by [email protected]
Sometimes, it is too easy to forget I was once an
omnivore. Sometimes, it is
all too easy to forget that I was an ovo lacto vegetarian for so many
years
before I found what I now believe is the true path to animal liberation,
veganism.
Sometimes it is easy to get angry with people who
haven't found the "true path"
yet. I recently realized that I haven't made any new friends in several
years
who weren't either vegans or vegetarians on the way to this better
lifestyle.
Last week, I went to a talk by an ex-neo nazi who was
speaking out against
racism and bigotry and I realized that I was a hypocrite. I had imagined
that
I was eating a diet for compassion, but I had hate in my heart. I had
intoler-
ance and hate for all those people who hadn't seen the mistake of their
diets,
the hypocrites who loved their pets and loved wildlife but didn't see
any harm
in having a hamburger.
Hate for all those people who contributed to animal
slaughter, the meat eaters,
the milk drinkers who didn't see how using dairy products contributed to
the
suffering of cows and the continuation of the veal industry. Hate for
all of those
who ate eggs and contributed to the battery-caged chicken factory farms.
I felt that the word had been out there for a long time, and that people
should
have realized by now that veganism was the only way to animal
liberation.
And then I recognized the contradiction. Unless you love
the human animal
with all the contradictions and faults and shortcomings, you can't
really bring
about a better world nor can you know love. And unless we animal
rightists
and vegans are examples, not of intolerance and extremism, but of Love
and
Compassion then no one will look to us as an example of how life should
be.
Intolerance will only drive away the people that loving
guidance can save.
Vegan outrage, no.
Vegan Outreach
http://www.veganoutreach.org/
Go on to How You Can Help
Return to 28 February 1999 Issue
Return to Newsletters
** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this
not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the
copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your
own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner.