Yes, and it is those who already know something is not vegan who I often see use the term "vegan police." This is why I used the BK VEGGIE as an example early on (and why I used butter just now). Up until few a months ago the BK VEGGIE was promoted by some animal advocates as vegan, even though it had butter in the bun. If the BK VEGGIE came up as a vegan option I'd let people know that it had butter, and this would spark one of two very strong reactions.mysh
Those who knew about the butter would react like Person A in the example I gave above by calling me the "vegan police" in a fit outrage. They would tell me how the BK VEGGIE is going to save billions of animals. And it didn't matter to them that Burger King said the product is not suitable for vegans or even vegetarians. These people were told by an authority that was vegan, so it didn't matter if it had butter in it, it was still vegan. (2+2=5)
Those who didn't know it had butter would also react with outraged, but for a different reason. They would be upset because they were told by someone else that it was vegan. They feel totally betrayed that a trusted activists or a large animal advocacy organization had misled them into supporting a non-vegan item. What they had been told by an authority just doesn't add up. (2+2=4)
I think it is worth letting people know that something is not vegan because there are people who want to know the truth. Telling someone something is made with animal products is not an attack. It is education to let people know if something has animal products in it. It is misinformation to tell people that something with animal products is vegan. Those who supported the BK VEGGIE gained nothing from lying to themselves, and in the end Burger King added eggs to the BK VEGGIE making it even more animal exploitive.
Yes, it is foolish to attack people who are trying. I don't understand why the people who are trying the hardest, avoiding as much animal exploitation as anyone can, should be attacked by calling them the "vegan police," "purist," "dogmatic," "holier-than-thou," etc. There are people who do more to avoid animal exploitation than me, but I don't think that should make them subject to ridicule. To me, the people who know how to avoid the most animal exploitation are inspirations.
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