lauratiara
08-05-05, 09:03 PM
http://www.satyamag.com/aug05/friedrich.html
Nothing has improved my ability to have effective conversations about vegetarianism and animal rights more than learning to ask questions of the people I’m talking with and really listening to their responses. It’s been hard for me to understand, and even harder to practice, but when someone asks me a question, my best tactic is to ask them a question back as quickly as possible.
Raise your hand—how many of you have been told by someone, after they’ve asked a question and you’ve begun to answer it, “Take a breath, now…calm down!” Okay, that’s a lot of hands. And it’s indicative of one of the things that I have done wrong for most of my 20 years as a vegan advocate. I’ve lectured at people about why they shouldn’t eat animals, rather than listening to their concerns or having a real conversation with them about what’s stopping them from going vegetarian.
As all of you talkers know, you can convince a lot of people to adopt a vegetarian diet if you’re extroverted and practice your arguments enough. For example, if someone asked me, “Why are you a vegetarian?”, off I’d go with: “Animals on factory farms are treated like machines. Within days of birth, for example, chickens have their beaks seared off with a hot blade. Male cows and pigs are castrated without painkillers. All of these animals spend their brief lives in crowded and ammonia-filled conditions, many of them so cramped that they can’t even turn around or spread a wing. Many do not get a breath of fresh air until they are prodded and crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the slaughterhouse, often through weather extremes and always without food or water. In the slaughterhouse, the animals are hung upside down and their throats are sliced open, often while they’re fully conscious. I believe that if you saw how animals are suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, you would be horrified and you wouldn’t want to support it. Plus, you’ll be healthier—you’ll have more energy, need less sleep, and just feel better if you’re eating a vegan diet.” Whew! It’s a convincing argument, of course, and sure enough, I have talked people into adopting a vegetarian diet and looking at farmed animals in a new way...
Nothing has improved my ability to have effective conversations about vegetarianism and animal rights more than learning to ask questions of the people I’m talking with and really listening to their responses. It’s been hard for me to understand, and even harder to practice, but when someone asks me a question, my best tactic is to ask them a question back as quickly as possible.
Raise your hand—how many of you have been told by someone, after they’ve asked a question and you’ve begun to answer it, “Take a breath, now…calm down!” Okay, that’s a lot of hands. And it’s indicative of one of the things that I have done wrong for most of my 20 years as a vegan advocate. I’ve lectured at people about why they shouldn’t eat animals, rather than listening to their concerns or having a real conversation with them about what’s stopping them from going vegetarian.
As all of you talkers know, you can convince a lot of people to adopt a vegetarian diet if you’re extroverted and practice your arguments enough. For example, if someone asked me, “Why are you a vegetarian?”, off I’d go with: “Animals on factory farms are treated like machines. Within days of birth, for example, chickens have their beaks seared off with a hot blade. Male cows and pigs are castrated without painkillers. All of these animals spend their brief lives in crowded and ammonia-filled conditions, many of them so cramped that they can’t even turn around or spread a wing. Many do not get a breath of fresh air until they are prodded and crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the slaughterhouse, often through weather extremes and always without food or water. In the slaughterhouse, the animals are hung upside down and their throats are sliced open, often while they’re fully conscious. I believe that if you saw how animals are suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, you would be horrified and you wouldn’t want to support it. Plus, you’ll be healthier—you’ll have more energy, need less sleep, and just feel better if you’re eating a vegan diet.” Whew! It’s a convincing argument, of course, and sure enough, I have talked people into adopting a vegetarian diet and looking at farmed animals in a new way...