treated humanely as long as they're kept alive (killing animals is wrong, but exploiting them while alive is more humane.)
2. the sole act of just buying or putting meat in our mouths is cruel.
As for the first stereotype, I often hear this kind of statement used to defend circuses. For example "circuses are more humane for animals because they live longer in captivity." Besides this not being true, we can do better than simply judging the rights of an animal based on how long they live as a slave.
Should we eat meat? Of course I don't advocate purchasing or eating meat whatsoever but will a vegetarian also avoid leather? Will they also avoid products tested on animals? Understandably, there may be some difficulties in avoiding every single product that may be tied to animal exploitation, but a dietary vegan will judge that criteria based on whether or not they're going to eat it.
For instance, acryllic paint is made with eggs. A dietary vegan artist would buy acryllic paint though they wouldn't buy a carton of eggs. Again, the dietary vegan does not decide on their consumption based on its effect on the animal industry but whether or not they're going to eat it. Does that make any sense?
The vegan fear of veganism
To say vegans are afraid of veganism sounds counterintuitive but I still hear fellow vegans telling me their decision to abstain from animal products is merely a personal decision, that other's consumption of animals is not a problem.Of course, we don't need to be confrontational with everyone we meet. After all, if you're someone like me, you have family and friends who are not vegan. Certainly, we should respect other's life choices but don't forget we don't disagree on favorite bands or political parties but lifestyles which cause animals to endure extreme torture as slaves.
So no, you don't have to be confrontational, but why not be educational? What about those individuals who wish to go vegan but are subjected to ridicule and mis-education about the benefits of veganism? Will you be there to support and educate them about the underfunded truth?
There are a lot of Ben Wests out there who say they wish to restore and sustain peace by embracing the peace caused by the lack of protests. Ben West was the mayor of Nashville and defended segregation while speaking out against lunch counter sit-ins and protests because they caused civil unrest. When an ethical vegan keeps their mouth shut about what they believe, they may avoid a disagreement but ignorance remains unchallenged.
After waves of protests, West publicly defended equal treatment of races despite criticism.
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