Raphael is a dear friend of mine.
However, when we discuss veganism, he repeatedly made clear there are a number of things he just can’t understand about veganism. Here’s a list, with a clear explanation for him.
1. Veganism is not a diet
Raphael keeps saying veganism is “just a diet”, or “an opinion about diet”, and he keeps asking “if you take out diet from veganism, what’s left?”.
Veganism is a lifestyle which affects many aspects of daily life: it affects what you eat, surely, but it also affects how you dress: for example the materials used for your clothes, for your shoes, for your wallets, for your bags, for your suitaces.
It affects the way you conceive we should treat animals in settings like zoos (which should be closed altogether), and the policies vegans promotes for hunting in general, and for trophy hunting in particular.
It affects what you choose to buy for cosmetics, for jewelry, the materials inside the car you drive, the soap and shampoo you use to keep yourself clean and fresh.
It encompasses the ethics of scientific research (vegans think there is no moral justification for the exploitation of animals, no matter what knowledge you are after; science should pursue alternative methods).
All this should be clear from the definition of veganism ( https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism ), but Raphael never read it, and it ignores it when he is pointed to it.
2. Speciesim is a form of discrimination based on species, exactly as racism is a form of discrimination based on race
Raphael will say “speciesism is not a thing”, or “there is not such a thing as speciesism”, or “speciesism is a made up word”.
He is wrong.
Here’s the definition of speciesism from Cambridge: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/speciesism; here’s the definition from Mirriam Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/speciesism ; here’s the definition from Oxford: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/speciesism; here is Collins: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/speciesism ; here is MacMillan: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/speciesism
Here is Richard Dawkins acknowledging that we live in a speciesist society (00.16): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgmjh7bh7Ks
Dear Raphael, if you think “speciesism is not a thing”, you’re either delusional or intellectually dishonest. Recommended reading: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speciesism-Why-Wrong-Implications-Rejecting/dp/154651032X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=speciesism&qid=1615721236&s=instant-video&sr=1-1-catcorr
3. Veganism is not a religion
Again, from the definition of veganism (https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism) this should be perfectly clear. Yet, Raphael insists it’s a “cult”, it’s a “sect”, or it’s a “religion”.
In veganism, there are no articles of faith, no mythological narrative, no dogmas, no rituals, no temples, no sacred scriptures.
Furthermore, the fact that veganism is a philosophical belief, was acknowledged by British law (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50981359); and the definition of “philosophical belief” is: “A philosophical belief is a non-religious belief and includes things like humanism, secularism and atheism.” (https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/protected-characteristics/religion-or-belief-discrimination/).
N o n – r e l i g i o u s, Raphael.