A Message to My Vegan Friends

[Holise E. Cleveland III]

Many of you are die-hard vegans. You saw ‘Meet Your Meat,’ ‘Earthlings‘ or you were fortunate enough to have animal-loving parents. My journey to veganism was more of an indirect route. It was something that Captain Paul Watson said during an episode of Whale Wars that prompted me to give up seafood. I became a big fan of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and even got a cool tattoo to prove it. I knew that they served only vegan cuisine on board the SSCS vessels, but I assumed that this was so they could be blameless in the eyes of their opposition.

I started reading everything from the Sea Shepherd website. Whale Wars just wasn’t enough for me; I wanted more. I read about the atrocities in Taiji, Japan and was motivated to watch ‘The Cove.’ It was this movie that truly made me an activist. Before, I had merely been a Sea Shepherd fan with a desire to save the whales. Now I was more than eager to carry a sign whenever there was a demonstration. I started seeking others like myself and found most of them on Facebook.’The Cove’ makes people want to do something. It gets people involved. Those who would have never considered signing petitions and attending demonstrations, suddenly find themselves to be activists.

It was ‘The End of the Line’ that inspired me to become a vegetarian. I didn’t give my new meatless lifestyle a second thought. I was excited that I was doing something to help the planet. I was glad I could participate, on a daily basis, in helping Mother Earth. Less than two weeks later, I saw ‘Earthlings.’ That’s all it took! I was now a life long, full time participant in making this world a better place, in the most dedicated and profound way possible.

I search the internet daily to find people who have just seen ‘The Cove.’ They are almost always saying something like, “Something must be done!” or “I wish I could do more!’ I send them information on how they can be a part of our active circles and they are always very grateful. Many of my online friends have eventually become vegetarian of vegan, but they have done so out of choice and they did it when they were ready.

I have seen some of the die-hard vegans be very aggressive and imposing and I have even seen a couple of people just vanish from our cause. Veganism is very much like a religion. You wouldn’t grab someone on the streets and say, “Come with me. You’re going to be a priest!” Some people need more time than others and everyone should do something because they want to do it; not because they were pressured into it. What we have to understand is that there are literally two types of people on this Earth. As Louis Psihoyos once said, “To me, you’re either an activist or an inactivist.” You may think that the inactivists just need to be educated, but I beg to differ. What they need is a purpose! ‘The Cove’ gives them that purpose. ‘The Cove’ turns people into activists in less than two hours. It makes people want to actually do something. It makes them want to get involved in making this world a better place. In the process, they are becoming better people which ignites a burning desire to become even better people. They are better people because they are not doing something for themselves, but for the dolphins and the planet and for the generations to come.

Some people can’t handle seeing ‘Earthlings’ until they have come to a point in their lives where they feel they need to or want to. Many will just turn it off after the first few minutes and turn away from the whole issue. I watched it because I wanted to. I wanted to know. I needed to know. Whether we realize it or not, we activists are on a never-ending path to become more human. When the day comes that we are not trying to make this world a better place, then that is the day we are no longer becoming more than what we are. We are growing and some take a little longer to grow than others. So don’t be pushy. A pat on the back is encouraging, while scorn is demoralizing.

I encourage you to share ‘The Cove’ with everyone. If you’ve not seen it, you should. It speaks for itself. People need to know what is happening in Taiji. Everyone needs to know. What they do with that knowledge is up to them, but I can guarantee you that they will never be the same and most of them will be on our side after viewing it. There’s nothing we need more than a boom in the activist population. We need an army and a much larger navy than what we have now.

How many have you enlightened today?

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Read The Cyber Whale Warriors Daily

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Please open your eyes to a hidden side of Japan. Watch ‘The Cove,’ an Academy Award winning documentary free:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/

目を開けろ！オスカーの受賞映画“ブラディー入り江”を無料でご覧になると、あなたの知らずの日本がわかってくるはずだ:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/

Bitte öffnen Sie Ihre Augen für eine verborgene Seite von Japan. Sehen Sie sich das Cove, eine Oscar-prämierten Dokumentarfilm kostenlos herunterladen:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/

請打開您的雙眼，認識日本不為人知的一面，免費觀賞奧斯卡最佳紀錄片”血色海灣”:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cove/