Is a love of animals necessary to be a vegan.

[mimulus]

So often hear it said that someone cannot love ani.als and eat them. But is a love of animals essential to being vegan? Some people while not caring about animals can still beconcern for their health and welfare. As is the case with how some
People feel about fellow humans. All my life l have not had agreat love for People yet that does not mean l have no interest or concern at all for them. I knew a vegan who was vegan because he disliked animal foods. So much so he remove all animal foods from his diet. He would not have harm any animal he just did not feel any warmth for them. Some say that being vegan is all about the animals and nothing else. That above all vegans must love animal's. But supposing someone doesn't or cannot bring themselves to love animal's?

 

[Lou]

is a love of animals essential to being vegan?

First off let me state for the record that the following is just my own opinion. I have no evidence that any of this is true. I don't think this is popular opinion either.

Love of animals is not essential or necessary to be vegan.

There are all those people who say they love animals and are NOT vegan. * People love their dogs but eat cows. One could say they don't love animals in general. They just love specific or particular animals. that notion does need to be explored but I don't want to get into that now.

What is essential to being vegan is being compassionate.
I think love and compassion are related but they are different*. Empathy is essential or necessary for compassion. Empathy and love are also related but they are different.

Just now as I was typing this I started considering if compassion is really essential. I recalled that Vulcans who suppress their emotions are vegans. It must be logical.

Further reading
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, By Dr. Melanie Joy

https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/love/what-is-compassionate-love/

Compassion vs. Empathy: Their Meanings and Which to Use

What is compassion vs. empathy? They both stem from the desire to understand others’ experiences. Let's get a clear definition and explore the difference.

www.betterup.com

 

[Emma JC]

I agree with @Lou - I don't have to love rats, which I don't, to want them to be treated humanely or huge snakes etc.

Compassion can even encompass plants, trees, the ocean, the earth.... empathy! yes! Do unto other things as you would have done unto to! things includes animate and inantimate.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

Do unto other things as you would have done unto to! things includes animate and inantimate.

This came up in a book I just read. When Rabbi Hillel was asked to explain the torah while standing on one foot he said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn."

Can we just expand "your fellow" to include both animals and nature?

 

[Col]

Your friend sounds cool to not harm or consume any animals, he sounds like good friend to have.
Regardless of whether the person was having anything to do with them or not there would be no hurt caused,
and he more or less answers your question.

I would maybe be interested to respectfully talk to this person about animal testing and the concern for that.

 

[Danielle]

I agree with @Lou - I don't have to love rats, which I don't, to want them to be treated humanely or huge snakes etc.

Compassion can even encompass plants, trees, the ocean, the earth.... empathy! yes! Do unto other things as you would have done unto to! things includes animate and inantimate.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

Dang you don't love these cuties?

It may not be necessary to love animals to be vegan but being vegan is more than just a diet. if you don’t eat animals but wear their skin then you’re plant based. Not vegan.
Old leather is more of a grey area since the damage was already done pre-vegan.
But no you don’t have to love them not to exploit them.

 

[silva]

I really dislike my new coworker, been about 2 months now. I'd never think of stealing from him, or sabotaging him. I would and do help him when needed. Wouldn't do as much for him as I would the people I like, but everyone deserves the respect to live their lives unhindered
Humans evolved as meateaters, great. We are so unlike those people, and everyone who uses that as an argument for eating meat never mentions wanting all the hardships those people had, or willing to give up the comforts we have now. People don't need to use animals. Even without using them as food and products, we all contribute to the decimation of their habitats, the air, water and sound pollution, the lack of their natural ecosystems.

I kinda cringe when I see human qualities imparted on animals. Just saw a vegans cartoon of a cat taking a bite of a xmas tree and giving it to a mouse for their mouses home . Sure it's cute, but again, animals don't need to be cute, cuddley or anything we want them to be to be left alone to have their own lives

 

[Col]

I suggest that few people at all naturally like actual roadkill rats, and do not stare and salivate at them like cats. There is a fear mainly of health issues taught by society.
I suggest also that as more people like only the look in their eyes when close to them that in fact humans are naturally not carnivorous.

 

[Brian W]

When I was a teenager, I did not like children at all but I did not wish them harm and would have risked my life to save a child if he/she were in danger. You don't have to love or like a creature to recognize how cruel it is to kill in without necessity.