“Those articles make me sad. They make me feel guilty for eating animals.”

This statement was made today by a good friend of mine, in regards to an animal rights article written by my friend, Stephanie (www.challengeoppression.com). If you’re a vegan, I am sure you already know why my friend’s statement frustrates me. It proves that she is conscious of her actions and their connection with cruelty, and yet she continues to eat animals. It shows that she feels a sense of responsibility, that she knows she is participating in a system that is inhumane. And yet she continues to eat animals. But despite my frustration with her statement, I also feel inspired by it.

“Huh?” you ask? Let me explain.

My friend’s statement showed me that she has is aware that killing animals for food is not quite right. It showed me that she realizes the connection between her actions and this unnecessary cruelty. Her choice of the word “animal,” showed me that she is conscious of the fact that her food was once a living, feeling being. She could have said she feels guilty for eating “meat.” Or “pork” or “beef” or “veal” or any of the other words we use to sugar-coat and gloss over what (or “whom” rather) we are eating.

And yet, at least right now, her words are just words. Her feelings are just feelings that have not yet manifested as actions. My friend has come far enough in her consciousness that she has an inkling that what she’s participating in by eating meat is not right, but she hasn’t yet realized that she can change.

Statements like my friend’s are, I think, frustrating to vegans, because we know from experience that change is possible. We have changed! Why is it that so many others have come to the same realizations that we have come to, and then stopped short of changing their behaviors? We know that becoming vegan has made us healthier. We know that ceasing to consume animal products has made us happier, as our actions are now in line with our morals. We know that being a vegan, no matter who you are or where you live, is an easy task. If only we could somehow magically impart this knowledge to our non-vegan friends. We are frustrated that it’s the kind of knowledge that every person must learn at her own pace, and in her own way.

It is difficult to watch idly as someone struggles with thoughts we have thought, wonders things we once wondered, and walks at their own pace along a path we once walked. While we can’t take someone else’s journey for them, what we can do is perfectly simple and effective. Every vegan does it every day, probably without even knowing it. Simply by having changed, we show others that it’s possible. Simply by enjoying and letting others enjoy our food, we show them vegan food can be tasty. Simply by living and eating compassionately, we silently challenge others to do the same. Don’t give up, vegans. We are indeed making a difference. Even the most frustrating clouds have a vegan lining.

—
Lisa Rimmert blogs regularly at http://www.tokenvegan.blogspot.com. This is her first guest post at Vegan Soapbox.

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Sections: Vegan Et Cetera
Topics: activism, change, ethics, feelings, guilt, hypocrisy, inconsistency, moral schizophrenia, morality, morals, pep talk, philosophy, shame, veg, Vegan