I have a lot of omnivorous friends and family who I love dearly. They're great people. So, when I post a veggie nugget that says, "A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral," I fear that these friends and family will take this as me pointing a finger at them and declaring them immoral.
I'm not a big fan of the saying "hate the sin, not the sinner", but I think in the case of what you eat and wear it can apply (though I would change the word sin to "immoral action" and sinner to "person who commits immoral act"), especially since the "sin" in this case is built into the structure of society so completely that the thought of going vegan never even crosses the majority of the population's minds.
I'm also not a big fan of declaring certain things immoral, but I think Thoreau made a good point here and I'm running with it.
I feel that eating meat and exploiting non-human animals for human gain is wrong. It shouldn't happen. This doesn't mean that I think people who aren't vegan are immoral ... just that I think they are (usually because they have inadequate or incomplete information about what they eat and wear) committing an immoral act. (I think the religious right has given the word "immoral" a bad rap and that it still has a place in civil discourse.)
I commit an immoral act when I buy a pair of pants at Target or a pair of Converse on-line, since they are made in sweat shops. I'm trying to change my purchasing habits to not only eliminate animal products, but also buy fair-labor fair-trade clothing and goods. It's a lot harder than it sounds (waaaaaaay harder than going vegan).
By the way, if any of you know of any sweat-shop-free clothing stores or on-line shops, let me know in the comments.
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2 comments:
It's tricky to make a point without it coming across as a personal attack. As for your last sentence, I've always wondered the same thing. I needed a new swimsuit a while ago and I searched around for organic and fair trade companies in Australia and came up with nothing. It's a shame. I wish vegan sites would sell that kind of stuff. It would make my life easier ;)
check out this site:
http://www.nosweatapparel.com/
for sweatshop free merchandise. they do sell chuck look alikes. although a friend recently bought 2 pairs and they are not holding up like converse. he did actually call th co and they have been receiving complaints about the sneaks so they are looking into some different materials. so if you are in the market for shoes, you may want to hold off a month or two till they can get their "stuff" together :)
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