A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Editor
~ JJswans@aol.com
Issue # 03/23/03
Publisher ~ Susan
Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Journalists ~ Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
~ Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ Dr. Steve Best -
sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Terrorists Don't Feed The Homeless by Greg
Lawson
2 ~ The Active Activist by Michelle Rivera
3 ~ Holocaust Controversy by J.R. Hyland
4 ~ COK's Tips For Successful Vegan
Leafleting
5 ~ ACT Radio - Animal Concerns of Texas
6 ~ Living Graves
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Terrorists Don't Feed the
Homeless
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
It
is offensive that people who exploit animals would use post 9-11 fears to try
to muzzle animal advocates by labeling them as terrorists. Texas HB433, the
Animal Rights and Ecological Terrorist Bill, was so vague that it would have
criminalized activities of not only vandals, but also vegetarian clubs.
HB433 defined an animal rights or ecological terrorist organization as two or
more persons who support any politically motivated activity intended to
obstruct or deter any person from participating in an activity involving
animals or natural resources.
The model bill was drafted by the national lobbyist group, The U.S. Sportsmen's
Alliance, which is promoting this bill nationwide. Similar bills have
appeared within the past few weeks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine, and
may soon appear in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Washington and other states.
Fortunately, this bill appears to be dead in Texas due to overwhelming
opposition. This hasn't stopped the author of the bill though.
Texas Rep. Ray Allen, has introduced another bill, HB1516, which is modeled on
the Texas hate-crimes law. HB1516 attempts to make animal and
environmental protection into hate crimes.
To celebrate the Great American Meatout on Thursday, March 20th, ten volunteers
from the Vegetarian Society of El Paso and the local group Stop Animal Neglect
and Exploitation got together for an event which I guess would be viewed as
terrorism by the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance. At the plaza downtown we
cooked, manned a literature table and handed out flyers. We gave out over a
hundred Gardenburgers with all the fixings, 30 tortillas filled with vegan
barbecue, and lots of mock chicken salad and tofurkey deli slice sandwiches.
Dr. Steve Best and I took turns at the microphone giving short messages about
vegetarianism, but it was easy to tell that the poor people who lined up for
our food were mainly interested in a free meal. I had no idea that so many
impoverished people hung out at the plaza downtown. However, we did reach a few
people with our messaging, I could see them listening and reacting as we spoke
about the reasons for a plant based diet.
At one point during our two hour event, a man showed up at the plaza with a
bullhorn and began preaching about Jesus in Spanish. After a few minutes I
began to wonder whether he was making any more converts than we were.
Steve and I refrained from using our sound system until he had finished after
about fifteen minutes. Then Steve got on the mic and said, "Hey, brother,
give it a rest. Come on over and fill your mouth with a veggie burger. By the
way, Jesus was a vegetarian." Steve's ability to be provocative always
amuses me.
I am glad to have friends who participate in events such as the Meatout and it
was satisfying to know we had provided food to people who looked like they
needed it. It motivated me to want to plan vegetarian food giveaways several
times a year, as long as it remains legal.
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~2~
The Active Activist
By Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
A monthly series for those who want to bring about change in their own
community.
Teach Kids to Care Workshops
I recently held a “Teach Kids To Care Workshop”
in my community and the feedback from workshop attendees was nothing but
positive. This month’s Active Activist is dedicated to humane education
and how you can participate in helping to reach young people, the future
leaders of the world.
The National Association of Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE, a
division of HSUS can be found at www.nahee.org) is the publisher of the
wonderful little publication, Kind News. For those of us involved in
Humane Education, Kind News is an important tool that many of us use every
month.
NAHEE has a traveling workshop that is a self-contained practicum. For
those who are interested in “keeping humane education in the classroom when you
aren’t there,” helping to facilitate a “Teach Kids to Care” workshop” may be
just the ticket you need to get your community active in humane education
efforts.
Here’s how it works: Check out the Nahee website (www.nahee.org,
or www.KindNews.Org)
and follow the links to the workshops. Then, contact your local HSUS
headquarters and get them on board. To find out where your local headquarters
is, check out www.hsus.org
and click on “Regional Offices.” Let them know you are interested in
hosting a “Teach Kids To Care” workshop. They will help you put together
a mailing list of those in your region who may be interested in
attending. They will also take charge of the mailing including postage,
and if you send them a mailing list they will send out brochures for you at no
charge to you.
They will contact NAHEE. You can contact NAHEE directly as well. All NAHEE asks
is that you provide a site and arrange for lunch. The room should be
large enough to hold 20-30 people who will be able to sit at tables. Try
asking local humane societies, schools, churches, hospitals and corporations
for the use of their conference rooms, classrooms, or even board rooms.
The NAHEE speakers will bring all the equipment that they need. They ship it a
week before so you will need to provide a place for them to ship 6-7 large
boxes where you can be responsible for them. They will also ask you to
contract with a local caterer and come up with a menu. They will pay for lunch
for both days. They do require vegetarian fare. (If you cannot find a caterer,
one can always order veg/vegan pizza and/or subs.)
The “Teach Kids To Care” workshop has several components. They are
professionally done with PowerPoint, slides and videos. The take-home
materials are copies of the Power Point presentations and literature-sharing.
One of the segments was called “The Power of Narrative” and is a discussion about
stories as compared to formal discussions. Those who are teaching humane
education are encouraged to use stories in their lessons and activism. Some of the points that are covered during
this segment of the workshop are:
Stories are compatible with the way we think about moral issues -- We remember
things that we hear about in stories as opposed to those things we hear about
during lectures.
Stories provide context -- Stories often mirror real-life situations and
provide a background for understanding.
Stories create empathy -- Stories include characters with whom we can relate.
Stories inspire moral action -- The drama of stories helps develop emotional
attachment to goodness and a desire to do what is right.
Handouts for this segment of the workshop include a bibliography, websites for
stories, story starters and enders and a sampling of “Troubador’s Tales” from
the Kind News publications.
Another segment of the two-day workshop is entitled “Rebels with a Cause” and
includes helpful information on getting through to teenagers. There is
excellent information on service learning programs and how to start one in your
community. Service learning is a new educational model that allows
students to engage in meaningful service to their schools or communities
through careful integration with the academic curriculum.
Some of the points covered in this segment included:
* Service learning fills a need in the community
* Ties in with academics
* Fosters good citizenship
* Is a long-term relationship
* Builds in time for structured reflection where students share their feelings
and goals.
Handouts comprise a list of service learning projects and the correlating
subject. Some of the examples of how academic subjects correlate to
service learning are:
Art:
Students may paint a mural for the local shelter, create a billboard, create
bulletin boards for their schools with animal-related news, build and carpet
colorful cat trees, create public service announcements, build birdhouses, and
much more.
Drama/Theater:
Students may create animal-related puppet shows and skits for street theater at
fairs and festivals, videotape “A Day in the Life of a Stray,” create a lesson
plan for classroom presentations, produce a radio show and much, much more.
Health/Physical Ed:
Students may organize a walkathon, set up an agility course, research animal
products to see if they are cruelty free, set up animal-assisted therapy
visits.
Music:
Students may write and perform animal-related songs, stage a “Battle of the Bands”
for fundraising, organize a “Pet Rock Concert.”
There is another segment that relates to Character Education (The Character
Connection) that teaches us about the connection between character ed and
humane education (and may very well be your key to unlock classroom doors) as
well as an interactive game that is meant to enlighten students about
euthanasia, spay/neuter and other “rescue” issues.
The “Teach Kids To Care” workshop was one of the most rewarding things I have
done as a humane educator. It was simple for me to do because the
mailings, registration and financial responsibilities were all handled by
either the HSUS regional office or the NAHEE office itself. The cost of
the workshop for attendees was $30, but they are flexible about allowing you to
invite volunteers or key personnel without paying the registration fee. My
workshop drew humane educators and animal control officers from all over
Florida and one from Nebraska!
The sharing of information among all these diverse professionals was an
educational experience in itself and the friendships and networking that took
place was a bonus as well.
There is a slight “infomercial” for Kind News about halfway through the
workshop. Dorothy Weller and Lisa Cushing are the facilitators of the workshop
and they explained how you can actually earn money for your organization by
selling subscriptions to Kind News. Although some in the animal
rights movement find Kind News to be somewhat soft on animal rights, I
have found it to be an excellent tool for teaching kids about animals.
For example, the issues for the month of February spotlighted the tragedy of
“tethered dogs.” I asked several of my classes to write essays about why
chained dogs are so sad, why they cause a problem in their neighborhoods and
some solutions for helping chained dogs. We then visited the Dogs Deserve
Better website at www.DogsDeserveBetter.com and
learned more ways to help dogs that are chained. Some of the essays were
sent on to Dogs Deserve Better with the hopes they will encourage other kids to
get involved. I reached over 90 third graders in an inner city school that week
and I did it with the help of KindNews. Each child got to take his
or her own copy of Kind News home with them so that their parents, too,
could learn about chained dogs.
So while Kind News may be considered “soft” on animal rights, it is
welcomed into the schools and classrooms with opened arms and hearts in a way
that many of the animal rights materials are not. And we cannot reach and
teach the young people if we can’t get into their schools. Kind News
opens doors, hearts and minds. There is nothing soft about that!
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~3~
Holocaust Controversy
By J.R. Hyland - HumaneReligion@compuserve.com
Many
people are deeply upset because animal rights activists use the term
"holocaust" when referring to the torment and killing of millions of
animals. And they seem to think the word has been irreverently taken from those
who use it to describe the horror of what happened to millions of persons whose
bodies were immolated in the ovens of Nazi concentration camps.
But they are wrong. The word "holocaust" is taken from the biblical
term used to describe the total immolation of sacrificed animals -- they were
known as whole-burnt offerings. The Greek word for such sacrifices is
"holókaustos" and was used in the translation of the Hebrew scrolls
as far back as 250 B.C. That translation (called the Septuagint) was completed
for the Jews who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, and could no longer read or speak
Hebrew. So referring to the death of millions of animals as a holocaust was
used more than 2,000 years before people applied it to the torture and
slaughter of human beings. It is not animal rights people who have linked the
death of animals and the death of people. It is those who were appalled at the
human carnage of Nazi Germany, who likened it to a holocaust -- to the death of
millions of animals.
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~4~
COK's Tips for
Successful Vegan Leafleting
From Paul Shapiro - pshapiro@cok.net
COK - Compassion Over Killing
http://www.cok.net/
Why Leaflet?
As a movement, we don’t have advertising budgets comparable to those of
the industries that abuse animals. So, we have to find cheap ways to get the
animals’ message to the public. Most of us became vegan after personal interactions
with someone who was already vegan, and we can create similar circumstances
that will help bring others along as well. Likewise, handing out literature and
talking with people one-on-one is an inexpensive and highly effective way to
increase people’s interest in veganism, and having information for them makes
your job that much easier.
While we may not have funds at our disposal like the meat, egg, and dairy
industries do, we have a significant asset: people whose motive is compassion,
rather than profit. Indeed, there are hundreds of thousands of compassionate
people in the country dedicated to bringing about animal liberation. Many of us
are willing to spend at least a few hours each week on animal advocacy in the
streets, because we know there is no more effective way of reaching people
than by showing them a friendly, vegan face.
Where To Leaflet
The best places to leaflet are public spaces where you find lots of people.
Some great locations are outside of subway, train, or bus stations (especially
during rush hour); on college campuses (though if you’re not a student, you may
be asked to leave); near high schools around lunchtime or just before or after
school; and outside of major events like concerts, exhibitions, and sports
games (preferably as people are leaving).
When leafleting, it’s very helpful to recognize that not everyone is equally
likely to become vegetarian or vegan. Because of this, it makes sense to
focus greater effort on those you feel may be more receptive. Typically,
college and high school students—particularly females—seem to be the most
open-minded to the message of compassion. As well, younger people tend to be
much less set in their ways and more willing to question societal norms, such
as the idea that animals exist to serve humans. It’s also important to
recognize that younger people have an entire lifetime of eating meat, eggs, and
dairy products ahead of them, making it even more critical to expose them to
the cruelty suffered by farmed animals.
Does this mean that we should only leaflet young people? Of course not.
Usually, when you’re leafleting, you’ll be able to give leaflets to hundreds of
people, and you’re obviously not going to withhold a leaflet from anyone. What
it does mean, though, is that we may want to pick leafleting areas that are
often frequented by younger people to maximize the effectiveness of our time
and effort.
What To Leaflet
There are many wonderful vegan advocacy tools available for you to
distribute. It’s generally a good idea to have one brochure you will pass out
to everyone, and another more extensive publication to give to those who seem
especially interested in learning more about becoming vegan.
Some great materials designed for general leafleting purposes:
COK’s Vegetarian Eating www.cok.net/literature/veganism.php
Vegan Outreach’s Why Vegan?
http://veganoutreach.com/whyvegan/
and Vegetarian Living
http://veganoutreach.com/vegliving/
PETA’s Think Before You Eat
www.peta.org/pdfs/LthinkB4Ueat.pdf
Some effective, more extensive materials for those particularly receptive to
exploring animal-friendly living:
COK’s Vegan
Starter Guide www.tryvegan.com/
Vegan Outreach’s Vegan Starter Pack www.veganoutreach.org/starterpack/
PETA’s Vegetarian Starter Kit www.goveg.com/vegkit/
What To Say
Since we want to make sure people won’t just throw away the literature,
it’s best to let passersby know what the brochure is about before they take it.
Simply saying, Can I offer you a brochure about being vegetarian? seems
to work well.
When talking with people about being vegan, make sure not to complicate the
issue, if you can avoid it. Most everyone already opposes animal abuse, so
it follows that we should focus on how factory farms and slaughterhouses abuse
animals, rather than construct an abstract argument about violations of
animals’ rights.
While you engage people in conversation about the intense suffering of the
animals we eat, be certain to tell each one how we can take a stand against
that cruelty by becoming vegan, effectively helping to make the world a better
place for all of us.
COK’s Vegan FAQ
www.cok.net/literature/veganfaq.htp
Simple and Effective Leafleting Tips
1. Always look professional and clean-cut. Even if this means dressing in a
way you wouldn’t ordinarily dream of, it’s important not to give passersby a
reason to quickly dismiss you and the vegan message. Advocating veganism
sometimes requires sacrifice from each of us, and changing our appearance for
public outreach is a minor—but important—one to make. Keep in mind that we’re
trying to legitimize veganism and need to appeal to the “average” person. So,
activists have found that the general public is much more receptive if we look
as mainstream as our message of compassion should be.
2. While leafleting, try to be outgoing and friendly. Many people
may just walk past unless you approach them in a positive and pleasant manner. A
simple smile can have a dramatic effect on how people perceive you and serve as
an encouraging invitation to take a brochure. If someone is wearing a team
shirt, commenting positively about their team is a quick ice breaker that makes
it hard for them to refuse your leaflet, and leaves them with the impression,
for example, “That animal rights person is an Orioles fan, too.”
3. If you have a conversation with someone make sure to stay focused.
It’s fine to have a quick conversation about the weather, the football season,
or some neutral topic to bond with the person with whom you’re speaking. But
avoid a spirited discussion of abortion, the death penalty, or any topic other
than animal abuse. Never lose sight of why you’re there: to expose the misery
endured by farmed animals and to promote veganism as a solution.
4. Don’t engage with hostile people. Be careful to pick your battles. A
good conversation with a person clearly interested in the issues is worth
having. A lengthy discussion with a person only interested in hurling
hypotheticals at you is not worth having. If someone yells at you, speaks with
you in a belittling manner, or tries to provoke you into a heated debate, it is
best to either ignore the person, if possible, or just to say, “Thanks very
much for your comments. I have to get back to my leafleting now.” We know it’s
tough to just turn away and ignore someone, but trust us: If you talk with
them, they will only become more belligerent, and you will not change their
minds. Additionally, no matter how nice you are, the impression people passing
by will get is one of you being the instigator, since you’re the one asking people
to change their habits. The focus will be placed negatively on you, rather than
on animal suffering.
5. Be overly polite and make it easy for them to take the literature.
When we refer to people as “ma’am” or “sir” and say “thank you” or “have a
great day” to those who take literature, we are seen as polite, well-meaning
individuals concerned about the issue, rather than “radical militants” who the
public is all-too-eager to dismiss. Also, try to place the leaflet directly in
front of the passing person’s stomach so it’s less effort for them to take the
brochure from you if they so choose.
You Are Making A Difference
More than 99 percent of the animals killed in the United States die to be
eaten. As others have commented
<http://veganoutreach.org/advocacy/path.html>, even if we were to
completely abolish every other form of animal exploitation, we would not have
changed the lives of 1 percent of the animals in the country. Needless to say,
the interests of each individual animal—whether abused by circuses, the fur
industry, vivisection, factory farming, or any other exploitative industry—are
important, and we know that some people become vegan after learning about
rodeos, animal testing, or other non-farmed animal issues. However, the numbers
do speak loudly: By encouraging people to become vegan, we help to alleviate
far more suffering than by spending our time in any other way.
Perhaps more importantly, unlike other forms of animal abuse—mainly the
hunting, fur, vivisection, and animals in entertainment industries—virtually
everyone in the country is responsible for the suffering of farmed animals.
Advocating for farmed animals is not a case of stopping a small minority of
people (like hunters, vivisectors, or fur-wearers) from treating animals
cruelly. Rather, it is about transforming the views and habits of nearly
everyone.
Conclusion
As you consider the ways you can best help animals, make sure to keep vegan
leafleting high on your list. Even if you convince people to eat less meat,
dairy products, and eggs each week, that alone can have a dramatic impact on
the industry, if done by enough people. Never underestimate the effect you can
have.
If you find a busy enough area, you should be able to easily pass out 400
brochures in an hour. Imagine if you leafleted for only one hour per week (a
small sacrifice to make): You will have exposed nearly 21,000 people to the
message of veganism in just one year. Even if only 1 out of 300 people you
leaflet actually becomes vegan, that’s still more than 70 new vegans each year,
thanks to your one-hour’s effort each week! And this statistic isn't even
counting the number of people who will either become vegetarian or reduce their
consumption of animal products. It’s hard to imagine a better use of our time.
How many hours do you spend each week watching television, going to the movies,
or shopping? Why not take a couple of those hours and commit to a weekly
leafleting endeavor? You should be able to find friends to help you, and,
before you know it, you’ll have a small group of people out every week, helping
your community transition to becoming vegan.
Please don’t wait to get started … the animals need your help now more than
ever!
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~5~
ACT Radio - Animal Concerns of
Texas
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
Be
sure to listen to ACT Radio tonight at 9:30pm EST (7:30pm, mountain time) with
Animal Rights Online journalists Greg Lawson and Steve Best. KTEP can be heard
over the web with Real Radio, which is a free download.
http://www.ktep.org/program_detail.ssd?id=103
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 : National Public Radio for the Southwest
Tonight, Steve and I have our second conversation with Brenda Davis, R.D., one
of the world's foremost authorities on vegan nutrition and author of several
books including "Becoming Vegan."
If you enjoy the show, please contact KTEP and tell them you support ACT Radio
and are pleased to hear this kind of programming.
General Feedback: http://www.ktep.org/index.ssd
A note about getting Real Radio if you don't already have it...
On the KTEP website you will see an icon on the left that says Listen to KTEP
Online, click it. The next page will say "In order to listen to KTEP
on-line you will need the Real Player, which is available for free on the Real
website. Click here to visit their download area." Go there.
That page will try to sell you the deluxe RealOne Player, but look in the top
right hand corner, there is a link that says "Free RealOne
Player." Go there.
Now on this page, on the bottom right, you will see a link that says
"Download the Free RealOne Player Only." This is what you want.
The download takes a little time, so be sure to do this early so you won't miss
today's installment of ACT Radio.
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~6~
Living Graves
By George Bernard Shaw
We are the living graves of murdered beasts,
Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites.
We never pause to wonder at our feasts,
If animals, like men, can possibly have rights.
We pray on Sundays that we may have light,
To guide our footsteps on the path we tread.
We're sick of War, we do not want to fight--
The thought of it now fills our hearts with dread,
And yet - we gorge ourselves upon the dead.
Like carrion crows, we live and feed on meat,
Regardless of the suffering and pain
We cause by doing so, if thus we treat
Defenseless animals for sport or gain,
How can we hope in this world to attain
The PEACE we say we are so anxious for.
We pray for it, o'er hecatombs of slain,
To God, while outraging the moral law.
Thus cruelty begets its offspring - WAR.
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"Truth always rests with the minority, and
the minority is always stranger than the majority, because the minority is
generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a
majority is illusory, formed by the gangs who have no opinion -- and who,
therefore, in the next instant (when it is evident that the minority is the
stronger) assume its opinion... while Truth again reverts to a new
minority."
~ Kierkegaard
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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