Jackie is a former dairy & beef farmer turned full-time animal rights advocate. She is head of communications and a founding board member for the global non-profit, Vegan FTA (For The Animals). She also co-hosts their podcast and live shows. Jackie is also an author and public speaker.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
- Jordi Casamitjana (https://youtu.be/vtCwoq1XnUg) as a "vegan godfather" :)
02:28 Jackie's Intro
- From beef & dairy farming to animal advocacy & veganism
- Erin Wing (https://youtu.be/NAh1kLrp99Y)
04:20 What's Real?
- Growing up in a UK village in the 1970's
- Naturalist Gilbert White "England's first ecologist?" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_White
- Christian community & school "If you're good to go to heaven & if you're bad Satan's going to get you"... "Nobody ever questioned it"
- Fitting in & FOMO "everybody went to church on Sunday"
- Joining the church choir, but not being religious
- Losing son Luke at 2 days old
- "If god loves us all... how come there are all these bad things happening?"
- "Any shred of belief I ever had... just went straight out the window"
- Spirituality? Unexplained things... a clock starting without batteries... "things happening for a reason?"
- "Maybe there's something greater out there... not god"
- Exploring Buddhism after going vegan "All you have to do is just be kind"
- Meditation & Yoga
- "There is such synergy between veganism & Buddhism"
30:38 What Matters?
- Good: "Not being mean... not killing" vs. god compliance
- "I don't think there is a hell..." except for what we do to non-human animals
- Sons coming home from Xtian school saying "god's going to strike me down!"
- Being most authentic & open at times when "I had nothing"
- Buddhism "has taught me not to judge other people... I get a lot of peace from it... being kind."
- "Being compassionate towards yourself is the hardest thing to do"
- Dairy farming: "What they are doing is evil... but you can't write them off as being inherently evil"
- "Everyone's got a reason for being the way that they are"
41:50 Who Matters?
- Killing a spider, terrified, at 8 yrs old, then feeling "mortified that I had ended that life... that's never left me"
- Husband Gareth carries a card to rescue bees with
- Reading an IWAF leaflet about seal culling
- Going vegetarian in 1987 after a Viva campaign on factory farming
- "I couldn't believe that humans could be so cruel"
- Father going shooting, being attacked by animal activists
...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!
Thanks Graham.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sentientism/messageCheese Challenge & Pescetarian Paradox - Maja Cullen, Devon Docherty, Carol Jasper - Sentientism 200
"Reductionism is well-named. It reduces what you can do." - Michael Levin - Sentientism 199
"We need to imagine a different world" - Emilia Leese - author and host of Think Like a Vegan - Sentientism 198
Hip Hop is Going Green - Keith Tucker of Hip Hop is Green - Sentientism 197
Nigerian Food Revolution - Hakeem Jimo of Veggie Victory and ProVeg Nigeria - Sentientism 196
Consciousness Live! - with skateboarding philosopher Richard Brown - Sentientism 195
A Truly Humane Education - Laura Chepner - The Vegan Society's Education Officer - Sentientism 194
Imagining Ethical Schools - Sentientism 193
Is Veganic the Future of Farming? "We grow plants using plants" - Jimmy Videle - Sentientism 192
Half-Earth Socialism - Troy Vettese - Sentientism 191
"Your Neighbour Kills Puppies" - Tom Harris - Activist, Artist & Author - Sentientism 190
"A new world of animal justice" - Sabine Brels of World Animal Justice - Sentientism 189
Talking to Humanists about Sentientism - Cross-post bonus from Podcast for Inquiry - Sentientism 188
"What if we saw ourselves as species diplomats?" - David Peña-Guzmán of Overthink and SFSU - Sentientism 187
Could animal farming be good for the animals? The Logic of the Larder - with Nick Pendergrast - Cross-post bonus episode from 3CR's Freedom of Species radio show and podcast - Sentientism 186
"If you combine rationality and compassion you have the essence" - Jonathan Leighton of OPIS - Sentientism 185
Is veganism a moral obligation? Ghostless Machine cross-post bonus - Sentientism 184
Don't underestimate your influence! - Chris Bryant of Bryant Research - Sentientism 183
160: "Mother Cow, Mother India" - Yamini Narayanan - International Development A/Prof - Sentientism
Waking Cosmos - a cross-post bonus episode - Sentientism 182
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