Oh, alright. We won’t name it Your Daily Vegan Idiotic Idiot, but we totally should. Listen, I try very hard to be respectful towards the human animals that I share the planet with. I may not agree with them, their ideals, their lifestyles, or their morals. But I don’t have to. I do, however, have to offer my respect if I expect to have others offer their respect to me.
I afford the same respect that I have for human animals, to the non-human animals. It is my belief that we must abolish non-human animal exploitation, in every single form, and honor their right to life. I also believe that this activism must be non-violent, educational and respectful. But this is not to be confused with not speaking your mind. It is exceedingly important to speak your mind on the abuse of non-human animals, for they are unable to speak to human animals themselves.
All of that said, I read a large amount of pure hatred out there towards animal rights activists- in particular, vegans. I understand that veganism may be a new concept for people. That, as with most things outside the societal norm, it is seen as an alternative lifestyle. I can understand how uneducated that most people are about veganism, or animal activism in general. After all, non-human animal consumption is as old as fire itself. Given that there are suitable non-animal replacements for animal products easily available, it’s hardly a wonder that people feel uncomfortable when you question their continued use of non-humans. Which is why education is so vital. And which is why some animal rights groups (stand up PETA, we’re talking about you again) are doing more harm for the cause than good.
So I was reading a website today called AnimalScam.com. I will readily admit that I didn’t read it long. In fact, I only read the first post. It contained some of the most idiotic things that I’ve ever read concerning animal rights. Hence the title of my post. Incidentally, look at what the dictionary has listed under idiot:
Idiot – noun
- an utterly foolish or senseless person
- Psychology. A person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.
- A very stupid person
Which, in my mind, fits the description of the person who penned the post I read. Interestingly enough, check out the synonyms:
- blockhead, bonehead, cretin, dimwit, dork, dumbbell, dunce, fool, ignoramus, imbecile, jerk, kook, moron, muttonhead, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, out to lunch, pinhead, simpleton, stupid, tomfool, twit
And my favorite, the antonym: Brain.
So if you ask me, it fits. But I’ll be respectful. Maybe this person just needs a bit of education. I mean, that’s obvious. I don’t know a single animal rights activist who has stated that we should put our non-human friends ahead of us. Or that we expect humans to eat nothing but beans and greens. What we are saying is that non-human animals are just as important, not more important.
So what should I call our new segment? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Meanwhile, here’s what Animal Scam had to say:
“The modern animal rights movement is not what it seems. Today’s activists have perverted once-sensible animal welfare goals by putting animals ahead of human beings and employing a “by any means necessary” philosophy to achieve their goals of “total animal liberation.”
Led by PETA, the Humane Society of the United States, and other activist groups, the animal liberation movement does not seek to improve animals’ lives. Its goal is to place unnecessary restrictions on ordinary people like you.
Today’s activists want to force you to eat nothing but beans and greens; and wear nothing but cotton, rayon, and rubber. They want to ban hunting, fishing, zoos, rodeos, and circuses. Some want to permanently end Kosher slaughter. They even want to outlaw the use of animals in the search for cures for AIDS, Parkinson’s Disease, and cancer. And a growing number take the law into their own hands, crossing the line from peaceful protest to violent crime.
It’s a terrible scam. The world deserves to know the truth.”
~ October 2, 2009 post from the website AnimalScam.com
the animal scam writer employs poor grammar.
Ooo oo! It’s these people – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908
Hmm, In case that link didn’t work, it’s an episode of the Rachel Maddow show called Meet Rick Berman.
I’m a vegan. But I think vegans and animal activists who fill blogs with name-calling are extremely off-putting. It damages your credibility when you become emotional and overly sarcastic. I’m not just talking about this blog or post, but other blogs as well. I want to read about the facts, not childish digs at those who don’t agree. You won’t get through to people by calling them idiots. You did a good job here of rebutting the Animal Scam post in a rational and educational way. I could have done without the name-calling. But that’s just me. I’ll continue to read, but I will probably skip any posts titled “Idiotic Idiot.”
Whenever I see “there is a difference between animal rights and welfare” on most publications, they’re usually distinguishing welfare organizations from the PRO-VIOLENCE ‘animal liberation’ groups who have largely rejected animal rights ideology while throwing around the term. This is unfortunately only one example.
Amy, thank you for the feedback. I agree that there are blogs out there that do nothing more than point fingers and stick their nose up at people who oppose them. You’re right, those blogs do nothing to further the animal rights agenda. Which is why we do things a bit different here. When I read “Its (animal rights) goal is to place unnecessary restrictions on ordinary people like you.”, I thought that it was “utterly foolish”. It absolutely boggles my mind that someone would be so callous as to take a life simply because, “no one should have restrictions.” Boggles. My. Mind. Only a “foolish or senseless person” would make such a statement. And, one with no value for sentient life. Regardless, I afforded that person my respect by not directly calling them an idiot. That person clearly did that themselves, by being the very definition of “idiotic idiot.”
Ugh. I agree. My mind was also going into boggle overdrive as I read that. I can’t even begin to say what I think about such uneducated posts as that which you have quoted from the AnimalScam, but I don’t think idiot is too harsh. If someone is going to put forward such scathing and unresearched anti-vegan propaganda I can’t help but agree with you KD. If it had been a website promoting any other sort of abuse, the use of the term ‘idiot’ would probably be in the milder scale of things.
Wow. That piece is….wow.
Thanks Ellie for sharing it!
Hi, just wanted you to know I have saved your blog to my bookmarks because of your fantastic blog layout (LOL). With that said, honestly, I think your site has one of the cleanest theme I’ve seen yet. It really helps make reading your blog a lot easier.