I think you need to consider how this looks to nonvegans. Specifically, the ones who reject the premise of veganism, that eating animals is in any way immoral.
Veganism is a bit like being pro-life. You’re holding that a certain organism has full moral weight, as a person does. Pro-life people do this with fetuses, vegans do it with animals. But from the perspective of nonbelievers, this position is an absurdity. They believe your position to be incorrect at a factual level.
Now consider how unreasonable it would seem if you declared that you would not sit at a table with anyone who has had an abortion. The reaction would be beyond disagreement, it would be seen as a complete loss of civility over a fundamentally flawed worldview.
Of course, there are some people who hold the vegan worldview but don’t follow through with eating vegan, possibly because they’re uncertain about their worldview or because they lack the conviction to act according to their beliefs. Those people can be influenced to stop eating meat.
But for everyone else, the ones who do not accept the vegan worldview, no change in behavior will take place until you change their worldview. Any attempt to force a change in behavior first will only create conflict, not change.
I think you need to consider how this looks to nonvegans. Specifically, the ones who reject the premise of veganism, that eating animals is in any way immoral.
Veganism is a bit like being pro-life. You’re holding that a certain organism has full moral weight, as a person does. Pro-life people do this with fetuses, vegans do it with animals. But from the perspective of nonbelievers, this position is an absurdity. They believe your position to be incorrect at a factual level.
Now consider how unreasonable it would seem if you declared that you would not sit at a table with anyone who has had an abortion. The reaction would be beyond disagreement, it would be seen as a complete loss of civility over a fundamentally flawed worldview.
Of course, there are some people who hold the vegan worldview but don’t follow through with eating vegan, possibly because they’re uncertain about their worldview or because they lack the conviction to act according to their beliefs. Those people can be influenced to stop eating meat.
But for everyone else, the ones who do not accept the vegan worldview, no change in behavior will take place until you change their worldview. Any attempt to force a change in behavior first will only create conflict, not change.