V-EGANISM's Official Mission Statement

I needed to create a detailed, official, mission statement for V-EGANISM. This following statement will also be located at the top of this web blog permanently.

There are animal welfare vegans and animal abolition vegans. V-EGANISM is neither. Just as there are positive things and negative things about conservatives and liberals, there are positive things and negative things about welfarists and abolitionists. V-EGANISM avoids all 4 "political parties", and remains as an independent in thoughts and actions, only choosing what is right and just for animals, humans, and the environment. V-EGANISM however does have a mission statement which is how the founder of veganism, Donald Watson, originally coined the word's definition. It was a perfect definition then and it still is a perfect definition now! So the following paragraph is V-EGANISM's official Mission Statement--and nothing more, nothing less, we are simply called, "Vegans", with no additives:

"V-EGANISM educates people and helps people and animals regarding the political and social justice cause, Veganism, which is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude--as far as is possible and practicable--all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, cosmetics, household products, entertainment, services or any other purposes; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, and the environment."

Steve Best: The Politics of Total Liberation

Steve Best is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso, but he’s perhaps best known as an advocate for the liberation of the earth and all who live on it--humans as well as other animals.

Dr. Best has published 13 books and hundreds of articles and has been active nationally and internationally for more than 3 decades, challenging the conventional wisdom. He speaks about his new book, The Politics of Total Liberation: Revolution in the 21st Century. Audio podcast, Approx. 65 minutes.

Steve Best: The Politics of Total Liberation

Jain Society of Chicago Celebrates Mahavir Jayanti

The Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago’s (JSMC) temple will be celebrating Mahavir Jayanti this month. Mahavir Janma Kalyanak (Jayanti) is celebrated across the world as birth anniversary of Bhagwan Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankar (enlightened one) of Jain philosophy.

He was born in 599 BC and this year marks the 2,614 years since the birth of the apostle of peace. His message of ahimsha (non-violence), aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and anekantvad (non-absolutism) are universal in nature and has been the guiding force for generations of Jains and many cultures in the Indus Valley Civilization. He was the son of King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala. On the night of conception his mother, Trishala, had a dream depicting 14 different auspicious things. The astrologers interpreted the auspicious dreams and predicted that the child would be either an emperor or a Tirthankar.

This year JSMC is celebrating its 20th anniversary and it being the first major event of the year, the chairman of JSMC, Arvind Shah, and Board of Trustees, presented the state of the JSMC. They also presented important information on the current and future initiatives undertaken by the managing team and shared the financial health of the society.

The JSMC president, Tejas Shah, said that the entire Jain community throughout the Chicagoland area, Indiana, and Wisconsin celebrated Mahavir Jayanti at the Bartlett Jain Temple. The facility was beautifully decorated including the Pratimaji (Idol) of Mahavir Swami. Mahavir Swami is the main deity at the Jain Temple of JSMC.

 

This is also an auspicious time of Ayambil Oli. Ayambil is a penance where the observer eats only once a day where a completely boiled Jain vegan menu is served. The Ayambil Oli is observed over a period of nine days and this year it runs parallel to the Mahavir Jayanti celebrations. About 65 members observed penance for the entire nine days and many more did it for a day or two.

 

For more information and how to register for the JSMC event, visit their website, at: www.jsmconline.org

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer was born today in 1875. In 1893 he attended the University of Strasbourg and studied theology, philosophy and musical theory. In 1899, he received a Ph.D. in Philosophy, and in 1900 he received a second in theology. Between 1900 and 1905 he acted as a minister of a small church in Strasbourg. During this period he also wrote several books dealing with general philosophy and ethics, religion and the musical philosophy of Sebastian Bach. He became an expert organist, organ-builder and was recognized as one of the leading musical figures of this time.

In 1905, Schweitzer made a radical career change and decided to devote the rest of his life to the natives of equatorial Africa. He decided that he would study to become a doctor of medicine and reentered the university. In 1909, Schweitzer formulated the international regulations for organ building. In 1913, Schweitzer received his Doctorate of Medicine.

In 1915, while on a steamboat journey in Africa, he was inspired with a new way of thinking: Reverence for Life.  This phrase would be the description for his future philosophy of life.

Schweitzer was saddened by the amount of misery he saw in the world. His sadness was not limited to only humans but also the animal world.  The sight of an old limping horse, tugged forward by one man while another kept beating it with a stick to get it to the knacker’s yard at Colmar, would haunt him for weeks.

The sight of animals being beaten or hurt was something he could never understand or accept, from the times of his early youth.  The brutality was quite incomprehensible to him, and he wondered why in his evening prayers he should pray for human beings only. So when his mother had prayed with him and had kissed him goodnight, he would add silently a prayer that he had composed himself for all living creatures. It went something like this: "O heavenly Father, protect and bless all things that have breath; guard them from all evil, and let them sleep in peace.”

This gentle but strong willed man would spend over 50 years helping natives of Africa with their health problems. During this period in Africa, he wrote additional books on the subjects of philosophy, religion, music, art, ethics and human civilization throughout the ages. In 1953, Schweitzer would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and $36,000. He would spend all of the money for his leprosy hospital in Africa.

Schweitzer’s general philosophy could be stated as never to destroy life that breathes, unless it is unavoidable, and by going out of our way to help any living creature in distress we are helping to discharge a debt--a debt of honor--which we owe to the rest of creation for its vicarious sacrifice to our needs. It is after all the only sane and reasonable course we can adopt.