Dignity for Doomed Dogs

[Monica]

Apologies for any misunderstanding. It was not intentional.

No problem! Thanks.

We seemed to be in synch in the meat thread until I perceived that in my opinion you seemed to be perplexed at the reactions of others to what you thought should be unquestionable logic.

I was perplexed at the intense reactions, to the point of defensiveness to the point of absurdity, and even hostility, of Law of One students. I'm not perplexed at all when I encounter that sort of thing in everyday life. My mistake was expecting greater understanding and compassion from those who I thought were on the same page, spiritually.

It appeared that you became disappointed when people would continue to debate and would not drop their meat eating habits even though you had revealed serious cruelty involved in the process of acquiring that type of meal.

I had no expectations of them dropping their meat eating habits. What they do is none of my business and I don't keep tabs on people. Some did report back to me that they'd cut back on meat, but I refrained from giving approval, just the same as I refrained from giving admonishment. It's not my place to validate anyone's choices. My objective was to have a philosophical discussion.

I did feel disappointment and confusion that Law of One students would go to such lengths to defend something that is obviously supporting cruelty. I suppose I expected a response more along the lines of "Gosh, thanks for sharing...I had no idea factory farms were so atrocious. Now that my eyes have been opened I may reconsider my dietary choices." No commitment to become a vegetarian. Just an acknowledgement that, duh, eating meat contributes to the suffering and death of animals. That's it. I just didn't expect such strong attempts to defend it and rationalize it.

But it was a learning experience for me. It taught me to never have any expectations of anyone, even someone who I thought was of like mind. It also made me realize the depth of people's defensiveness when it comes to personal lifestyle choices.

I was attempting to address what I thought was your disappointment and confusion over people's responses.

OK thank you for your efforts! It's ok. I've pretty much accepted it and moved on.

I believe strongly in not being attached to the outcome, regardless of what it is or how important it is to me. Attachment just brings disappointment. Maybe it's my Pagan background, but my philosophy is to do my work, then let it go and let the UniVerse do its work.

If, as you seem to say here, that you are not surprised at such apathy, and that you do not expect to change the eating or pet keeping habits of others, than I have been mistaken.

To clarify: I'm not surprised when I see apathy in the general public. I was surprised to see it in Law of One students. But that's what I get for making assumptions!

I guess for one to understand this in its entirety one would have to read through the posts of Dignity for Doomed Dogs, Motives of Activists, Cats and Kittens, Animal Monogamy, Exploring Omnivorous vs vegetarian, and the infamous Meat Thread in which you stated,

"If what you eat, happens to conflict with my efforts to save the animals, you and I may have a bit of discord." UNQUOTE

I remember that particular quote. It needs to include its original context, to be understood. We were discussing whether respecting the 'right' of the oppressor should trump answering the call of the oppressed.

In that post, I was explaining that I wasn't trying to change the oppressor, and in fact wasn't even thinking about the oppressor. My focus was solely on answering the cry of the oppressed. If the oppressor got in the way of me answering the call of the oppressed, then there might be a bit of discord, but it was nothing personal towards the oppressor. I wasn't concerned with the oppressor.

This was in response to people saying that activist were trying to 'control' the oppressor. I was explaining that this was not the case.

It would be a misinterpretation for one to take that quote to mean I would walk up to someone in a restaurant and harass them for eating a hamburger. I never ever ever do that.

I might have misunderstood your frustration. I will respect your choice not to discuss it further with me and will watch to see if you decide to respond further. There are alot of threads to keep track of though so forgive me if I miss one.

I have no expectations of you following every thread. I perceived a recurring theme in your posts, indicating to me that you thought we (the vegetarians) were trying to force our views on the world. I was trying to explain that while yes, we do believe this planet will eventually become non-violent, forcing change upon those who aren't ready to change has never been our objective. This is evident upon reading the original meat thread.

I said I'd be backing out of the conversation, rather than repeat what I'd already explained ad nauseum in the other thread. I'm always open to discussing new topics and ideas.