I have a hard time speaking up. In general, I'm a fairly reserved individual and I don't enjoy conflict, so I often keep quiet and then wish later that I'd been braver and spoken up. And when I do speak up, I often wish that I'd done it differently. Speaking up about veganism is hard for me, but I'm learning. This weekend I had two experiences that underlined the importance of speaking up. One was in a situation where I spoke up about something and it turned out well, and one was in a situation where I was too scared to speak up, but someone else did--and that turned out well.
The first was in an online situation. Someone had posted to a comment thread that they think that when you're traveling in a foreign culture, you should just eat whatever food is offered without worrying about whether it's vegan (or vegetarian, I guess, since the commenter had also remarked in an earlier post that she thinks vegans are "loopy.") She felt that refusing the food of another culture is "insulting," and that when in Rome, one should do as the Romans do.
I've heard this argument before, and I think it's flawed on a number of levels. For one thing, no one ever says it about people who turn down certain foods because of allergies, or due to religious reasons. I don't see why ethics are any different. I posted back with the following:
I have to disagree with the "when in Rome" argument. Being consistent and true to one's values is not "insulting" to others who do not share them. It is simply a matter of being true to oneself. We would not choose to harm other human beings simply because we happened to be spending time with people who considered it to be a pleasant pastime, and the exact same moral principle applies in the case of non-human animals.
I was slightly nervous saying this, because I was in a forum owned by someone I respect a great deal, and I didn't want to insult her by starting an argument. However, I have to speak up for the animals, the nameless victims whose lives and deaths are never acknowledged in these discussions around "culture." However, the owner of the forum sent me a private note saying she'd actually been hoping I would jump into that discussion and was glad that I'd said what I did. After that, new voices joined the conversation and it went in a much more positive direction.
So it just goes to show that speaking up, in a firm but respectful tone, can do amazing things. I learned from this that my voice matters, that speaking up can make a difference. And that you never know who's waiting to hear what you have to say. And, that you may be the only one who can say it.
The second part of the lesson came yesterday afternoon at an animal advocacy discussion I attended. As an abolitionist, I really want to focus on straightforward, unequivocal vegan education. That is what I feel passionate about, and it's what feels truthful to me. I'll talk more about that in a future post, but suffice it to say that this is not a very popular stance in the animal advocacy community. Several times during the discussion, I heard members of the group make comments that animal advocates should stop "in-fighting" between the welfarist vs. abolitionist perspectives, that we shouldn't get "distracted" by these apparently minor differences of opinion, and that we should focus on our main message... whatever that main message actually is.
I should also say that there were a lot of great things said at the discussion, lots of inspiring comments and some really great people, that I did very much enjoy being there, and that I learned a lot. But I also got the impression that any discussion of abolitionism was not welcome, would be viewed as "in-fighting," a distraction, and a "waste of time"--as one person put it. As I said before, I'm uncomfortable with conflict. I didn't want to get into a debate with other animal advocates, especially since I don't think I'm much of a debater. I did try to inject some suggestions about possible avenues of vegan education, and to underline the point that I really think we need more vegans in order to effect meaningful change for animals. But that's as far as I went.
However, at the very end when we were all asked for our suggestions, one woman said loudly and clearly that we need to have a clear, ABOLITIONIST message. It seemed like such a brave thing to do, and naturally I rushed over to introduce myself as soon as the conference ended. It turned out there were two other women at her table who are also abolitionists. We exchanged emails, phone numbers, etc. and are going to get together for coffee to talk abolition. None of this would have happened if she hadn't been brave enough to speak out and risk the disapproval of other advocates. It's exciting to think that soon Vancouver will have its own little abolitionist group, and it goes to show, once again, how important it is to speak your truth.
