Kindness - what it means to us

 

Although 'kindness' implies a natural affection and friendship, it actually means more than that. It also indicates kinship, underlining the notion that everything is related: people, animals and the environment. What happens to one group affects all the others. When we harm one of the components in speak!, we harm all. We can only do good for one if all are benefited by our deeds. We cannot speak out or act for one group unless we further the wellbeing of all aspects of speak!. In their original meanings, both kin and kindness connote the natural order. Our aim is to return to this order of compassion and fellow-feeling to make ours a better world for all.

 

A kind lifestyle

We believe that only by restoring the harmony between the three elements - people, environment and (non-human) animals - can people truly live a kind or cruelty-free lifestyle. To us this means, first and foremost, doing as little harm as possible. This entails breaking away from the customs of abuse and exploitation of other creatures that have been inculcated into us from infancy. We need to move away from the belief that the environment and the animals are ours to 'own' and 'use', and that some animals are to be loved and protected while others are abused.  In other words, we need to adopt the only lifestyle that benefits not only animals but also the environment and ourselves - a purely plant-based lifestyle.  See 'Veganism' on this site for more.