OPINION
8 Obiter Dicta
The Meat of the Discrimination Problem
The hidden discrimination against vegetarians, and why
it actually matters
dan adler › contributor
O
ne of the fundamental rights protected
by the Charter is the right to freedom of
conscience and religion. This right is so
important that the Charter also prohibits
discrimination on the basis of religion. And while
recent case law has held that these rights do not
extend to the more marginal or fringe religious sects
and cults, it is not clear that this should make any
moral difference.
In other words, if some group’s beliefs are not
constitutionally (or otherwise legally) protected,
does this give us moral license to dismiss, disregard,
and disrespect the genuinely held beliefs of another
group?
On reflection, I think the answer is clearly no.
Even though an individual is not part of an historically disadvantaged group, she may still be subjected
ê This cartoon tries to echo the point made in this
article. For ethical vegetarians/vegans, not eating
animal products is a moral choice, and not simply a
dietary preference. From their perspective, it is as
much a dietary preference as our society’s choice not
to eat human.
to wrongful discrimination on the basis of some
other affiliation or physical characteristic.
This is an obvious point – that South Park episode where Cartman undertakes to commit genocide on “gingers” is a case in point. Having red hair
and freckles may not entitle you to special legal
protection, but it is clearly wrong to be discriminated against on
the basis of these
physical features.
And unsurprisi n g l y,
most
people tend to
behave in a way
that acknowledges the wrongfulness of this kind of
discrimination.
Yet there is another form of wrongful discrimination that goes almost entirely unnoticed – not just
within Canadian society at large, but also within
these halls. There is a form of discrimination that
disadvantages a group of people on the basis of their
beliefs.
I am referring to the ethical vegetarians/vegans
– people who refrain from eating animal products because of their belief that doing so is morally
wrong.
You might think this belief is false, grounded on
a mistake, or just intuitively absurd. And maybe you
are right. But that is completely irrelevant. Because
you do not need to agree with another person’s
beliefs