Compassion vs purism (WAS: pervasiveness of animal products)

[Guest guest]

I just now read Susan P.'s comments about how guilty she feels because

it's impossible to be really and trully 100 percent " pure " vegan.

(At least it is if you aren't a hermit.) I encourage anyone who

feels like this to browse through Vegan Outreach's web page. I think

they make a good case both for always striving to do a little better

than you are but, at the same time, not obsessing about " purity " or

eliminating tiny specks of obscure animal products no one has heard of

from your diet. Their home page is at:

 

http://www.veganoutreach.org

 

They have a " Why Vegan " brochure that's wonderful, then they also have

a bunch of essays for people who are already committed to moving

toward veganism or who are already committed to veganism but are

struggling with the best way to BE vegan (how pure to be, how to be

the best possible advocate, etc.)

 

Here's an extract from one of their essays; sorry for the messy formatting:

 

 

------veganoutreach extracted text---------------

 

Our conversations used to go somewhat like this:

 

Potential Vegan (PV): Oh, so youÕre a vegan. I know someone else who is

vegan. You know, I really

think itÕs terrible how they treat the animals, but I could never do it.

Animal products are in everything, arenÕt they?

 

Vegan: They are in a lot of things. But you figure out what you can and

canÕt eat and then it becomes easier.

 

PV: It just takes too much discipline for me.

 

Vegan: I could give you a list of the names of all the different possible

animal ingredients. ThereÕs

less than 10,000 of them! And I can give you a list of 500 companies

and whether they test on animals or not. ItÕs not so bad. Hey, where

are you going?

 

Now our answer goes:

 

Vegan: To me, veganism is not about personal purity, but a way to stop

suffering. You donÕt have to

avoid every animal product, just the obvious ones for which an animal

was bred, raised, and

eventually killed. Some vegans avoid all they can as a symbolic gesture,

but minuscule amounts of

animal products or by-products will fade away as the meat, dairy, and

egg industries fade.

 

Sometimes a potential vegan will say, " I could just never give up

ice cream (or cheese, etc.). " Some

vegans now reply, " Then give up everything but ice cream. " These types

of reactions will often

surprise the potential vegan and make them realize that veganism is

not about making yourself pure,

but about doing what you can to stop suffering.

 

People often try to sidestep the issue by talking about everything

from Eskimos eating fish to being

stranded on a desert island. To be effective, we have to bring

conversations back to the fact that

eating animal products causes suffering, and each of us can work

to avoid creating this suffering.

 

We should not simply try to feel that we have won an argument with a meat

eater. Rather, we need

people to consider the issues in depth and want to change. If we are

to reach peopleÕs hearts and

minds, and help them utilize the power of their choices, we must make

people aware that we are

sincere individuals who have made informed decisions. We must show

everyone that we have decided

to use our choices to make a positive statement about how the

world shouldÐand canÐbe. Only then

will others be inclined to join us in creating a new world.

[Guest guest]

I liked the passage from veganoutreach. This is all quite helpful to me,

and to others as well, I hope. susan P.

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