Preachy Vegans

Without too much digging, it won’t take you too long to come find a thread/fakebook discussion/blog post about the dreaded Preachy Vegan.

It would seem going by the comments, and posts that this is pretty much the worst thing that you could be called. The equivalent of being labelled Persona Non Grata.

There are even blog posts by vegans, necrovores, and the like giving us all tips on how not to become the preachy vegan.

Though can someone please tell me why we shouldn’t be?

Don’t we owe it to the animals, the planet, the subjugated workers in other countries, the health and well bing of our family and friends, to name just a few, to tell them about veganism?

Why be ashamed of the choice that you have made?

Reminds me a bit of the following quote by Marianne Williamson, from “A Course in Miracles”

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Now, I am not saying we should be promoting veganism 24/7 as that would drive anyone loopy, what I am saying is that you shouldn’t be scared of saying you are vegan or even having a discussion with someone about it.

What I do is wait for someone else to bring it up first before talking about it. This usually happens thanks to one of the tattoos that I have, the shoes I’m wearing or even the food that I eat. There has even been a segue into a discussion about veganism from Zombies, thanks to some of the posts on this site.

As vegans, we are preached at almost hourly with a message of animal consumption, use and abuse, being expected to ‘take it on the chin’.

Don’t you owe it to the vegans of yesterday, today and tomorrow to become a preachy vegan?

After all, it could be your ‘preaching’ that gives someone else the encouragement to make the decision to go vegan.

1 thought on “Preachy Vegans”

  1. Well put, Cameron. You’re right, we tend to be the ones constantly preached at. Not only in the media or in the weekly Coles or Woolworths catalogue, but by the people that tell us to stop preaching. Rarely do they just say “stop preaching”. It’s usually followed up with the reasons why they are not vegan and why they could “never” turn vegan. What are we comparing here, I wonder? That’s right: the interests of voiceless animals and the interests of morally-capable human beings. Yet, it seems, we are constantly told that we are egotistical. I, for one, do it for the animals.

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