Comments on: Vegangelicism — You’re Not Good Enough For My Vegan Club

By: Bandit a la mode

Bandit a la mode — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:22:32 +0000

Amen. Even the most strict of vegans are harming animals in some way by being inclusive with modern culture. The vegan tent needs to get bigger, books like ’skinny bitch’ are a good example because they bring in people who aren’t necessarily doing it for ethical reasons but learn the benefits through the vegan community.
I’m sure some people do it to feel ’special’, to feel a certain amount of control, but like any fundamentalist the judgment can get out of hand and be counter-productive.
I would rather have 500 vegans that ’screw up’ sometimes that one ’super-vegan’. Why, because that saves more lives and gets us closer to the goal.
Lead by example – not by proselytizing.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:17:29 +0000

I think we should go back to the origins of the word (vegan), then check if it matches with what we call vegan. I think, as a vegan, drinks witch contain animal products, or use them in their production should be avoided. The alcohol industry is a large animal user industry, and I don’t want to contribute to that.
I can understand that we do not want to make things difficult,yet neither should we want to devalue a word. Maybe a knew word is needed, witch was why the word vegan came into existence in the first place.
If I was a journalist, and an opponent of veganism,and new that a vegan drank Guinness, every time that vegan tuck part in a demonstration against animal abuse, I would constantly draw peoples attention to the poor old fishes that were used to make their drink. When Bono keeps going on about the poor, I can’t help thinking of all the millions of pounds that he has got, and all of his mansions – hypocrite. We don’t want to become like Bono.

Thanks, Dave.

By: Lane

Lane — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:47:21 +0000

Hi Samantha,
Or, as Jane likes to say, every little bit helps!

By: Samantha

Samantha — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:08:54 +0000

I agree. Even if we may not be “pure” 100% of the time we still do so much more for animals that the average person, and that I think is better than nothing!

By: Lane

Lane — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:05:27 +0000

ps – thanks for pointing out that Convenient Vegan is female. I corrected that in my post.

By: Lane

Lane — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:02:49 +0000

LaTara and Nadir, I’m glad to be able to provide information my readers find useful and worth sharing.
Elaine, I agree with what you have to say, and disagree at the same time. There is definitely hypocrisy involved in wearing fur and avoiding animal products in your food, since animals are slaughtered for their fur. But I’m not sure we really need to concern ourselves about the animal by-products in the things we consume. Living in this society animal by-products are in a startling number of things you’d never suspect… animal fats and fatty acids in crayons and shaving cream; b0nes, horns, and hooves in bandages, adhesives, paneling and plywood. So the statement that “vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind” is virtually impossible today. Sheetrock may contain hides and skin. So my home is not technically vegan. Does that mean I can’t call myself a vegan? I “keep vegan” as best I can, therefore I am a vegan.

By: Elaine Vigneault

Elaine Vigneault — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:30:46 +0000

Vegan Convenient is a she not a he, by the way

I agree that we ought not to chastise someone for eating something they thought was vegan but was not. But I wouldn’t go from there to conclude that ingredients are not important or that it’s perfectly acceptable to eat a little nonvegan here and there.

None of are perfect and we should allow ourselves to recover without much guilt from mistakes and adjustments. Even people who drop animal products cold turkey have a transition period where they likely make a mistake or two.

However, I do not agree that it’s right to use the term ‘vegan’ to describe people who don’t care about animals and/or who simply eat like a vegan. If you wear fur coats or eat eggs, you can’t call yourself a vegan and be truthful about it. I’m not trying to be the vegan police, but words have meanings and most words should be used correctly. If you called yourself kosher and kept eating ham, I’d say you were lying about calling yourself kosher. It’s not about policing the borders or making veganism elitist, it’s about maintaining the integrity of the vegan philosophy: “Vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind.”

By: nadir

nadir — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:26:23 +0000

Fabulous post!
Dissemination of this is a must, far and wide.

Off to post link to it now.

Quick, others do the same!

By: LaTara Ham-Ying

LaTara Ham-Ying — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:04:58 +0000

Amen! Amen! And Amen again! You know I have had more junk said to me about my not being an “ethical” vegan and I tell you what, it has made me very unsure when I hear someone say that they are vegan.

I have tried to get few of the naysayers on my podcast, but to no avail. One of them posted a 2 page comment and I deleted it because it was repetitive, irrelevant, and judgmental. She was putting words in my mouth that I never said and told me that post after post (comments is what she meant I believe) on my blog are from people who seem to have no clue that there is a definition of Vegan.

I am still scratching my head behind that one.

I for one am tired of the Vegan Police and all that they spew. I am going to have to check out Vegan Outreach more.

Thanks for sharing!