![\"file4591244373579\"](\"http:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/file4591244373579-300x209.jpg\")
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By Whitney Gray, VRG intern<\/p>\n
Sometimes I think to myself that people are strange, but I\u2019ve realized we\u2019re mostly all the same. We like to compartmentalize. There\u2019s so much to take in throughout our lives that it\u2019s easier to make ideas black and white, to label, or to \u201cother\u201d each other based off of the knowledge of a few traits or beliefs. One perplexing comment you may have heard as a vegan is, \u201cOh, you\u2019re vegan? You must care about animals more than people.\u201d I know I have a few times. Somewhere along the way we\u2019ve been labeled as misanthropic plant pushers, which is at best comical and at worst a little disheartening. It sounds trivial, but what does it mean for veganism if all people hear when they hear the word \u201cvegan\u201d is a self-righteous tree hugger who cares about a cow more than the homeless? Here a few of my points to counteract this accusation that might help you as well.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re all Multidimensional<\/strong> People are Animals???<\/strong> Veganism is about Compassion<\/strong> Bottom line is be confident in why you made this decision and don\u2019t let others place you in a box where you don\u2019t fit. Often times when we are confronted with a concept far outside our worldview, we reject not only the concept as extreme, but also the person. What the people who say, \u201cYou must care about animals more than people,\u201d don\u2019t realize is that I\u2019m just their neighbor like anyone else, and not some radical on the fringe of society trying to start an animal revolution a\u2019la George Orwell\u2019s Animal Farm.<\/em> My advice is let the naysayers know you care for them\u2026and the cows of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Whitney Gray, VRG intern Sometimes I think to myself that people are strange, but I\u2019ve realized we\u2019re mostly all the same. We like to compartmentalize. There\u2019s so much to take in throughout our lives that it\u2019s easier to make ideas black and white, to label, or to \u201cother\u201d each other based off of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9718"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9721,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9718\/revisions\/9721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWho said caring about animals cancels out any concern one might have for all of the world\u2019s injustices and social ills? You wouldn\u2019t say that loving your mom has to mean that you can\u2019t love your dad. It\u2019s much like the child in first grade who dumps you because they found another kid to play with and for some reason they believe that they can\u2019t have more than one best friend. It\u2019s always interesting when one of those mournful infomercials with sickly and fragile cats and dogs comes on and someone interrupts Sarah McLachlan\u2019s \u201cIn the Arms of The Angel\u201d to say, \u201cWhy would I donate to that when there\u2019s plenty of starving children to feed?\u201d (meanwhile doing nothing to feed starving children). I, like many others, have the capacity to care about a variety of causes with animal rights being just one not pertaining specifically to humans.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m sure mostly everyone has heard this in a science class at some point in their life. Humans are animals. We may walk upright, wear clothes, create technology, and enjoy a spoken and written language, but we\u2019re still animals. You don\u2019t have to get into an argument with anyone on whether humans are more important than other animals or not (or weird hypothetical questions on whether you\u2019d save your dog or a toddler about to drown in a river). The main point is that we all contribute something different to this world. Different animals have their different traits and qualities that we don\u2019t, even if some label those as insignificant. Also, let\u2019s not forget that we are the ones senselessly killing each other and killing the planet. And while there can be a lot of anger in such a statement, we are all a part of society, so no individual can be put on a pedestal or condemn the rest of humankind. If I were to hate humans, I\u2019d have to hate myself as well.<\/p>\n
\nIt is for me personally at least. If anything, veganism has strengthened my patience and understanding towards others. I find that when many people become passionate about an idea, they become angry, vicious, and practically insufferable when they were in the opposite position just moments ago. Because of this, I understand why vegans get type casted at times. However, I want to extend kindness to all sentient beings, including humans that may or may not lead a similar lifestyle or eat a similar diet. Of course nothing is perfect and there are various arguments on whether any of our efforts with veganism or any other cause make a difference, but in my eyes, it\u2019s worth a try.<\/p>\n