Benjamin Lay Vegan Gathering Point
Published in Cape Cod Quaker Gazette
– Lewis Randa
As Quakers, we are called to remove the occasion of war and cruelty; therefore, what we eat is part of that ministry. Each kinder choice we make for animals can become a small, living prayer for a more peaceful world – a profound way of holding all living creatures in the Light.
In the spirit of eighteenth-century Quaker Benjamin Lay, I offer this reflection. After fifty years as an engaged Quaker and over thirty as a vegan with my wife Meg, I’ve found it both possible and affirming to live without creating the occasion for exploitation and killing of animals for food or clothing. This practice has brought unexpected spiritual clarity and broadened my witness to nonviolence as a Friend.
My discharge from the military as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War taught me many things, not the least of which is that refusing to bear arms against fellow humans leads to an expanded conception of and commitment to peace. Without question, the same impulse toward violence that fuels armed conflict and war also manifests in the systemic cruelty we inflict on food production animals in the endless search for efficiency and profit. These two expressions of cruelty go hand in hand.
Recognizing this has strengthened my understanding of the Friends Peace Testimony. I believe that as Quakers we should not only refrain from the use of violence to settle disputes between humans, but should extend nonviolence to all creatures with whom we share the earth.
Our shared hospitality following Meeting for Worship offers a glimpse into how we view animals in relation to peacemaking. Foods that entail no animal exploitation, suffering, or death express our commitment to peaceful living. Those derived from animal exploitation, on the other hand, stand in stark opposition to our peace testimony.
Today, billions of animals suffer annually, unseen victims of industrial-level factory farms, a system that conditions us not to notice and, thus, not to care. I share this, not to blame or condemn, but to invite fellow Friends and others into a gentler, more inclusive way of peacemaking, one that refuses to look away from such violence and cruelty.
From this concern, a Spirit-led initiative has emerged to weave cruelty-free practices into our Quaker testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. This initiative honors that of God in every living being.
The Benjamin Lay Vegan Gathering Point will meet periodically throughout the year at The Peace Abbey Foundation in Plymouth, in person and via Zoom. This expanding circle of Friends and friends of Friends will gather informally to learn, share, grow, and explore how our daily food choices might more fully reflect Friends Peace Testimony. Our aim is not persuasion, but to encourage faithfulness to the Inward Light as we seek more peaceful, nonviolent ways of living.
Benjamin Lay understood that Friends Peace Testimony loses its moral force, agency, and authority when Quakers, through indifference, turn a blind eye toward defenseless creatures that are treated with a level of brutality that should shock the human conscience, but hasn’t. The same insight that made slavery unbearable to Benjamin Lay and early Friends should help us see that the suffering we cause animals is unbearable and repugnant today, and to respond with Quakerly resolve to practice nonviolence in our food choices and beyond.
For further reflection, I invite you to view the brief “Quaker Speak” video on Benjamin Lay and listen for how the Spirit may be guiding us today. May we, together, make Benjamin Lay an enduring part of who we are.
Invitation: Friends who feel a quiet stirring to explore this path are warmly invited to connect. Thank you for taking the time to read this reflection and to view the video Benjamin Lay: The Radical Abolitionist Who Challenged the World.