Home / Political objections / Pacifism and nonviolence
"Nonviolence is a commitment between people, not to animals."
Pacifism and nonviolence: the principle
Refuse violence as a means of resolving conflicts and reaching goals.
Why excluding animals contradicts the principle
- Breeding and slaughter are organized physical violence against beings who feel, not accidents.
- Traditions of nonviolence, such as ahimsa in Jainism and Hinduism, have always included animals.
- A refusal of violence that makes an exception for the most routine and widespread violence there is has no foundation.
The strongest counter-reply
The most serious version says pacifism deals with conflicts between agents, and that killing animals for food is not a conflict.
The answer
It is even worse: there is no conflict at all, and the violence is done only to obtain a product that has alternatives. If violence is refused even in conflicts, it should be refused where there is no conflict.