Myth #11: “You vegans are so extreme.”
(also heard as “Life needs balance.”)
We need “balance” when it comes to animal rights? – seriously? Do we need “balance” when it comes to rape in our society? How about child molestation? — or slavery? — or torture? — or kidnapping? — or murder? Of course we don’t!
And as far as being an “extremist” is concerned, let me ask you this: which is more extreme — the vegan who says that all sentient beings deserve the right to live without being imprisoned, tortured and murdered, or the meat-eater who says “I like the way meat tastes and I’m more important than animals, so they need to not only die for me, but suffer incredibly before they do so?” … The answer to this question is hopefully obvious.
And I wonder — was Martin Luther King Jr. really an “extremist” for demanding basic civil liberties for blacks? Was Gandhi really an “extremist” for demanding basic freedom for the people of India? Was Anne Hutchinson really an “extremist” for demanding that women be treated with equality? Are “animal lovers” everywhere really “extremists” for demanding that elephants not be hunted; or that whales not be slaughtered; or that dogs not be baited; or that dolphins not be butchered? Of course not! And is there really any difference when it comes to vegans advocating against animal cruelty for cows & pigs & chickens & sheep & tuna?
Well let me tell you what I find extreme: What I find extreme is pretending to embrace peace & pretending to tout justice & pretending to teach kindness & pretending to rally for freedom — while simultaneously making violence, slavery, torture, rape & murder a normal part of your everyday life … THAT is “extreme” by any objective measure. Indeed, in reality calling vegans “extreme” is like calling Justice “extreme” … Calling vegans “extreme” is like calling Compassion “extreme” … Calling vegans “extreme” is like calling Kindness “extreme” … Calling vegans “extreme” is like calling Freedom “extreme” … And if championing those values make vegans “extreme”, then “extreme” is exactly what we all should be.
Current status of this Myth: Disinfected
Justification it provides for eating animals: NONE
“The question is not whether we will be extremists, but rather what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hatred, or for Love? Will we be extremists for the infliction of injustice, or for the rebirth of justice?” ~ inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The unspoken suggestions are that extremists must be wrong. And yet I am an extremist when it comes to rape – I am against it all the time. I am an extremist when it comes to child abuse – I am against it all the time. I am an extremist when it comes to torture – I am against it all the time. And I am an extremist when it comes to murder – I am against it all the time.” ~ inspired by Tom Regan
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