Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies Articles

A Christian Vegan's Thoughts about Angry Christians

FROM Tams Nicholson, Executive Director, All-Creatures.org
April 2022

It can be very hard as a Christian vegan to find oneself in one of these unsolicited attacks against our non-violent commitment (especially if we know or love the person), but this is a price that ethical Christian vegans pay to help God's creatures.


angry Christians
Image by Tams Nicholson

The following is what I've learned over the years concerning angry Christians. Their reaction toward vegans, especially Christian vegans, can be very intensified and, I believe, is a result of their ego's pain. Let me explain ...

I am a Christian vegan and find that some Christians take offense to my commitment to not participate in cruelty (i.e. my veganism) and will begin justifying their violence toward creatures using scripture as a weapon as soon as they realize that I won't join them in violence.

When I see such a defensive stance from them - well that speaks volumes.

What I mean is this ...

It's like how a sibling reacts when they realize their actions might be extremely displeasing or completely offensive to a beloved parent. Acknowledging this new idea means that a good deal of what they have been doing and thinking is just plain wrong, and they had no idea!
And to make it worse ... next to them stands someone (a vegan) who "got it" and hasn't been doing those things. Ugh!!!! The vegan "just has to be wrong!" Otherwise, their newly injured ego sees the vegan as "better than them".

Their reactions can include many things including disbelief, anger, defensiveness, trying to justify what they are doing as okay, and even jealously and/or hatred to the other people (vegans) who don't act as they do (in violence). There also may some addiction to certain foods throw in to make it even less of something they want to believe. The world also inundates us with violence which helps desensitize all people.

They may also have a sense of false righteous indignation.

There are many emotions at play too such as trying to alleviate shame, perceived loss, guilt, etc. The vegan commitment just "can't be right" because it will turn their "entire world upside down" because their minds have yet to discover how easy and wonderful and freeing veganism can be!!!
In these cases, their egos or hearts or intellect need time to process such a big realization. If they accept it as truth, they will need to figure out how to say they are sorry and make changes. Some will, and some sadly won't. Some we can dialog with, and some are too filled with needing to prove us wrong.

It can be very hard as a Christian vegan to find oneself in one of these unsolicited attacks against our non-violent commitment (especially if we know or love the person), but this is a price that ethical Christian vegans pay to help God's creatures.

We Christian vegans have so much to be grateful for because we live in the truth, freedom, and peace of non-violence.


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