I love vegans, first and foremost, for their heightened sense of justice and compassion, in choosing to avoid, as far as possible, products and businesses that exploit anyone’s body, in any way, for any reason.
Akin to abolitionists of human slavery who believe that it is morally wrong to force living, breathing human beings into slavery, vegans have taken that belief one step further, by including living, breathing non-human beings… and for this, I love them even more.
When I look out into our sad, mad world, in which the laws of all lands perpetuate the slavery of animals, I see the violence and cruelty such prejudice breeds. I see the terrifying plight of its victims. I see the unbearable burden it places on the collective conscience of humanity. And I am heavy-hearted.
Then, I turn my gaze to the horizon, and my heart is lifted at the sight of the rising tide of vegans… each one living proof that it’s possible for human beings to evolve their nature from that of predator to one of protector.
By rising above their desire for all products of oppression, these otherwise ordinary people have made the extraordinary decision to free their slaves, thereby striking not merely at one oppressor, but at the roots of the whole rotten business of slavery.
I ask you… How can any lover of justice not love anyone who has the integrity to stand with the tiny minority willing to free the lowliest of slaves, considered by the vast majority so insignificant as to be expendable?
Vegans recognize the inherent right of every animal, human or otherwise, to be the sole owner of his or her body, and they acknowledge our ethical responsibility to treat every body with respect and even reverence for the mystery that gives them life.
Without the need for holy books, rituals, prayers, or obedience to anyone or anything beyond their understanding, simply by listening to the one voice inside them that they do understand, vegans know, as everyone with a conscience knows, that slavery is wrong… whoever be the slave and whoever be the master.
I love vegans for being the most powerful force I see for the evolution of our species, because until we, the people, are willing to free our animal slaves, our own higher nature will remain enslaved.
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