Religions, at their core, have decidedly vegan values, so it makes sense that we should be reaching out to people who are active in a religious tradition — and reaching out to the “not religious but spiritual” folks, while we’re at it. It makes sense. It’s not always easy.
Justice … nonviolence … standing up for the oppressed … reverence for
life …. These are phrases you can hear at a vegan rally – or in a sermon.
Religions, at their core, have decidedly vegan values, so it makes sense
that we should be reaching out to people who are active in a religious
tradition — and reaching out to the “not religious but spiritual” folks,
while we’re at it. It makes sense. It’s not always easy.
As any vegan knows who has tried to share this message with religious
relatives or friends, or with fellow believers in their own congregation,
the response is often negative. The non-vegan feels threatened – no bacon?
no butter? — and responds with philosophical arguments and scriptural
backup. This is confounding to me, because whatever shortcomings religious
people may have, they are willing to wrestle with tough issues. We see it
all the time. Whether the issue is war and peace, human rights, immigration,
abortion, or some other controversial topic that impacts the lives of
others, religious people are there. Different believers and different
denominations can come to different conclusions but they don’t shy away from
taking a stand. Why is it, then, that suggesting that the Sunday social
feature vegan cookies and almond milk for the coffee, comes across as
heretical?
I think it’s because people of faith, like all people, are afraid of change. No one wants to be told what to do, nor to be “caught,” or shamed. Religious people feel a degree of certainty in their worldview, in rather the same way that that non-religious but highly intellectual people do. An ethical vegan seems to imperil their worldview. This is why it’s helpful, especially if you yourself are part of a religious community, to learn the ways in which vegan values reflect those of your tradition.
The new documentary, A Prayer for Compassion, highlights these shared values [see About the Film A Prayer for Compassion]. When filmmaker Thomas Jackson, winner of a Student Academy Award, approached me back in 2015 about being producer on this project, I knew that I didn’t know how to be a producer, but that I would go to the ends of the earth to be part of a documentary that focused on veganism and faith, my two passions. My college degree is in religious studies, and I used a Richter Fellowship grant to study vegans in the UK, where veganism began. This research resulted in my first book, Compassion the Ultimate Ethic. With this film, something of a life’s work has come full circle.
In the film, Jackson interviews religious vegans of myriad brands –
Buddhist, Christian (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical),
Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, Zoroastrian and more. From
each of them, we get stories and scripture and tenets supporting a vegan
ethic. It’s in there. For example, the Genesis story that has profoundly
influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is clear that Eden was vegan. In
this idyllic garden where there was no sickness or death, humans were to eat
fruits and nuts, and animals were to eat green plants. Even after The Fall,
people were still eating plants exclusively, but greens and vegetables had
been added to the menu. (I find it fascinating that when sickness entered
the picture, so did kale.)
Whether one’s personal faith is to take Genesis literally or as a brilliant
tale expressing how ancient people made sense of cosmology, the vegan
message is there, front and center. In the film, Jeffrey Cohan, executive
director of Jewish Veg, explains that in Genesis, God responds to each act
of creation as “good,” but after giving Adam and Eve vegan dietary
instructions in Genesis 1:29, God says for the first time that something is
“very good.”
One can argue – and many will – other parts of the Bible that seem to
conflict with this, but the basic premise is unassailable. No believer can
honestly state that refraining from animal products in any way interferes
with “God’s will.” And we find pro-vegan themes in non-Biblical religions,
as well, particularly in those religions that grew up in India and share as
their foundational principle, ahimsa, non-killing, non-violence,
non-harming.
If you are part of a faith community, a yoga center, wherever you go for
spiritual sustenance, let your veganism come with you as a beacon of
enlightened living. Consider the following:
Nearly 6 billion of the 7.167 billion humans on earth today identify as religious. This is obviously a huge, largely untapped audience for the vegan message. Many of these people are truly invested in living lives of love. You can help them. They just may not know it yet.
Victoria Moran is the author of 13 books, host of the Main Street Vegan podcast, and director of Main Street Vegan Academy. She is also lead producer of the new film, A Prayer for Compassion. To watch the trailer and see where this film is being screened, CLICK HERE. To host a screening yourself, contact Thomas Jackson: [email protected].