“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Every single one of us — every animal lover & every slaughterhouse worker, every stay at home mom & every full-time student, every animal rights activist & every zoo employee, every quick-lunch corporate executive & every organic farmer, every vivisectionist & every vegan — we have ALL have been raised & culturally conditioned to silence our compassion for animals. And how completely we submit to these callous cultural norms & cold social mechanisms is not a matter of rationality — for indeed, in a society that expects us to advocate cruelty and ostracizes us when we do not do so is entirely understandable … It is purely selfish, of course, and yet completely rational.

AND YET … once we remember that we too are “herd animals”; that we too are still (obviously) relatively underdeveloped primates; that we too have an innate and potent bond with ALL the sentient beings that share our planet; that we too, then, feel a sharp pain deep at the core of our very being whenever we contribute to the confinement and the suffering and the murder of others — then standing up courageously to the cruel exploitation of our animal cousins and furry or feathered friends becomes equally rational.

As such, our task is not to pass judgment on others for their choices that happen to violate the sanctity of life (if we are vegan), nor is our task to condemn “radicals” and “extremists” for standing up for animal rights (if we are not vegan) … But rather, our task — nay, our privilege — is to open up to ourselves and one another and have the basic decency to address the issue at hand; to humbly question why we have chosen to support abuse if we are doing so; to speak gently and courageously and informatively with those who are doing so if we are not.

Going vegan is not a diet (though it IS fantastically healthy) and it is not an environmental movement (though it IS the most potent way to save the Earth’s current ecosystems). No, going vegan is first & foremost simply becoming a whole Human Being … Going vegan is simply opening up to the pain we are unnecessarily causing our animal brothers & sisters — and thereby recognizing the immense pain we are actually causing our loved ones & ourselves.

Harming animals is a terrible thing, my Friends, and supporting others who do so is just as damaging … Deep with you, you are a Kind & Compassionate being. Please consider reawakening & re-enlivening that Beautiful Being today.

Thank you.

(inspired by Brian Luke)

 

Filed under: Sanctifying Sentience by Scaughdt