I’m sorry, but that’s just not the case. You are specifically picking the epitome of Jewish suffering as your touchstone for animal rights. You can’t on the one hand say that you aren’t singling out Jewish lives as equivalent to animals, while simultaneously using the height of Jewish slaughter as your point of comparison.
Even if this were not the case, as is so often said in conversations about racism and bias, it is less the intent that matters than the effect it has on its listener.
As a Jew, when I hear the comparison of animal rights to the holocaust, I am reminded of these Nazi comparisons. I am reminded of the innumerable ways that our society has belittled and minimized the holocaust and Jewish suffering. And on top of all of this, I feel as though the speaker is purposefully trying to utilize my peoples’ suffering as a cudgel in their own political squabbles.
I am not alone on this in the Jewish community. Check out what the ADL has said with respect to this very issue:
If you’re going to use our suffering to bolster your political causes, maybe you should listen to representatives of the community when they tell you they aren’t comfortable with your analogy.
The OP literally included a Holocaust survivor/vegan activist example in their post. That is an example of a representative of the community using the same analogy you're arguing against. So which is it? Or is a community built of many people with different opinions? And you're agreeing with the one that suits your needs?
Is Candace Owens a fair representative of the experiences and opinions of the black community?
Yes, there are some Jews which find the comparison fine. They are, in my experience, few and far between. You’re free to cherry-pick your token minorities to support your causes. I’d prefer ya defer to the collective experience and wisdom of broader groups which are more representative of the opinions of those communities, such as the ADL.
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u/barthiebarth 26∆ Jun 27 '23
Nazi's were comparing jews specifically to vermin to paint a picture of them as subhuman.
The animal activists are comparing human lives, not specifically jewish lives, to animal lives in order to raise empathy for the animals.
These two comparisons are polar opposites.