Learning from ex-vegetarians: a motto for us all

[Guest guest]

Thank you Donna for your upbeat and progressive posting! I would suggest your conclusion as the most universal motto that all vegan/vegetarians can adopt and embrace.Sri (Irvin)[i have underlined and put in bold for emphasis.]--- On Sun, 1/17/10, Donna Ashizawa <govegan wrote:Hi Victor,

Thank you for your thoughtful rebuttal. I actually see the truth in both "sides" and do not need to be convinced of one way or the other. We all strive to extend our compassion in our own ways towards non-human animals. May we continue to work together, smile at our differences, and make this planet a happier, more peaceful place for all beings.

 

Everyone is awesome in what they do in the vegan world, and I am so grateful,

Donna

On 1/17/10, Victor Tsou <victor@loveallbeing s.org> wrote:

Hello Brian,I thought of something that might help clarify how a focus on reducingthe suffering of non-human animals does not imply anything about their

use. Peter Singer, whose "reduce suffering" philosophy is the basis ofmodern, conventional animal advocacy, wrote in his book AnimalLiberation (Second Edition):"[R]eplace factory farm eggs with free-range eggs if you can get them;

otherwise avoid eggs." (p. 177)"So we must ask ourselves, not: Is it ever right to eat meat? But: Is itright to eat this meat?" (p. 160)So, according to Singer, the originator of the "reduce suffering"

philosophy used in conventional animal advocacy, it's very logical toeat humanely bred, raised, and killed non-human animals if one wishes toreduce suffering. If Singer, in the book that started the modern animal

welfare movement, writes "reduce suffering" means switching to humaneanimal products, I think it's natural for the non-vegetarians we speakwith about reducing suffering to think the same.Some advocates do care solely about reducing suffering and not about the

use of non-human animals and I think the "reduce suffering,"anti-factory farm approach is very appropriate for them . For manyothers, however, it is about the use of non-human animals. For us, Ithink we would do well to consider the growing popularity of humane

animal products and consider whether our advocacy is consistent with ourgoals.Victor