Eid Mubarak!! On this day, when a billion Muslims celebrate by violently slaughtering tens of millions of animals, I wanted to tell you about my “journey” as a Muslim vegan. And why, despite being vegan myself, I really can’t stand a lot of other vegans. In particular, “Ethical Vegan” activists, who have turned their lifestyle choice into a religion – complete with dogma, virtual witch-hunts, inquisitions and excommunication.
TRANSCRIPT
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You probably played this video
because of the clickbait title.
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And yeah, it’s clickbait.
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But it’s also true.
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I’m a vegan and, a lot of the time,
I can’t stand other vegans
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Now, to be fair, most of the vegans
I know personally are fine.
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I get along with them no problem. They’re good people.
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But, there’s a strain of militant veganism that I
just can’t stand, and it’s especially prevalent online.
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You see, for me, my veganism was always
a personal choice. Not an “ethical” choice.
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I’ve never claimed to be an ethical vegan,
and I’ve realized it was the right way to go.
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Because some of the most unpleasant, judgmental
people on the internet seem to be vegan activists.
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For many vegans nowadays, their lifestyle
has basically become their religion.
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And, wherever you have religion,
you have fundamentalists.
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Judging people, and condemning people, and trying
to prove that they’re holier than everyone else.
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So you’ll hear them say things like
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“Oh, you’re not a real vegan! I heard you ate some
mayonnaise like two years ago. You’re a fake vegan.”
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Or how about…
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“Do you know even fake leather is unethical?
Because people will see it and they’ll admire it
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and that’s going to inspire people to buy real leather!!”
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Or the best one of all – this is my favourite –
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“You’re supposed to be a vegan.
How dare you feed your dog meat!?”
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“Call yourself ethical? You murderer!!”
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Now you might even think I’m joking about this. I’m not.
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These are the kinds of things that
vegans argue about online.
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Seriously, there are some deranged
f***ers out there in vegan-land.
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Who want people to feed their dogs
and cats plants and vegetables!
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And all of you outside the vegan bubble
can see that’s idiotic.
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And, actually, a lot of vegans understand that it’s idiotic.
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And it’s idiotic because it’s unscientific.
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Scientists tell you that, in nature, there’s
something called “The Food Chain.”
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And as part of that food chain,
carnivorous animals eat other animals.
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That’s how it’s worked for millions of
years before human beings arrived.
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And it will carry on happening
long after we’re all dead.
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If you’re advocating for better animal welfare
then I can absolutely get on board with that.
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And I’ll absolutely applaud you for it.
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But if you’re advocating for ANIMALS to
stop eating animals then you’re a moron.
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Because the existence of life on
this planet depends on death.
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And it always has, and it always will.
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That’s the nature of reality and none of
us has the power to change that.
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Trying to impose your own morality on animals
- who are incapable of making moral choices –
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that’s ridiculous!
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As it happens, it’s also exactly what
a lot of religious people try to do.
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There are Muslims who insist their
pets are only fed halal meat.
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There are Jews who only feed their
cats and dogs kosher.
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Do you think those pets care about that!?
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Religious people are usually idiots.
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And veganism is turning into a religion.
That’s why vegans say stupid things.
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Now there will be vegans out there
who respond by saying:
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“Oh Jay, you’re just not as ethical as we are!”
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And you know what? I’m not going to argue with you.
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Because arguing with religious people about
who is more ethical is a waste of time.
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And it’s the same when it comes to arguing with vegans.
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But I will tell you about my “journey”
(if you want to call it that).
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I became a vegetarian at the age of five.
That’s more than 30 years ago.
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As a five-year-old, I decided
I didn’t want to eat dead animals.
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And, as soon as I learned where eggs and honey
came from, I stopped eating eggs and honey too.
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And it wasn’t easy for me.
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Firstly, I’m a child. So I have almost zero
control over what I was allowed to eat.
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So, I basically became malnourished, because
my family absolutely refused to accept my choice.
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Which brings us to the second
challenge I had, which was ridicule,
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I grew up in a conservative Muslim family
living in a conservative Muslim community.
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You’ve got to understand that killing animals
isn’t just optional if you’re a Muslim.
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Animal sacrifice is part of the religion.
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The Prophet Muhammad told us to sacrifice animals,
and he told us to be happy while we do it.
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He said: “sacrifice them with a HAPPY heart”.
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You think it was easy growing up trying to
live a plant based life in that community?
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It was hard. Really hard.
They are serious about their religion, OK?
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Anyone who leaves the religion is supposed to be killed – executed.
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This is not a community that accepts free thinkers, OK?
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So, how do you think they reacted to a small child
disagreeing with their sacred prophet?
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You can probably guess!
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I mean, there were times when I was told
I could either eat meat, or I could starve.
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And, even as a five-year-old, I chose to starve.
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Because I’d made my choice and I was sticking to it.
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So don’t come to me with your holier-than-thou, judgmental, vegan bullshit.
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Have you ever been force-fed meat because
“God wants you to eat meat, little boy!!”?
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I suffered for my principles, both
physically and emotionally, OK?
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But, at the same time, I never judged other people.
I never berated anyone for their decision to eat meat.
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If people asked me about it I’d
tell them why I didn’t eat meat.
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But, I never actively tried to convert anyone.
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When it comes to MY veganism, and in fact when
it comes to my life choices in general, my rule is simple:
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I don’t judge you. And I don’t give
a shit about YOUR judgment.
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Go tell it to someone who cares about your opinion.
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I couldn’t care less what you think, vegan activists.
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I’m just happy to let people choose their own path.
And you should be too.
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