It seems that in the days since the publication of the article titled Vegan Animal Rights Group Refuses To Promote Veganism there has been all sorts of discussion regarding the circumstances behind the event that lead to the article being written.
As can be expected there are some who have taken sides, saying party A or party B is at fault, then there are those who have taken the ‘neutral’ position of sitting on the fence because they don’t know all the facts.
Whilst on one hand, it could be hard to blame them for not wanting to get involved in something like this, especially when based on the words of an alleged trouble maker such as myself.
That being said, what you can blame them for is not asking questions.
In people’s rush to demonise me as the cause of these events, and say that I am part of the problem not part of the solution, a few important things have been overlooked.
* Two groups who are supposedly there “for the animals” bullied vegan activists who were also doing something “for the animals” into leaving a free public event. This is made even worse by the fact that these activist had the permission of the restaurant where the screening was being held.
* The leaders of these two groups either took part in the bullying or silently observed this happening.
* It appears that Animal Liberation Queensland will join with any group they can if it means they can promote themselves, even if that group has different goals to theirs.
[GARD]
Understanding that there are more than two sides to every event, how many people have bothered to ask those in Animal Liberation Queensland and Coast To Coast Animal Friends, the following questions?
* Why were two vegan activists bullied and harassed until they left the showing of the movie?
* Why were these same two activists prevented from distributing vegan information at a free public event?
* At what point did bullying become an accepted form of dealing with those who may embarrass us or ask questions we do not want asked?
* Why did Animal Liberation Queensland ‘get into bed’ with Coast To Coast Animal Friends to hold and promote the event, when the goal of two groups are different?
The more that the supporters of these groups remain silent and refuse to ask these questions the more that this despicable behaviour will continue. And the more the animals will have to pay the ultimate price to satisfy these people’s over inflated egos.
If you truly are more concerned about the plight of other animals, over your own ego and social acceptance, then the time has come to take a stand for the animals, even if that means standing alone.
If you do, trust me, you won’t be standing alone for long.
[GARD]
This article was written by the founder of VeganPolice.com.au, Cameron Blewett.
Cameron is a long term vegan (30+yrs), and is passionate about veganism, and helping people to understand more about it and giving other animals equal consideration.
You can find Cameron’s other rants on his website, CameronBlewett.blog