10 Environmental and Animal Activists Who Were Killed for Taking a Stand

Supporting veganism in the face of overwhelming and powerful opposition can be a courageous and sometimes dangerous act. For many activists, unfortunately, taking a stand for what’s right becomes the last thing they ever do.

Between 2002 and 2013, for example, an incredible 908 people in 35 countries were murdered for trying to defend the environment, according to an April 2014 report from Global Witness. During this period only 10 perpetrators were caught and punished for these crimes.

The link below shows just a few committed activists who were killed over the last 25 years fighting for the causes they believed in:

10 Environmental and Animal Activists Who Were Killed for Taking a Stand

The True Meaning of Veganism

The definition of "Vegan" is effed-up and vegans are the main reason it is! 

There is no such thing as vegan food, vegan clothing, etc. Veganism is an ethical, world view idea. Veganism is a social justice. Non-animal food is just that--plant/vegetarian food. Non-animal clothing is man-made/cruelty-free clothing. The food/clothing is NOT an ethical, social justice; the food/clothing isn't political: it's simply food/clothes that a social justice person--a vegan--would only eat/wear.

The only thing that is vegan is the person who believes in the social justice of animal rights; one who believes in veganism.

I too, am very guilty at erroneously calling foods, clothing and other items "vegan". I will no longer do so and instead say, plant food, man-made, cruelty-free... when describing items used by vegans.

Someone once on Facebook brought this up and said how there is no such thing as a vegan restaurant as one is only mentioning food. The busy group pretty much ignored her thoughts and went on discussing other things. I was like, 'Wow! This is definitely food for thought and one reason why vegan is made to look as a joke in this day and age, and her statement gave one of the reasons why and it just went over everyone's heads!'

Jains Connecting Traditional and Contemporary Living

The ancient Indian religion of Jainism, a close relative of Buddhism, has an adherence to nonviolence that forbids eating meat, encourages days of fasting and places value on the smallest of insects.

Now younger Jains, who resist the elaborate rituals of their parents, which include meditating 48 minutes a day and presenting statues of idols with flowers, rice and a saffron-and-sandalwood paste, are trying to reinterpret the traditions of their religion for 21st-century American life. They are expanding the definition of nonviolence to encompass environmentalism, animal rights and corporate business ethics, volunteering alongside other faiths, learning to lobby through political internships and youth groups, and veganism. 

Veganism--a step beyond the vegetarianism that the faith requires--is on the rise among young U.S.-born Jains, but younger Jains find it otherwise difficult to follow traditional rituals, with modern life and its excesses. 

Jains believe, for example, that even microbes in the air and water are sacred life and any action that impacts other living things--such as driving or using electricity--can add to bad karma. Yet many Jains are top doctors, lawyers and businesspeople, who use computers, cellphones and drive cars — and so they are increasingly seeking a compromise between their faith and practicality.

For the most part, elder Jains support the modified approach to 21st-century American life, but some worry their children will miss a deeper understanding without completing rituals that are so detailed that some Jains carry a small booklet with illustrated instructions. For instance, worshippers must shower, remove their shoes and change into loose-fitting, clean garments before approaching statues of 24 idols and must don a white mask to avoid breathing or spitting on the marble figures.

The faith’s Western evolution is being talked about openly and with greater urgency now that the small expatriate community that arrived in the 1960s has established itself by having a national umbrella organization, youth groups and more than 100 temples, including an enormous one south of Los Angeles.

Vegan is a Way of Life

Bruce Friedrich, senior director for Strategic Initiatives at Farm Sanctuary said this on his Facebook page on August 1, and asked for comments--which he got over 200 replies.

"I just wrote this on a comment on my wall, and I'm wondering what others think: "I'm comfortable with vegan referring exclusively to diet. The most frequent use of the word is on foods and cookbooks, I'd guess, where it is only referring to the lack of animal ingredients in food. And for the vast majority of people who think they know what it means, 'vegan' is a diet term. People fighting to identify vegan according to its original meaning are not likely to win that battle, I'm pretty sure. It's the nature of diction that word meanings change according to common use. Fighting it will be an exercise in frustration, I suspect."

I know some people feel with what seems to be an almost religious zeal that "vegan" must adhere to the original (purely animal rights, no leather, wool, silk, etc.) meaning, but surely that train has long since left the station. Is this really a battle worth fighting? Don't we have more important things to worry about? What do you think?"

I think to redefine the word vegan is crazy! And I'm sure the 2 reasons how this problem started as to why mainstream thinks veganism is a diet only are:

1. The vegan community some years back got lazy in their animal activism and just started mentioning the diet part at least most of the time in educating people so people just assumed by what most vegans talk about--the diet part--is basically what it means to be vegan.

2. Mainstream, on their own, simply started to embrace the diet part only in hopes of making it easy to be called vegan because--hey!--it's such a cool word that everyone should easily be called vegans. {rolls eyes}

One vegan has said vegans should be called, "Animal Rights Vegans", and let the word vegan by itself be for as to define a diet only.

I don't like this AT ALL.

Veganism means a lot more than "animal rights". Animal Rights can be defined in various ways anyway; it's simply too vague. Or saying "Cruelty-free Vegan" would be a misnomer too, as being vegan is more than just not being cruel to animals.

Animals should not be used in ANY way--THAT is how vegan is defined.

Always was and always should be.

By horribly diluting the word vegan, we make light of this social justice issue. Defining vegan as just a diet is a huge insult to this social justice word! Vegans have no other word as definition. We claimed that word and it's definition a long time ago and it should stay that way in how it's been originally defined.

Bruce asked, "Don't we have more important things to worry about". This IS one of the important things! His lame psychological BS does not intimidate me in how I feel about this subject.

We vegans CAN stop this attempt to redefine veganism by placing on all our animal rights blogs, articles, websites, cookbooks (which I think is part of the problem--too many vegan cookbooks makes mainstream think that's all veganism is about), on ALL our vegan education materials, on top of the page, explicitly explaining what being vegan truly means. And when we talk to others we should make damn sure people have a clear understanding that veganism is more than just what we put in out mouths. And we can explain to them in a way that doesn't overwhelm people.

Vegan is NOT just how we eat....

Vegan is a way of life.

My 2013 New Year's Resolutions Revisited

I have not talked about my 2013 New Year's Resolutions, mainly because I closed down my Body, Mind and Spirit blog and this blog is more about animal rights/veganism. But I have received several emails from readers asking me if I am still active in my Resolutions, so I've decided to bring you up-to-date on it here. But first, for those of you who did not see that post from my previous blog, here it is below. I bring you up-to-date after this original blogpost:

 My 2013 New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution is to be more disciplined in doing these 3 things daily, which are important to me. I'll do them this way: If I'm doing one of these practices below one day, I'll do the others on other days, as long as I'm at least doing all of these on a regular, daily basis:

WALKING MEDITATION

TAI CHI

YOGA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to the Present

I had a rough start with much going on in my life that I stopped the Tai Chi and Yoga about a month into my daily New Year Resolution activities. The walking meditation is by far the easiest and most convenient to do so I have been faithfully doing that from the start. 

But this week--I'm very happy to say--I've started back doing my Yoga and Tai Chi! 

I have changed things a bit though. Now, I do both Yoga and Tai Chi on the same day, back-to-back with Yoga first. Plus, there were some Yoga poses that really didn't uplift me emotionally that I was doing on the DVD that I hated but had felt I was "supposed" to do. I didn't get any joy from those poses at all so now, I only do poses I really love. My Tai Chi poses are awesome! So no changes there--I do the whole Tai Chi DVD. 

Now, I do only two of the posing exercises from the Yoga DVD; one exercise is about 65 minutes long and the other is about 40 minutes long. I alternate the two programs--doing one, 1 day, and the other, the next day. After that, I do the entire Tai Chi program which is about 45 minutes. 

(*Note: There are MANY other Yoga exercises on my DVD specifically designed for problem body areas--like back issues, leg issues, etc. but I'll only go to those if I have a specific issue. I'm just talking about the exercises for the entire body.)

My walking meditation is the same--doing that when it's nice outside and when I have time to go out as well as when running errands.

I really love how I have organized things now! Above, is a photo I took today, showing all my materials I use for both Tai Chi and Yoga. With Tai Chi, I just use the DVD.

Why all the purple? The first thing I bought was the purple pillow (originally used for meditation but I no longer do "still meditation"; I do only active/walking meditation, except in Tai Chi, but I do it standing). After not finding a nice inexpensive round meditation pillow online, I went to Ross Dress for Less to find such pillow. Ross only had the one round pillow--purple; I wasn't looking for purple but shape, so I got it. I love the color purple anyway. 

Then I bought the purple bag that's under the pillow (in the photo) to place my pillow in when storing. The bag is actually a baby laundry bag I got from Amazon. I got the purple one to match my pillow. Then later, when I got into Yoga, I decided to try and keep the same color purple so everything matches, so at Amazon, I was able to find matching purple Yoga mat, Yoga blocks, and Yoga strap!

Muslims: Turning Away From a Meat Diet

Muslims can be vegans according to their faith. Islamic scholars such as the late Egyptian scholar Gamal al-Banna agree that Muslims who choose vegetarianism/veganism can do so for a number of reasons including a personal expression of faith or spirituality.

Read more about Muslims being veg*n at the article heading:

Vegetarian Muslim: Turning Away From a Meat-Based Diet

Ways to Be an Effective Vegan Activist

In my last blogpost, I mentioned how the vegan community tends to only preach to the converted in discussing veganism. I mentioned a couple ways in how to be a real active vegan in educating people who are non-vegans.

Today, I want to talk about other very effective ways to educate non-vegans, including ways I said yesterday, in no particular order:


Schools

Be it grade schools or colleges, go to the teacher of the class and ask nicely if you can give a vegan presentation. Many places of education would allow you to come in and educate their students about a healthy life. You'll be reaching people (students) mostly under 30 years of age.


Churches

Churches, especially large ones with many programs and other things going on there throughout the week, would welcome someone coming in to talk to the congregation about veganism/healthier way of life. If you are a  member or at least regularly attend worship services at the church, you have an even better chance of being allowed to present veganism there. If you are a member and your church has an area where members do tableing for social justice causes, ask the main organizer of the tables if you can do a vegan table with pamphlets and samples of delicious vegan food. Who mostly attend church? People who are over 30.

So with educating the schools and the churches, you will be informing all the ages and generations of people.


Twitter

Follow everyone who follows you, so as you Tweet, all the non-vegans, which will be most of your followers, will see your vegan tweets. I say follow everyone because if you don't, many (non-vegans) will stop following you. If you want to have a section at Twitter to just see fellow vegan tweets easily, simply make a Twitter List of all your vegans before following everyone else. You can make many Twitter Lists for any category you want.


Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is a marvelous way of spreading the vegan message! After you register there and get the deck, type in the word vegan in the search at the upper right corner. After you click for the search, you'll see only the tweets at that Tweeter column with the word "vegan" in it as mentioned. Go to the bottom of that search and click at Add Column. Now, when you see someone asking about the vegan life, you can tweet them back with information. Believe me, you'll see A LOT of people asking for help. Plus, you'll help many other non-vegans, as you'll have many non-vegan followers because you are following everyone who follows you, so they'll read your informative vegan tweets. This also can work in other social networks.


Outdoors

If you want to spread the vegan message in a more public way, do it openly outdoors! Most non-vegans will not go out their way to hear vegan/animal rights talk. By having vegan gatherings out in the parks, you'll be taking the message to where non-vegans normally are. Make sure it's very accessible to non-vegans and not in such a way where a person has to go through a gate to get there, as I said, non-vegans will not go out their way to hear the message, so have the entrance wide open, like in a public park.


How to Tell if You're Being an Effective Vegan Activist

In your activism, whether it be in public in person, on your podcast, on your blog, your emails, etc. if the majority of people responding to you are praising you and agreeing with pretty much everything you say immediately without questioning you,  then you are not being an effective vegan activist! You are simply just informing other vegans what they already know, and your vegan activism will be nothing but a vegan club for fellow vegans. Non-vegans (who most of your audience should be) will not quickly praise you; they will be asking a million questions, challenging you, debating you, mentioning their fears, being skeptical....at first until you give them more information to their satisfaction as it pertains to them as an individual. Then they may express gratitude and praise toward you for being so informative.

You can certainly do whatever you want in speaking the vegan message, and not take my advice, as you are not hurting me. Who you are hurting are animals in the world by spending most of your time talking to people who already are vegan/animal activists.

Spiritual Signs

My favorite spiritual podcast on iTunes, Psychic Teachers, had a topic on really paying attention to signs in your life as that's one of the many ways the spirit world sends us messages. And to especially notice signs from your hobbies or interests.

While listening to that, I suddenly had an "ah-ha!" moment, regarding how I became vegan.

I can remember it vividly. One weekend morning in 1982, I was watching a TV "movie of the week" called Tell Me My Name. It was a familiar storyline about an adopted teenage girl who went looking for her real mother. She found her mom, and while spending Thanksgiving Day with her mother, her step brothers and her mom's husband, she started acting out in a rebellious way. The teen said, while looking at the dead turkey, how the turkey was slaughtered...giving explicit details. The two brothers were so sickened by it they left the table, "ruining" their Thanksgiving Day. This scene lasted about no longer than a minute, but it really effected me so much that I literally became a vegetarian right then and there, then became vegan in a year. Funny thing was, the teen wasn't even a veg; she just said that (which is the truth about how turkeys are treated) to upset the family.

I often thought that was a pretty weird way of seriously becoming veg for life as most become veg by way of reading animal rights/veg books, or by people telling them about animal cruelty/veganism.

But after listening to Psychic Teachers, it made me realize since the spirit world knows that I love watching films, that was the perfect way for me to become enlightened to becoming veg as I am a huge film buff, watching at least one film daily.

So watch for signs, especially in your hobbies/interests. You never know what the spirit world wants to tell you.

Father Frank Mann's Awakening to Compassion for Animals

Father Mann organized the Tablet Forum's May 10, 2013, NYC premiere of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, an award-winning documentary about farmers and their change of heart about animals. Father Mann is a gifted writer and speaker known for his infectious enthusiasm and warm sense of humor. The Tablet Forum events offer attendees the chance to view films, hear speakers, and participate in discussion of a wide range of topics which foster community and celebrate the potential we each have to make a difference for those most in need. The May 10 film premiere is a free event that is open to the public. Learn more at http://www.tribeofheart.org/tabletforum

Father Mann's own journey has been inspired by visionaries such as Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, who have shown compassion and moral leadership in the face of injustice. He recently had a deep personal awakening to the plight of animals, and has since incorporated the values of veganism and animal rights into his spiritual life and vision of a more just and peaceful world.

The New York City premiere of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home is the first Tablet Forum to explore the ethical dimensions of our society's relationship to animals.

Order free tickets for this May 10, 2013 event at http://www.tribeofheart.org/nyctix

A Vegan Passover

Passover—the universal story of dignity, hope, and freedom—teaches that all suffering matters to God. And that means, of course, that it should matter to us as well. Refusing to have a hand in that suffering is especially timely at Passover, for in commemorating the escape of the Jews from Egyptian bondage, the holiday can remind us of the importance of continuing the battle for freedom for all beings. Prayers said on Passover can call on us to be kind to those who are now oppressed and to deepen our commitment to liberty today.

Here are several suggestions for having a cruelty-free vegan Passover meal:

Vegan Passover Recipes - Matzo Treats, Charoset

Vegan Kosher for Passover Recipes

Tasty Vegan Passover Recipes



Information on being vegan and Jewish:

Veganism and the Jewish Dietary Laws

VeggieJews : VeggieJews

Defining Vegetarianism and Veganism

I just posted the message below at a blog which asked the question:

"Are Dietary Vegans Vegan At All?"

My response:

A person who only doesn’t eat animal products (and is not ethical or environmental) is a vegetarian–at best, a strict vegetarian. If they chose to only not eat meat then they are a lacto-ovo vegetarian.



Vegetarianism, by definition, in ANY way, shape or form is about health/diet only.


It has ALWAYS been this way by original definition.



We vegans are part of the cause of why the word vegan is now erroneously defined these days. When you go to vegan sites, what do you mostly read about? FOOD. Vegans themselves add to the erroneous way in now what the media and celebs thinks of as veganism being just about what one eats.


Also, veganism is not a “lifestyle” (as some vegans even say). Veganism is a life. Period. And a life is more than just food.

Related article:

Is Veganism a Religion Under Anti-Discrimination Law?

Vegan Is Love: Having Heart and Taking Action

Author-illustrator Ruby Roth, introduces young readers to veganism as a lifestyle of compassion and action in her book, Vegan Is Love.

Roth illustrates how our daily choices ripple out locally and globally, conveying what we can do to protect animals, the environment, and people across the world. Roth explores the many opportunities we have to make ethical decisions: refusing products tested on or made from animals; avoiding sea parks, circuses, animal races, and zoos; choosing to buy organic food; and more. Roth’s message is direct but sensitive, bringing into sharp focus what it means to “put our love into action.”

The book also features back-of-the-book resources on action children can take themselves.

Veganism and Vegetarianism

I agree with everything Gary L. Francione says in this commentary below except he is wrong about one thing. Many, many people--including me--became vegan via being a vegetarian first. When I found out how cruel it is to eat animal flesh, being a vegetarian made me want to learn more about the subject and that naturally led me to veganism studies.

So, although I definitely do agree with Gary in that it is better to be a vegan for a day, or several days, or a week, etc., at first to eventually become a vegan, being a vegetarian first does work sometimes too on the road to being vegan. But yes, as Gary said, vegetarianism and veganism are very separate diets/lifestyles and should be promoted as such.

Commentary #1: Vegetarianism as a “Gateway” to Veganism?

Forwarding a Message about Wiccans and Veganism

The following is from a 2007 article titled:

Why Wiccans Have to Suck It Up and Realize "Harm None" Includes Diet

Written by Paloma

Yes, I am aware that many in the Wiccan community like to believe that Wicca is a design-your-own mix-and-match hodgepodge spirituality that has no "dogma." Because dogma is of Western Religions and therefore evil. You're Wiccan as long as you believe in the duality of Deity and the Wheel of the Year, blah blah blah.

Sure you are still Wiccan if you eat meat and dairy and all that-- but are you a "good" Wiccan? Are you a Wiccan living your Wiccan path according to what the tenets of what being Wiccan means? Before you start, don't send me emails asking how dare I judge other Wiccans, who I am to say who is a "good" Wiccan, whatever. Please listen first:

Being "religious," having a "spiritual tradition," walking the Wiccan "path" all mean the same thing. People coming out of bad experiences in Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, etc, can be wary of initiating this sort of dialogue into Wicca because it brings up bad memories of Judgement and Hellfire. The difference between what I'm suggesting and what occurs in those religions is that Wiccans should "judge" or evaluate themselves, instead of being judged by their community.

In evaluating themselves and their diet choices, Wiccans must ask themselves if they are truly doing everything they can to reduce Harm. I can absolutely understand how people who work long hours and overtime, or single parents, full time students who work full time and plenty of other situations will make it difficult if not impossible to educate oneself on complete nutrition overhaul.

But what about those that have the time, energy and resources and accuse me of being too dogmatic for Wicca? Or cite gods and goddesses of the hunt and say it's part of the natural cycle to eat meat, as long as it's in moderation? "In moderation" is the most abused prepositional phrase in Inanna's gift of language. Would anyone say that using IV drugs is okay in moderation? Haha, I doubt it. But just like I wouldn't judge someone addicted to IV drug use, I'm not going to say those addicted to meat and dairy are horrible people either, but they are putting themselves at huge personal risk and causing Harm to themselves. But everyone knows that and I'm not here to preach.

Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.

That's part of the longer poem, The Celtic Wiccan Rede. I'm not Celtic, and I think this poem can get silly in parts, there's still great stuff in it. Fairly take and fairly give... If the same plot of land can sustain healthfully TWENTY vegans or ONE omnivore, is that really taking fairly? Or is that willfully contributing to a preventable imbalance of Nature? The argument that "even vegans have to kill, and therefore Harm for food, so just giving up animals is pointless!" is silly against this fact, and it's really grasping at straws. If there was something you could do to lessen inevitable Harm, you have to ask yourself why you wouldn't do it.

So, while Wiccans who won't stop eating animal products are of course, still Wiccan, they are going against the tenets of what Wicca is if they are aware of the implications on humanity and the environment (you know, the body of The Goddess,) and this is one inconsistancy they may choose to work on in the future. Catholics who use birth control are still Catholic and good human beings, but are going against teachings.

It's hard to forego animal products, as it is a physiological addiction, and addictions are terrifying to overcome.