Only this time it was green and not red!
Image by Eric Michael Pearson
I attended my local vegetarian society meeting two days ago. All are welcome but most members are ethical vegan. John Pierre was the guest speaker for the evening. He is a nutrition and fitness consultant, activist and trainer to celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres. The theme of his presentation came from his new book The Pillars of Health.
John Pierre does not discriminate when it comes to women’s rights and extends those to females of all species. He spoke briefly about the rape racks used to impregnate the cows by either a bull or a human hand inserted into the rectum, all against the cow’s will. Thus the term rape rack is appropriately used.
John Pierre spoke about the dairy industry and its tremendous harm to cows who produce milk for human consumption. A few of the things he mentioned, in no more detail than this, were how the udders of cows become so painfully distended from being forced to overproduce so much milk that they actually drag on the ground. The ground is covered in fecal material. Sometimes a cow will step on her own udder because they are so grossly distended. Painful infections are common. In the United States 80% of all antibiotics are given to livestock equaling 30 million pounds per year. This is not healthy for cows or humans.
At this point there was a small ruckus in the back of the room. I saw a woman collecting her child and leaving. I assumed she did not want him to hear about the poor dairy cows. Totally understandable! It’s upsetting.
My guess is that out of a one hour speech, there were less than five minutes devoted to animals used for food and the resulting cruelty.
Anyhow . . .
We went on to discuss pressure cookers and blenders. People began to ask questions such as should you cook a sweet potato before using it in a smoothie?
The woman who had left earlier came back in and at the top of her voice with what in my opinion was a somewhat angry tone, not screaming, but super loud began to accuse John Pierre of having a flippant attitude. Each question she asked left only a small pause with enough time for John Pierre to say one or two words at most, but never a full or even a half sentence response before she interrupted him with another statement or question. I will try to recall correctly but she said things like:
What’s wrong with eating the sacred meat?
I’m a scientist and I am researching the brains of children and you will be hearing about me with regard to this.
I am going to have babies until the day I die.
How are you going to address world hunger with this way of eating?
Inner city apartments should have chickens. Those chickens will have the most wonderful lives until they are eaten.
I did not come here to disrupt your meeting. I am not being disruptive!
I came here for a free meal. I did not come here to listen to you talk about cow’s vaginas (to my knowledge he never said cow vagina) in front of my son. I don’t want you to make him feel bad about drinking milk. He drinks milk!
She said some other things too but I can’t remember everything. The thing is, her child seemed a little scared but of course I’m going to think it’s because she was making a scene. Who really knows?
I likened the whole thing to ‘throwing green paint’ on us. Kind of like the vegans that throw red paint on unsuspecting people wearing animal furs.
She grabbed her child and continued speaking loud enough all the way out the door so that no one else could have a chance to answer her or say anything all.
So what came after?
In the case of red paint what sometimes follows is:
Those self-righteous vegans!
Those annoying animal activists!
Who do they think they are!
The plural form – vegans, the plural form – activists, and the use of ‘they’ and not ‘he’ or she’ are of note. The actions of one or even a few should never be used to define an entire group. Just as the actions of this one woman are not to be used to define all people who eat animals.
Certainly she did not throw green paint. Throwing paint is a whole lot worse! Throwing paint is opposite to veganism. Veganism asks the world to give your kindness indiscriminately, to cause the least amount of suffering possible. Throwing paint is not kind. But it is the action of only one, or a few, and does not define everyone who practices veganism.
After the woman left John Pierre had this to say, in my own words:
People may become upset when they hear truth. This is why it is so easy to get upset about the meat or dairy industry. None of us wants for these horrible things to be true. These kinds of truths bring about many negative emotions. This is why we never see anyone having an outburst over broccoli for example. No one wants to accept what the cows go through. No one wants to have to feel bad about drinking milk. No one wants to know that after they reach through the rectum of one cow to force impregnate her, they do not change the glove for the next cow. But we do not know what this woman has gone through. We do not know her, her life, or her experiences. We cannot feel angry about her interruption of our meeting here. We cannot allow negative emotions to guide us. We must maintain our compassion, always, and for everyone.
And that, my friends, is what it’s all about. That is true veganism. I hope the woman comes back. She will be welcome with open arms.
#ActiveKindness + 100% Nondiscrimination = Peace on Earth
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