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As kids we were baptized in carnism and when everyone you know is also baptized everything looks normal to you. Everybody is like you and nobody shows you what’s wrong. We’ve all been there. But somehow we learnt about the other side. Maybe we saw a documentary, a speech, an activist event.
In all this carnist propaganda with the images of happy pigs, we managed to see how the pigs really are. We saw the blood spill for a glass of milk. We know that there is nothing peaceful in the exploitation of animals. We decided we’ll show to others, too, what’s going on and voluntarily this time we baptized ourselves in veganism. The first part is positive, the second is negative.
The reason is that by baptizing ourselves we passed from the one propaganda to the other. We want so much to pass the vegan message along that we share things that are untrue on social media. Even ourselves are not sure if they are true. But if our vegan friends do it, why shouldn’t we? It’s for a good cause, we’re thinking.
We learn that there are vegan rules in place. Some things are allowed and some are not. So we say “that’s what we do now”. And now that we’ve taken cheese off our plate, we are told there are more rules. For example, it is morally reprehensible, they say, for visually impaired people people to have dogs. Same goes for the people who need emotional support from dogs. And we don’t say “no, that’s wrong”. We say “this is probably ok because a big organization says so and also my friends say it”. And now this is my rule too, you people just don’t get us.
BURN YOUR VEGAN BIBLE. DOUBT YOUR IDOLS.
The fact that some “famous” vegan introduced you to veganism does not mean they are always right. This kind of worship is blinding your judgement. You’d normally be alert for any mistakes but you blur your own filters just because you like these people.
I do not disagree at all that Gary Yourofsky has introduced many people to veganism. That doesn’t change the fact that he is a (self-proclaimed) misanthrope. Why do you still admire him and recommend his speech?
I do not disagree at all that Joey Carbstrong is fighting non-stop for the animals. That doesn’t change the fact that he makes up false quotes from Martin Luther King just to match his vegan ideal, distorting Black History while at it. Why do you pretend to not see this?
What The Health has influenced several people to go vegan for health reasons but is not exactly trustworthy. It is partly correct, of course, but it is irresponsible to recommend it to new vegans without presenting its faults at the same time. Is it responsible to say “stop eating meat and you’ll get well”?
Anonymous For The Voiceless have influenced some people to go vegan but the organization itself expresses polarized, misanthropic and dangerous beliefs. Why do you allow to such an organization to use you?
A vegan activist you personally know finds body shaming jokes against meat-eaters funny. So tell me why you believe that you can fight an oppressive system by using another oppressive system.
Get over it. The theory that whatever non-vegans say is wrong and whatever vegans say is right, doesn’t hold. Doubt them. They are not gurus. Nobody is writing the rules.
Take down their icons from your mind’s altar. Criticize them. Correct them. YOU can explain them what’s right.
Sometimes non-vegans say that we are like a cult. Well, THEY ARE OFTEN RIGHT. If you are reading from inside the Vegan Bible, that’s how exactly it looks. If you think that everybody else holds false beliefs and only your beliefs are true, you must reconsider. Doubt your idols and yourself.
Because if you don’t, all you’ve done is you’ve changed diet. But I remember you saying that veganism is a lot more than a diet.