An unfortunate trait in humanity, especially in people raised in countries with a history steeped in the Abrahamic religions, is the incessant desire to judge others. We all have a limited life view. Our knowledge is limited to what we have experienced, either in person or through reports we have seen of what others have encountered. Our wisdom is limited by the efforts we have then put into reflecting on these inputs we have been exposed to.
Back in 400BC there was an extremely intelligent vegetarian walking the planet whose philosophies were well documented and survive today. Note that back then the word vegan had not been invented and the perverse concept of factory farming cows and hens had not been considered, so those old vegetarians were pretty much the same as modern vegans.
One of the many profound things he said was:
“The wise man learns from everything and everyone, the ordinary man learns from his experience, and the fool knows everything better.” Socrates, (469BC-399BC).
Veganism has certainly provided a platform for judgmental fools to stand up and tell others what they are doing wrong. These sad little people are so prevalent, especially in social media groups relating to veganism, that they are commonly referred to as the “vegan police”.
One of the first things to learn about veganism is to ignore these little people that criticize what you are doing, claiming that they know the correct way you should be behaving. Life is way too short to waste time interacting with these people. Keep an open mind. Keep thinking about what you are doing and why. Make your decisions and plan your actions based on what you believe to be right to you.
In every area of life, it is a waste of time arguing with bigots. This is particularly so when dealing with people telling you what you have to do to be vegan. There is a common saying in social media circles “do not feed the trolls”. This equally applies in the world of veganism.