The World Peace Diet: Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony

Some Objections Answered / 215
nectedness and the vegan ethic of universal compassion, besides being
vital and transformative, are in profound alignment with the core
instruction of the world’s religions, which is to love others. They are
dangerous to the status quo, subverting the prevailing paradigm that
justifies turning away, self-aggrandizement, and violence.
As omnivores, we may resent vegans for reminding us of the suffering
we cause, for we’d rather be comfortable and keep all the ugliness
hidden, but our comfort has nothing to do with justice or with authentic
inner peace. It is the comfort of blocking out and disconnecting, and
it comes with a terrible price. We may rationalize our meals by saying
that we always thank the animal’s spirit for offering her body to nourish
us. If someone were to lock us up, torture us, steal our children, and
then stab us to death, would we acquiesce as long as they thanked our
spirit? Disconnecting and desensitizing in comfort is not the same as
inner peace, which is the fruit of awareness and of living in alignment
with the understanding that comes from this awareness.
If we believe absurdities, we will commit atrocities, and we pass it
on to our children, generation upon generation. Our violent actions
speak so much more loudly than our peaceful words, and this is the
unyielding dilemma of the herding culture we call home. The only way
to solve this dilemma is to evolve cognitively and ethically to a higher
level where our actions do not belie our words and force us into unconsciousness
and denial, but rather align with and reinforce our words and
the universal spiritual teachings that instruct us to love one another, and
to have mercy on the weak and vulnerable rather than exploiting and
dominating them. All of us are celebrations of infinite mysterious Spirit,
deserving of honor and respect. If our religions don’t emphasize this and
include all of us, it’s time to replace them with spiritual teachings and
traditions that do.
Other Objections
There are a number of other objections to veganism that our minds may
use to keep us confined by justifying the incarceration and abuse of
other beings. As with enslaving and killing innocent humans, there are
no valid justifications for enslaving and killing innocent animals, but