Vegan protesters reject righteous domination

I thought you might find it interesting that Genesis actually only allows a vegan diet (Gen 1:29-30) until after the flood when God gives Noah permission to eat meat (Gen 9: 3-5). Mainly because humans were just so hopeless at doing the right thing, God had given up. This is a little known fact and most Christians find it confronting when told about it (Western Christian being big meat eaters). I recently had a discussion re veganism on an Economist Fb post on factory chicken raising. Although I am anti factory farming I did point out that there are many reasons to take it slowly, livelihoods need to be transformed, indigenous cultures include hunting & meat eating in their cultures, some people have trouble living healthily without meat protein, among a few. I don't believe two wrongs make a right either, so don't agree with violent protest, especially where children are present. It's a very complex issue and needs to be discussed dispassionately or no progress will be made. And we must move to a vegetarian/vegan economy simply because of the cruelty and also the damage to the planet that livestock cause. So let's get it right.

Except every single protester was white and middle class and frankly behaved like self righteous fanatics. As such they did not win hearts and minds at all. The criticism of classism is also legitimate as I have seen more policing of what poor people put into their kids mouths from vegans than any other group. What none of them are doing while preventing the rest of us from getting to work is coming up with legitimate alternate sources of employment for meat workers with low levels of education. Nor are they engaging in civilised dialogue. In terms of the argument that genesis argues for this, I would have thought that this is the criticism of all progressive people who believe in a secular society. In Australia faith was once a private conviction. How wonderful it would be if we went back to that

This is a thought-provoking article! There is a sense in which the vegan protesters cause discomfort to anyone subscribing to social justice awareness but who do not take or support their actions. Animals have suffered and continue to suffer at our hands, and not just because most people eat meat or use animal products. We all participate because we all benefit from the exploitation of animals and the environment whether we use animal products or not. This is a very tricky dilemma. Australia has profited from agriculture and this has substantially contributed to the standard of living we enjoy. Farmers should not be individually targeted, and large agricultural concerns do provide employment for rural workers, too. I think many of us 'ordinary folk' just want to see animals treated humanely. Morrison will be on a 'winner' with some voters by demonising protesters, though.

As a non-angry omnivore, I have no problem with veganism. But the type of militant veganism espoused in this articles and by recent protests is delusional. The elite,privileged economic system that allows this small minority of prudes to thrive on their tofu burgers is in itself an act of domination. In order to produce an affordable, practical array of food products to allow these vegans to thrive, someone somewhere and some element of the environment has to go without. In the same way that drivers of electric cars think they are doing the environment a favour while ignoring the fact that the electricity they use comes from burning coal that destroys the environment in someone else’s backyard - these vegans are merely living a delusional high-life.

The "Protestant Ethic" where God is supposed to reward us for using the resources of the planet, as literally seen in the quotation from Genesis, in part triggered the idea of dominating and conquering nature . Now, thanks to our hubris and greed, we are beginning to reap the whirlwind, with climate change making food production more vulnerable and famines, like in prehistorical times, ever more likely. The actions of the protesters fail to respect the rights of others, yet in a way they show an increasing alarm by the better informed middle class whites, at the wonton destruction of our life support system ( the environment). Education, rather than destructive actions would be a far better way to inform the community.

I think the main issue with the protestors is trying to expose the animal cruelty practices involved in mass farming. Stun guns at slaughter definitely do not work in all cases. That's an issue I feel very uncomfortable about. It's one thing eating animals but it's quite another how they are treated during their lives and at slaughter. It must be ethical and humane. God says we can eat animals but I think he wants us not to be cruel along the way.

This is a definition of Veganism: "Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals.” The hypocrisy of veganism becomes apparent when you consider the animal Kingdom. Do we kill lions because they are carnivores? Do we kill crocodiles because they eat fish, birds and animals? I have seen vegans spraying insect spray to kill ants. I have witnessed militant vegans on TV wearing leather belts and shoes. In Thailand, a predominately Buddhist nation, they eat inter alia beef, pork, fish, birds, eggs and milk. Their Buddhism does not affect their appetites. Im not against vegans. But they are only 1 percent of the population and have no right to prescript for the rest of us, including our meatworkers and farmers. They have no right to "liberate" farmers livestock or stop them milking. Even Christ himself ate bread and fish.

Interesting article in pointing out that the vegans are not only protesting the unjust treatment of animals, but want to bring down all structures they see as unjust. Ironic that they do not point out the unjust structures in Hindu and Buddhist society where if you are born in the wrong cast, or have no family, you have no-one to support you as the society does not have built-in welfare. So while more Buddhists and Hindus may be vegans, more people suffer in their generally unjust social structures, apart from, say, the Buddhist monks who help where they can. I was in south-east Asia for quite a while and saw how Buddhist monks set up orphanages (sleep on the floor, monks begged for food for them) because the societies did not. While the west may not be as vegan as they are, there are built-in welfare supports for single mothers, the unemployed, the abused, for the aged, which simply do not NOT exist in the more vegan supporting societies you mention.

Jesus ate fish and lamb with his apostles. We are designed by God to be able to eat and digest meat. Genesis is about all of creation for the benefit of mankind. What is good enough for Jesus is good enough for me.

Hear, hear, Aurelius! Poor old God the Creator got it wrong yet again. He went to all that trouble designing the complex enzymatic processing systems and physical capabilities (eg incisor teeth and molars) required by an omnivore (the human being) not realising what a terrible monster he was creating.

Thank you Cristy. It is a difficult issue. Whatever your belief system (Jainism, Christianity, Buddhism, righteous domination, etc) we are animals with a gut designed to eat both meat and plant matter. So across history and the world we have chosen to have diets that are meat based, plant based, fish based or a mixture of all of these. (Of course many do not have a choice. Getting enough food of any kind is the challenge). Do we remove ourselves from the rest of creation and choose ( or force people to adopt) a diet with no animal matter. From a philosophical point of view (if we are truly concerned about animals being eaten) other animals who eat meat (mammals, reptiles, fish, insects) should not do so. That might sound extreme but what are we truly concerned about? For me it goes without saying that we have a huge responsibility (whatever our belief system) to care for the planet and the animals and plants on it especially animals we have brought into being. I don't believe there is a correct answer here. If we are truly aware, we will choose a diet which does least harm, is nutritious and enjoyable. Jorie

Aurelius and john frawley: ditto!

i think that it would be more sensible to eat vegan food where ever it is possible to so and when you can do so this was a great article by the way,

I watched my own reactions to the protest with interest. My initial reaction was anger and I still don't know why. Anyone who's dared to look at big agriculture surely must feel revolted at the sight of row upon row of animals penned for our eating as if they're no different than, say, reams of paper or packets of widgets. I always think of that scene from Cold Mountain where the woman who had raised her goat with love then lovingly cut its throat and crooned to it as it bled out and became her dinner. Sometimes I think that we should have to kill our own food if we are able and if we want to eat it. I don't know how peaceful the protests were. I hope they didn't use the same violent practices the West under late capitalism has become known for. That would be defeating the purpose. We are all reactionary enough after all :)

This is an excellent analysis. Anger is often align that the message is unwelcome. The messengers are then discredited.We are afraid to face that what we consider benign, (much of our culinary habits and agriculture) are based on extreme cruelty and exploitation. The also ties into destruction of the planet.I am a vegetarian btw.

Gita Mehta wrote a superb book on some Westerners' deluded search for enlightenment in India: 'Karma Cola'. It would be interesting getting her opinion on contemporary Veganism. When Veganism morphs into the sort of Animal Rights activism we have recently seen I become somewhat concerned. This seems the New Puritanism which sees all opposition as evil. I think a saner and more nuanced approach to animal cruelty in factory farming would have more beneficial and far quicker results.