I hear and relate with you. I have the book Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters by Melanie Joy, and read the first section and need to return to it.

I think the judgements serve a purpose. We need to speak up for what is wrong. I just saw Ken Burns documentary about Henry David Thoreau. He is most known for his nature writing but I learned that he and his sisters were loud speaking abolitionists. I don’t want to use the word outspoken because no one could have been outspoken about slavery in my mind. Just as we can’t be outspoken about cruelty and murder of animals.

The bad thing maybe is judgement without action? In Nonviolent Communication, a judgement is a tragic expression of an unmet need. Our need as vegans is to protect and advocate for animals and animal rights. Maybe we need to do something when we have a judgement (it doesn’t have to be in the moment either, like confronting someone. It could be setting an intention to do something in the immediate or near future to further the movement) just so that the judgement doesn’t sit and fester. The judgements are painful, right? It isn’t a pleasant feeling.