So I’ve spent a fair amount of my time recently — the past 6 months seems to be a nice round number — thinking, or better yet, re-thinking how I really feel about a number of things. My approach to ethical veganism and animal rights specifics being most significant.
My previous stance didn’t stray too far from the Francione school of thought;
“[T]o provide a clear statement of an approach to animal rights that (1) requires the abolition of animal exploitation and rejects the regulation of animal exploitation; (2) is based only on animal sentience and no other cognitive characteristic, (3) regards veganism as the moral baseline of the animal rights position; and (4) rejects all violence and promotes activism in the form of creative, non-violent vegan education…”
That said, and recent gaffs aside, I can’t say my views have changed all that much. Meaning I still think much of what I thought, but I’m no longer convinced it’s a “strict,” or, more specifically, such a black or white issue…