Month: May 2012

Agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all

In regards to slavery and all other social injustices, wouldn’t it be great if folks followed Gautama Buddha’s advice?:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Because if we did, slavery and every other social ill could not exist.

Think, then Go Vegan!

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Being vegan has about as much to do with diet as gay rights has to do with parades

Being vegan has about as much to do with diet as gay rights has to do with parades. Sure, us vegans eat plants rather than animal “products” and some gay rights advocates have been known to throw pride parades. But these actions alone do not sum-up either movement.

That is, veganism is a social justice movement that stands against the exploitation of other-than-human animals just like gay rights is a social justice movement that stands against the exploitation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Or, in other words, veganism strives to end speciesism and all its associated injustices just like gay rights strives to end heterosexism and all of its associated injustices.

Think, then Go Vegan and Support Gay Rights!

Being vegan is a matter of nonviolence

Being vegan is a matter of nonviolence. Being vegan is your statement that you reject violence to other sentient beings, to yourself, and to the environment, on which all sentient beings depend.
~ Gary L. Francione (May 13, 2012)

Why are you defining me by my body, and then punishing me for it?

All living beings are prisoners in the type body we reside in. We are actually held captive, and are at the mercy of the nature of the body we occupy. I am no different. I didn’t ask to be put inside the body of a flea, just as you didn’t ask to be put inside the body of a human being. Why are you defining me by my body, and then punishing me for it?
~ Marvin Lasco (May 16, 2012)

What IS genuinely disturbing and downright vile

A mother breast feeding her three year old son is apparently newsworthy, and people are quick to express their disgust. Perhaps it is a bit strange, but really—who gives a shit? What IS genuinely disturbing and downright vile is a grown adult consuming cow milk.
~ Holly Wilson (May 15, 2012)

The gentle mothers whom we exploit

Today, think about the suffering and death you support just because you like the taste of dairy, cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, etc. Think of what that means for cows, the gentle mothers whom we exploit. Ask yourself if it’s worth it. If your heart says “no,” go vegan.
~ Gary L. Francione (May 13, 2012)