I have often heard veganism compared to religion. More specifically, I have heard vegans being compared to religious zealots, or other fanatics who refuse to accept beliefs other than their own. When veganism is compared to a religion, it is usually done so in a negative light. It’s true that any passion or belief taken to [...]
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I have often heard veganism compared to religion. More specifically, I have heard vegans being compared to religious zealots, or other fanatics who refuse to accept beliefs other than their own. When veganism is compared to a religion, it is usually done so in a negative light. It’s true that any passion or belief taken to the extreme is off-putting; by “taken to the extreme,” I mean following something to the point where it leads you to judge and distance yourself from those who don’t share your beliefs.
Although I am not religious, I got my degree in a college town with several different universities. One such university happened to be one of the largest and most well-known Christian schools, led by a recently deceased evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor. While my small liberal arts college was in no way affiliated, whenever I was off campus I found myself steeped in a culture that did not accept anyone who wasn’t one of their own. In my experience, the majority of students of this university were not too shy to publicly tell you why your lifestyle was wrong, and why the way they lived was the only “right” way, allowing for no grey middle ground in their black-and-white thinking. This is the image that pops into my mind when I hear veganism compared to a religion—or worse, a cult.
It is true that many vegans believe that a completely cruelty-free lifestyle is the only way to lead a peaceful existence, one that promotes a healthy body and planet. Recently I wrote about extreme vegans—those who don’t believe in “improving” laws that allow for the use (ie. exploitation) of animals, and believe the only success is abolishment of any and all animal misuse. There are also vegan activist groups, like PETA, that often get labeled zealots for their attention-grabbing tactics for change. These vegans do put a strong emphasis on morality, as many different religious facets do. They also follow their morals with the same type of devotion you see in religious zealots. So I can see how some people might make the comparison.
However, the bottom line is that veganism is not a religion. Although vegans do follow a set of set of moral and ethical beliefs that not everybody in the world shares - which is similar to religion – religion is based on faith. Those who follow a non-violent lifestyle are doing so mainly based on what they find to be common sense. It is well documented that the production of meat is ruining our environment, that the hormones pumped into the dairy we eat wreak havoc on our body, and that animals being raised for meat productions are living in horrifying conditions. Additionally, where there are places around the world with starving citizens, we feed millions of pounds of edible grain to our livestock to harvest (gross, but true) meat that will feed many less mouths than that original grain could have. Yes, we vegans are passionate about our beliefs, which are based in very tangible facts - and like most strongly religious people, we believe that if everyone lived as we do, the world would be a better place. So while veganism may have comparable religious components, the fact that the beliefs behind religion are based on faith and the morals behind veganism are based on facts negates the claim that veganism is a religion.
While I don’t think veganism can be fairly compared to a religion, I will admit that—in my opinion – a zealot is a zealot, regardless of what they are promoting. It’s fine to believe that your way is best, but it’s not fine to alienate and judge those who don’t agree with you. As I have addressed in previous articles, showing compassion for all living things—a main staple in the vegan belief system—means compassion for all humans as well, vegan or not.
Share your thoughts… what do you think when people compare vegans to religious fanatics?
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