this is taken from tribe, where i wrote it in response to someone asking if others would consider vegetarianism. i place it here because not only is it my perspective/response to the militant vegan, it is my perspective/response in general to those who are pushy, aggressive, or militant.
the context is that of whether or not a person ‘is willing to admit’ to lacking unconditional love or compassion if they eat meat. this was not the bluntness with which they were delivered, but the meaning was the same, as later discussion revealed.
here, the lie of pretending to a compassion i do not yet feel would be worse than simply being as i am until i find it. add to this, the practices of the tradition i hold, while encouraging this as a display, do not demand it and indeed, one is instructed not to do a thing until and unless one may do it sincerely, without reservation, and with rightness in the eightfold ways.
there is no pretense here. i am not overly fond of meat, and i do not like that industry and commerce are as they are, and yes, i am conflicted on many levels with regard to the matter. but these are my issues, to work through and work out in my own way, and the various swirling pressures and attempts of others to force a change i cannot sustain within is, in my honest opinion, not only pointless, but actively impedes a change that might come more naturally without such presences and actions.
human nature being as it is, ego being as it is, i am forever stymied by the fact that all the logic used to try and convince/convert others has not revealed the simplest impediment of all — the force, pressure, guilt tactics, and politicking that do more to annoy, inflame, and shut the minds of others than ever it has to open them or affect the purported end.