A Vegan Evolution is Coming

I used to be an ‘animal lover,’ and I would have been EXTREMELY offended if anyone had told me I did not ‘love animals.’ I have always been in the company of rescue animals, I certainly would NOT have worn fur, and I would never hesitate to help an animal in need when the opportunity arose. I ‘loved’ animals fiercely. Then something happened that, at the time, was horrible and tragic…

…I found out.

Initially I found out about factory farming, but then I found out everything…the lies, the diseases, the environmental destruction, the people we affect, the horror…and I had to accept my shortcomings in the very idea that I had never THOUGHT about it much, had never bothered to learn.

So I faced the facts…the reality I had never considered. Any rational reason I could find to shirk responsibility was evaluated and rejected, as can be easily evidenced when looking objectively and scientifically. Some like to call this subject a ‘debate’ or an ‘opinion.’ It is neither. It is a moral stance that says it matters…what you do to them and what you do to this planet matters.

Initially I had little idea what to eat and had little prior experience with anything but easy, fast food, and I could not IMAGINE never eating certain ‘choice’ animal products again…but my morals would not allow it. Once you know the whole story it becomes an ethical decision, not simply a ‘personal choice.’

I was kind of mad at myself initially - for being unaware for so long, for never having given the idea rational thought. Such an important subject – how I treat my own body and what defines my ethics. I was poisoning myself. If not from the chemicals and hormones and antibiotics and virulent organisms, I was poisoning myself with their neglect, their fear, their sorrow, their pain, and their death…I was also poisoning my world and doing great harm to others.

Although I would have probably been hopping mad at you at one time had you said I did NOT ‘love animals,’ now I must fully agree with you. I only loved SOME animals back then.

Now I can truly say I love each and every one of them as individuals, I do what I can to do no intentional harm to others, both human and non, and I am also quite pleased to avoid the catastrophic side effects of eating an animal-based diet.

It matters, and most vegans (in my experience) are perpetually amazed how much love and meaning there is in every single thing we do. It adds a dimension of awareness to life that we were unaware of prior. I had no idea I had a guilty conscience, but I think I did…and I think that is probably why most people react to the subject with avoidance…I think many of us already know that if we look, we will be horrified at what we would find.

The fact is, living beings are not patents or products, no matter how much a discriminatory society insists that they are. The fact is, treating animals and their lives the way society does is nothing short of slave ownership or the way Hitler viewed Jewish people…with a casual dismissal that these Earthlings are below us and do not feel as we do or are not as valuable as we are.

The effects are awesome: kindness and compassion, a clean planet with sustainable resources (safe food and clean water – increasingly hard to find), an informed society, improvement in countless lives (both human and non), a MUCH lighter tread upon this Earth, and statistically, a longer life with less chronic disease.

I have said many times – initially I thought we only needed to tell people what was happening and they will not allow such horror…but I was wrong…the challenge actually is to make people give the subject any deliberation whatsoever, at least to do any research or critical thinking and stop following along with the rest of society.

I say it every day, but it is true…every single thing I do and eat and choose matters…it matters who I support, it matters who I fund, it matters what I eat and wear, because this ultimately defines my morals, and my morals are not for sale nor are they flexible.

No matter how much some may want to argue – there IS such a thing as doing the least harm possible…to say differently is just the persistence of irrational thought. Morally I can no longer accept any involvement in viewing other Earthlings as profit margins, patents, or inanimate products - I know I would not harm them if I knew them.

Each killed is an irreplaceable individual. I could not come take your dog, give you another, and have it not matter – it MATTERS because each is unique and has their own identity. A simple concept but hard to allow, as allowing it means society must accept what we already know (and why most won’t look or think about it)…that we are abusing sweet gentle animals for no rational purpose other than an over-inflated sense of self-importance and willful ignorance.

GO VEGAN.