A couple of days back Hive account@ecotrain raised a very loaded but interesting question on which I was keen to read posts from Hive account@ecotrain passengers. But even after waiting for a couple of days, I didn't get to read any answer to this.

Is it a very difficult question?:

Why do you think there is so much hate and anger toward Vegans, and why are those who eat meat so threatened by the notion of giving it up?

Well, I'll confess that it may not be so difficult but is very complicated issue for sure.

I wanted to read answers from some non-vegan peeps. Anyway, before I get that opportunity, let me try to put some of my thoughts on it here.

My answers and opinions will be largely based on my personal experiences. That means in Indian cultural context as I don't have any experience of other cultures.

Do vegans make non-vegans angry?

I don't think so! I'd say, generally speaking, all humans have compassion and empathy in their heart though to a varying extent.

We often see some aggression and rude behaviour in online conversations on Social media platforms against vegan messages. Although these are from few people comparatively, those are very extreme ...to the extent that they put some vegans into severe depression. But this is generally not true in face-to-face personal interactions.

Also, this applies to any message that is in direct contradiction to the existing philosophy of the person with whom we are conversing. Whether it's with followers of some political ideology or with a religious fundamentalists; getting offended with opposite ideology and reacting with aggressive rudeness is commonplace. These instances are very common online but of course, offline incidents like mob-lynching too are not non-existent.

I've been at the receiving end of mob induced violence, strong protests, hatred, mockery, manhandling etc. in several villages while delivering message of veganism. So the question is, why do people behave in such a manner.

One thing I'd like to clarify here is that people ain't against vegans per se ...or their ideology of veganism, they are actually against the activism and the propagation of this ideology to others. This is mainly because of our social conditioning and an effort to protect our long established castle.

I'm trying to enlist some reasons that lead people into such unbecoming reactions:

Resistance to change:

Force of inertia comes into play when old habits need a change too. Any process for change is always uncomfortable for most of the people. Everyone is comfortable with their status quo. Any change from a position of comfort ...even if the new position can provide better comfort is resisted ...I guess, it's a human nature.

Our society have resisted all major changes whether it was computerization, privatization / liberalization or rituals like widow re-marriage, allowing women devotees in all temples or implementation of GST & Aadhaar Card schemes. People never want to be disturbed from their comfort zones and won't like to come out of their cocoon to see the beautiful world outside.

Protection of Right to Personal Choice:

Many people are ignorant enough to believe that what they eat and drink is their personal liberty and they are free to consume whatever when it's their money being spent to purchase that stuff. They see vegan activists as intruding into their personal space of their dietary choices. Infringing into a personal space makes them angry. Their stance is that vegans should mind their own business and let others do whatever they want to do with their habits.

Most people don't even realize that it's not just their right when lives of some 3^rd party (other sentient beings) is at stake because of their non-vegan choices. They don't even consider them as a party to this issue when in reality it's their lives that are being affected because of their consumption habits. These people want to escape from their responsibility toward these sentient beings by ignoring the facts and offending the ones who point them out about the negative impact of their actions..

Blind Faith on Religious Scriptures:

Religion is the backbone of Indian culture. Most devotees hold their religion and religious scriptures in high esteem and believe it as the ultimate authority. Some blindly follow their religious gurus & preachers. Since they along with their religious ideals have been living a non-vegan life for thousands of years, they find it justified and ethical too.

They don't even want to follow their basic religious teaching of non-violence. When pointed about this hypocrisy by vegan activists, they would often go in denial mode or attack the vegans for criticizing their ancestral way of living.

Veganism is a foreign concept:

Indians has a long history of Swadeshi Movement and people here have a tendency to boycott everything foreign. Veganism too is perceived as some Western conspiracy to destroy Indian culture. Thus vegan activists are considered as foreign agent deployed and financed by Western people. So they are considered as some enemy and hence attacked and maligned.

Special status & religious sentiments toward holy cow:

Cow has been given a special status of holy mother in Indian culture and traditions. Cow is worshiped as mother and there are several traditions & festivals conceived around this concept. The produce from cows like milk, ghee (clarified butter), cow-dung, urine etc, are considered very sacred and even used to anoint idols in temples. Sometimes whole temple premises are sprinkled with cow's milk to sanctify the premises. Recipes for several Ayurvedic medicines involve these as a required ingredients. Basically, cow and her produce are integral to several of Indian traditions & culture.

So when someone talks against consumption of dairy, it's actually offending all of their traditions, religious beliefs and ancestral understanding. In fact, it's considered as an insult to their "mother cow" and their religious scriptures & lord. So fundamentalists will naturally react with all their aggression toward vegans and consider them as mad & stupid people.

Ego gets offended:

When you try to educate non-vegans with facts and reality of animal farming industry, obviously their ego gets hurt. People ain't open-minded and can't believe someone preaching something different than their own religious scriptures. They consider their God to be omniscient who knows everything. How can some mortal man preach them differently? They take it as an insult and attack vegans in response.

Economic dependence:

India is a country with an agrarian economy. About 70% of its people directly or indirectly depend on agriculture & farming. This involves animal farming, dairy industry, fishing in coastal areas, poultry farms, wool industry, silk industry, lac industry etc.

Therefore, talking against animal use is like taking away the livelihood of most of its people. Hence rural people will tell us to preach your philosophy in big cities as they believe that rural economy can't sustain without animal farming. It's true that bringing about this change in economy requires gigantic amount of efforts and no one want to sacrifice their economic interest. So when the question of one's survival or his / her business interest is being targeted through the introduction of some foreign concept; people get angry.

There are several other reasons for people's anger and aggression toward vegans / vegan activists. But considering their stance & understanding, I feel it's natural too. Vegans shouldn't take it as some offense but it is a step toward progress.

Let's not forget the German philosopher Arthur Shopenhauer's words:

THE TRUTH PASSES THROUGH THREE STAGES:
1.RIDICULE
2.VIOLENT OPPOSITION
3.ACCEPTANCE AS SELF EVIDENT

Let's keep working until we reach the final stage of acceptance!