There is no single voice or approach that will awaken every person to compassion for animals. Some people are moved by gentle invitations. Some respond to Scripture, theology, prayer, or the lives of the saints. Others are reached through scientific evidence, environmental concerns, health information, personal relationships, vivid images, or the courageous testimony of someone unwilling to soften a difficult truth.
Our approaches to advocacy are—and must be—multi-faceted because human hearts, experiences, and defenses are different. A voice that opens one person’s heart may cause another person to turn away. Models for change recognize this. Lasting social change does not come from education alone, but from using multiple, coordinated strategies—building knowledge and skills, providing support, changing access and social consequences, reshaping environments, and influencing. Applied to veganism, it means creating compassionate communities in which choosing nonviolence toward animals becomes increasingly understood, supported, accessible, socially encouraged, and reflected in institutions and policy. This is achieved through individuals and organizations with many different methods and styles.
Gary Yourofsky has long been a strong and powerful voice in animal advocacy. His uncompromising presentations have helped many people see animals differently, confront what happens to them, and become vegan. His willingness to speak plainly about suffering that society works very hard to conceal has made an undeniable contribution to the movement for animal liberation.
Gary is also a controversial figure. His language, name-calling, in-your-face-approach, and more gives critics an opportunity to focus upon him rather than upon the creatures for whom he speaks. Interviewing someone does not require me—or All-Creatures.org—to endorse everything that person has ever said or done. But neither do I believe that a person must be flawless before their voice can carry an important truth.
During our conversation, Gary speaks of being called by God to advocate for animals. That is his testimony concerning his own life and calling. Listeners may discern or understand that claim differently. Yet throughout Scripture and Christian history, the people who called society to repentance were not always quiet, comfortable, polished, or easily received. At the same time, strength of conviction does not excuse cruelty toward human beings, and speaking for compassion should continually call all of us—including advocates—to examine how we speak and how we treat one another.
Any difficulties that one may find with Gary do not erase the suffering he has exposed. Nor should disagreement with his language or personal choices become an excuse to disregard or silence what is being done to billions of sentient creatures. If our attention becomes fixed entirely upon the imperfections of the messenger, we may avoid confronting the far greater violence within the message: confinement, exploitation, terror, separation, and death inflicted upon creatures who value their lives.
I chose to interview Gary because his voice is part of history and continuing witness of the animal advocacy movement. It is a strong voice—sometimes painfully strong—but it has awakened people who may not have been reached through gentler approaches. His contribution deserves to be heard honestly, neither idealized nor dismissed.
My hope is that people will listen with discernment. Receive what is true and life-giving. Question what needs to be questioned. But above all, do not allow disagreement with Gary—or with any advocate—to make the creatures invisible again.
Their suffering remains real regardless of how perfectly or imperfectly any of us speaks about it. They need gentle voices, scholarly voices, pastoral voices, prophetic voices, artistic voices, and strong voices. They need each of us to use the gifts we have been given to help awaken compassion and bring an end to the violence inflicted upon them. Gary Yourofsky’s voice is one among these many voices. It is powerful, it is imperfect, and it has helped many people see what they once could not see.
Slowly, one heart at a time, we are making a difference. Each year more are reached, more learn, more slowly become faith-based vegans. Will you help sustain this work by becoming a monthly supporter?
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