Lesson video

Hello there, my young theologians, philosophers, and social scientists.

My name is Ms. Marx.

I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

And today we're going to be really thinking about that idea of religion in more depth, and what might make something a religion or not, because we know that that is very hotly debated between different scholars and different approaches.

And we're going to do that today by applying it to the idea of veganism or ethical veganism, to be more precise.

So would we say that ethical veganism is a religion or not?

Is it a belief?

Is it a philosophy?

We're going to unpack that together today, and we're going to apply those dimensions from Ninian Smart as well.

When we're thinking about veganism, could it be seen as a religion?

So when you're ready, let's go.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to evaluate whether ethical veganism could qualify as a religion based on existing definitions and in comparison to the Jain faith.

Let's start with our key terms.

Ahimsa, without harm, the principle of being nonviolent.

Ethical veganism, choosing to live without exploiting animals in any way.

Jain, a Dharmic religious tradition with a high commitment to ahimsa.

Protected characteristic, nine characteristics protected by the Equality Act of 2010.

Our lesson today will have two sections, what is ethical veganism?

And is ethical veganism a religion?

So let's start with our first section, what is ethical veganism?

Aisha, Alex, Izzy, and Andeep are discussing the different diets that people might have.

Aisha says, "We don't eat pork in my family.

" And Izzy says, "I have a friend who doesn't eat meat with dairy together.

" Alex says, "I eat fish, but I don't eat meat and I love cheese and milk.

" And Andeep says, "I don't eat meat, but I do eat dairy.

" Do you know the name of some of these different diets, what they might be called?

Pause the video and talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

While we could say that Aisha's eating a halal diet, as an example, Izzy's friend might be an Orthodox Jew who's not eating meat and dairy together.

Alex, we could call a pescatarian because he does eat fish, and Andeep, we might call a vegetarian because he doesn't eat meat, but he does eat dairy.

So there are different terms that are used for different diets that are eaten, and some of them could be vegetarian, plant-based, pescatarian, ethical vegan, and omnivore.

Have you heard these terms before?

Where could you put them on a spectrum from least to most restrictive?

Where could someone eat like basically anything they wanted to, anything at all, and where might someone be choosing to eat less different foods that are perhaps eaten by others in the world?

Well, you might know that prefix omni from other terms within religious studies, like omnipotent and omnibenevolence, so we know that means all.

Well, let's imagine we've got a spectrum here from the least restrictive to the most restrictive, so the thing that people can eat as many things as they want, they've got no restrictions at all.

What would we put there?

And I think we'd put omnivore there because that means people can eat anything, and they're just eating anything at all that they want that other people might be eating.

Where would you put the others along that spectrum?

Pause the video and have a go, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

I think it would look something like this: omnivore, pescatarian, vegetarian, plant-based, ethical vegan.

I wonder if there's a difference between plant-based and ethical vegan that we could tease out here, why I might put ethical vegan even further down.

What could ethical vegan mean?

Do you know?

Pause the video and have a think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

So we could argue more than sort of plant-based where you're making an effort not to have any products from any animals, an ethical vegan might also want in every aspect of their life to not have any kind of harm being given to animals that's not completely necessary.

Ethical vegans will abstain from any product or lifestyle choice which harms a non-human animal, so they won't eat meat, they might not consume honey, dairy.

They might be against animal testing, they might not even wear leather.

All these are things that can harm non-human animals, so an ethical vegan is going to avoid doing all of these things.

Why might someone choose to be an ethical vegan though?

Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, one reason why someone might want to be an ethical vegan is because they don't want to cause suffering or harm to any other living being that can experience pain and suffering.

And Jeremy Bentham is a man who helped formulate an ethical theory which can help us think in this terms of not wanting to cause harm or suffering to other beings.

He developed utilitarianism.

It's an ethical theory for people to make moral decisions by aiming to cause the least pain to others.

Now, does that mean just humans?

Well, what he said is the question isn't can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer?

So this really inspired lots of people to think about it's not just other humans that we're caring about here, it's any being that has that capacity to suffer.

How could that relate to how we treat non-human animals?

Pause the video and have a think, you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

While there are lots of reasons why someone might become an ethical vegan, as Tim's gonna explain to us, he says, "The people who come to our vegan cafe come from all walks of life.

Many people are already vegan, some are vegan curious and enjoy trying plant-based foods.

There are so many different reasons why someone might become a vegan, including religion, not wanting to harm animals, wanting to lower the impact on the environment, and some for health reasons too.

" Tim's gonna explain to us why he's a vegan.

"I'm a vegan myself because I don't want to cause any suffering to another living being.

If it can feel and be aware of pain, I don't want to be the cause of that.

I was raised in a vegan household, but I always knew it was my choice that I could eat when I became an adult.

Now I enjoy working in the vegan cafe with my parents and helping others try it too.

" Is there anything similar to a religious upbringing within Tim's explanation here?

Pause the video and have a think.

You could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

I wonder if you think Tim being raised in a vegan household could be similar to a religious upbringing.

Tim is following the lifestyle and values of his parents' veganism.

Faye is another vegan, but she wasn't brought up in a vegan household and she explains why she decided to become a vegan.

She says, "I became a vegan at age 17 when I saw a documentary on TV about animal testing.

The way the animals suffered for such unnecessary reasons for humans made me so angry, I realized something had to change, and I made the decision not to harm any animal.

And I became so interested in animal welfare, I decided to study veterinary medicine at university, and now I work as a vet.

" So Faye's had this kind of life-changing moment when she saw that documentary, hasn't she?

Might other people have similar awakenings when they become vegan?

I wonder if you know anyone who's become a vegan, or what might cause someone to make that change to their diet?

Might they have similar awakenings like this?

Pause the video and have a think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, Faye also volunteers each month at a Try Vegan stall.

Here she is.

And she's explained to us why.

"I really enjoy volunteering with Try Vegan.

It's a great way to start conversations with people who are vegan curious.

Lots of people are more interested in having a plant-based diet, and at the stall, I can speak to them about why this can be a good idea, easier than they think it will be, and it tastes great.

" Why might Faye want to help other people become vegan?

Pause the video and have a think.

You could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Is there any way in what Faye is doing that you could link to some ideas we might find within religion?

We're going to come back to that later in the lesson.

Let's do a quick check before we move on.

Who said, "The question is not can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer?

" Joseph Fletcher, Thomas Aquinas, Jeremy Bentham, or John Stewart Mill?

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done, it was Jeremy Bentham.

In 2020, a court case in the UK gave ethical veganism a recognized status as a philosophical belief, and so it became a protected characteristic in the Equality Act as a belief.

So it became something that could be protected by law that someone could hold this belief, but not necessarily as a religion.

So here's ethical veganism within the religion or belief bracket.

These are all things that are protected under the Equality Act of 2010.

Through this ruling, it ensured that ethical vegans would be entitled to similar legal protections in British workplaces as those who hold religious beliefs.

So it's not seen as a religion, but it could protect people in the way that they could be protected for their religious beliefs.

So just like someone who may be Muslim might say that being forced to, you know, handle pork might go against their religious beliefs, an ethical vegan could say a similar thing, even though it's not from a religious view, but from their ethical vegan philosophy.

Well, this court case in 2020 was around the claim from Jordi Casamitjana that he had been treated unfairly at work because of his ethical veganism.

It was his case that led to ethical veganism being protected as a philosophical belief in UK law.

He argued he should be able to work in accordance with his values as an ethical vegan, and challenged some of the actions that his employer were doing, which kind of went against his ethical vegan views.

The judge tested ethical veganism, so because Jordi brought it to it, because Jordi brought it to the court and saying it was his belief that it should be a protected characteristic, the judge had to like test and see, is it really a belief or not?

And this was tested against something called the Granger Test and found that it passed.

And it's not the only thing that's gone through one of these tests.

There's been other particular beliefs, philosophical beliefs that have gone through this test and passed, and some that have gone through the test and not passed.

In order for something to be recognized as a philosophical belief, it needs to pass the Granger Test.

To pass the test, it must be, and this is the language from the UK law here.

Needs to be genuinely held, be a belief and not an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available; be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behavior; attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion, and importance; and be worthy of respect in a democratic society compatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.

So it's got to be something someone really holds as a belief.

It can't just be their view or their opinion.

Can't be something that's just gonna flit about and change.

You know, it's not just a trend that they're going along with.

It needs to have a substantial kind of importance and effect on their life.

It also needs to sort of make sense and be quite serious and cohesive.

It also needs to be worthy of respect in a democratic society.

It needs to be something that upholds human dignity and doesn't prevent the rights of others.

Is that something that ethical veganism could do?

Well, we know that it passed the test, don't we?

So we know that ethical veganism passed that test, but why?

Can you give any examples as to why it might have passed that test then?

Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's unpack it a bit more.

The Granger Test showed us that it was a belief that guided all aspects of life.

So an ethical vegan, it's not just what they're eating, but it's also what products they might buy in the shop.

It's what clothes they're wearing.

It's whether they put honey in their tea.

There's all these different aspects which are gonna guide, there's all these different aspects of life which are guided by this ethical veganism.

It was a moral belief system, not just a trend.

It's not just something that, like, was picked up because somebody saw it on social media and decided to do it.

But this is something that was a belief system that's been in place for thousands of years.

It's been there part of different religious traditions, but also we've had that teaching in utilitarianism about caring for those who suffer, that's been there as an established philosophical perspective.

So it's not just a kind of a trend or a fashion.

It's also to do with how humans ought to treat other sentient beings.

So it's guiding life in a kind of serious and cohesive way, thinking about how should we be treating others.

It promotes compassion and non-harm, so that was seen as a good thing for a democratic society and not infringing on the rights of others.

It's not about harming others.

And there's no coercion, so that idea of it being part of a democratic society, there's no forcing someone else to be vegan.

It's that personal choice about what that person is choosing to do for themselves.

So it was seen as fitting very well with the democratic society.

Let's do a quick check before we move on.

Which protected characteristic can ethical veganism now be protected under?

Was it age, disability, race, or religion or belief?

Pause the video and have a go, and see what you've got in a moment.

Well done.

It was religion or belief, and it came under the belief part, not religion.

Let's do a practice task before we move on.

Complete this table below with an explanation for how ethical veganism was found to fulfill each of the criteria of the Granger Test.

Remember, that was that test to see whether it could be protected under the protected characteristics and Equalities Act.

So the criteria for it to be a philosophical belief had to be genuinely held, not an opinion, a substantial aspect of human life, seriousness, cohesion and importance, worthy of respect in a democracy, and not conflict with the rights of others.

How does ethical veganism fulfill that?

Pause the video and have a go, and see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, you might have said it wasn't just a popular trend, but genuinely shapes a person's worldview.

It influenced many different aspects of life.

It was coherent and based on a principle of not harming animals.

Also, it promoted nonviolence towards other beings, and it wasn't forced on anyone.

It was a choice.

Well done.

So onto our second section then, is ethical veganism a religion?

Well, here's Tim at his vegan cafe that he runs with his parents, and each week at the cafe, Tim runs a discussion circle called Roots and Reason.

And this week, the group are discussing, is ethical veganism a religion?

So whilst veganism isn't seen as a religion in UK law, Tim thinks there are some aspects of veganism that are similar to religions.

What points do you think Tim could raise to support that?

Pause the video and have a think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's have a think about that together now.

Tim could use Ninian Smart's dimensions of religion to help with the Roots and Reason discussion circle.

The dimensions are ritual, doctrinal, mythical, ethical, social, experiential, and material.

So a religion, according to an Ninian Smart, or worldview would display some form of each of these aspects.

Might be to different extents to other religions or worldviews, but there'll be some aspect of these in it.

He says, "The seven dimensions don't only refer to religious worldviews, but can apply to secular ones too.

I don't think it's helpful to apply them only to worldviews with a belief in God.

We should focus on the experience of the person within that worldview to understand it.

" Do you think ethical veganism can display any of these dimensions?

Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's have a think about that now.

Here's some examples of how ethical veganism could display the dimensions: ritual, perhaps checking ethical consumption for each meal.

So there could be that ritual connecting them to their ethical veganism of making sure every meal or every restaurant, every time they eat, they are not consuming anything that is connected to animal suffering.

Ethical, very strong ethical dimension here of abstaining from animal products or anything that's going to harm animals.

Material, could there be really symbolic foods or utensils or areas of the kitchen that are very important and symbolic within ethical veganism?

Social, could there be shared meals or protests together about supporting ethical veganism?

Experiential, could there be that there's that awakening experience, like we had with Faye earlier when she watched that documentary and something changed, something clicked in her, and then she didn't want to eat meat after that and became an ethical vegan.

Mythological, could there be narratives about animal cruelty or about the way that animals have been treated in the past, which kind of informs someone's ethical veganism?

And doctrinal, could we say it's a doctrine and a belief that it is wrong to cause the suffering to a sentient being, so not just humans, but also animals?

But remember, Ninian Smart wasn't saying that this would define something as a religion or not, but just that religions and worldviews would display these different things.

And I wonder if that could help Tim in speaking about why ethical veganism could be seen as a religion.

So we've seen ethical veganism can display some of the Smart's dimensions of religion.

Let's together give one way that ethical veganism could displace Smart's dimensions.

Hmm, I think having that ethical code about not harming animal life.

So over to you.

Give another way that ethical veganism could display Smart's dimensions.

Pause the video and have a go.

We'll see you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Could be having narratives about animal cruelty.

Now, Faye also goes to the Roots and Reason discussion group.

Whilst Faye's an ethical vegan, she doesn't think it's a religion.

What points do you think Faye could raise to support that view then?

Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, she says, "I just don't think it's like a religion.

There's nothing supernatural or unseen in veganism.

I'm an atheist and require proof to believe things, not faith.

" And I wonder if that's the point you would raise, that there's no kind of belief in something unseen or beyond this world within veganism.

So ethical veganism and the Jain faith.

If you remember in that 2020 court case, to pass the Granger Test, ethical veganism was seen as something that wasn't just like a fad or a trend or something that's just come along now, something that's rooted in systems that have been before.

And the judge actually noted that ahimsa is an ancient principle that has informed many practices and religions.

So it's informed different religions we have today and different practices, including yoga, the Hindu dharma and things like that.

So the judge actually noted that in the court case to say it showed that ethical veganism kind of was based on something that wasn't just gonna like flit about and go away.

The Jain faith is one such religion that's centered around not harming any living thing, and here we've got the symbol of the Ahimsa Hand and it says ahimsa in the middle of it, and that's a really important symbol within the Jain faith.

And the 2021 census of England and Wales showed us there's 24,991 Jains in those two countries of England and Wales.

So it is a religious minority within England and Wales.

In this census, the Jain faith was recognized as a religion, whereas ethical veganism as a belief was not.

And there was actually a campaign that somebody put out, a petition that was out to have ethical veganism as an option in the census, but it didn't get put in.

So the Jain faith was, however, so maybe by comparing the two, we can think about whether ethical veganism is a religion or not, or why the Jain faith might be seen as it.

Some people campaign for ethical veganism to be an option in the 2021 census, but it was not.

What could you predict then about the Jain faith that would make it different enough to ethical veganism to be recorded in this way?

Why is it that it was an option as a religion in the census, whereas ethical veganism was not?

Pause the video and have a think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's unpack the word ahimsa a little bit more together.

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word and the principle is influential in the Indic or Dharma traditions, as well as on practices such as yoga.

Ahimsa.

So a is a negative sort of prefix, meaning not or without.

And hims means to strike, injure, or kill.

So ahimsa literally means to not harm or to not injure.

And in the Jain faith, going against this and causing harm to other living beings will cause you to have more karma attached to you and prevent your liberation from the cycle of life.

So let's think about how the Jain faith could display the different dimensions then.

With rituals, there's samayik, which is peaceful renunciation of the world.

So sometimes it's described as meditation, but it sort of goes beyond that with slightly different to that, and it's a period of time where you are peacefully, non-violently, non-aggressively renunciating the world.

Ethical, very strong teachings within the Jain faith to abstain from harming life.

Material, we have the sathiyo, which is a four-sided symbol, as one example.

We have the Jain hand, you know, the ahimsa hand earlier as well.

Social, so meeting at the derasar, which is the temple for worship, are different activities that can happen together.

Doctrinal, so a key belief is that there is karma, and if people cause harm to living things, then karma will sort of attach to them and then prevent them from being liberated in the cycle of life.

Mythological, there are stories of those who've conquered that cycle in the past, conquered samsara in the past, and been able to be liberated, and those stories can inform the Jain faith today.

And experiential, there may be a sense of inner calm achieved during samayik, which as I said, it's a bit like a form of meditation or it's not exactly the same as meditation.

So Saiyam is going to explain how ahimsa relates to his life as a Jain to help us understand it a little bit more.

He says, "I try not to harm any living thing and so I have a vegan diet and I don't eat root vegetables like potatoes, as my faith teaches me they also contain life.

Some Jains will take great efforts to avoid harming ants and flies too.

This is someone not causing harm or violence to any living thing.

It also means I value living harmoniously with others in my country.

" So that sense of harmony and not harming anything is very important to Saiyam within his Jain faith.

Does ahimsa only apply to animals though for Saiyam?

What did he say?

Pause the video and see if you can see what he said, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well done.

He's talked about not eating root vegetables as well, hasn't he?

So it's not just to do with animals, and also to do with people, so living harmoniously with others in his community.

So ahimsa for him is more than just that kind of not harming animal life.

So Sam and Jacob now are discussing why might the Jain faith be seen as a religion, whereas ethical veganism may not be.

And Sam says, "I think the key difference is that in the Jain faith, people are aiming for a liberation in the afterlife.

You just don't have that as a key belief in ethical veganism.

" So here, maybe that's what makes it religious.

There's kind of ideas about the afterlife, something beyond this universe that we can see here now, something spiritual or a different realm that you don't really have in discussions around ethical veganism.

Jacob says, "Also, I think it's a religion because of the beliefs and the things that are unseen, like karma and the idea of samsara and the cycle of rebirths.

To be an ethical vegan, you don't need this.

" So you may be an ethical vegan who believes in those things, but you don't need to, to be an ethical vegan, in the same sense you might to be able to say that you are Jain.

Can you think of any other reasons why?

Is there anything else we've just learned about the Jain faith that could make you think that it's a religion more than ethical veganism is?

Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Let's do a quick check before we move on.

What term, meaning nonviolence, is of central importance in the Jain faith, agape, agnostic, ahimsa, or anatta?

Pause the video and have a go.

We'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It's ahimsa.

So now let's do another practice task and see what we've learned.

Faye and Tim are discussing if they think ethical veganism should be classed as a religion or not.

For each point they give, give an explanation and then decide who has the stronger argument and say why.

So we really are going to decide now, do we think ethical veganism should be classed as a religion or not?

You might like to have this debate as a class with the person next to you, so it could be spoken or you could write it down.

Here's the point that each of them are given.

Faye says, "There's no central leader for ethical veganism.

You can still be in a religion and an ethical vegan, and there's no central text or myth about the world.

" So here she's given points as to why ethical veganism may not be seen as a religion.

And Tim says, "There is a core central belief in ethical veganism.

You can have intense feelings of awakening, and some vegans hope to help others become vegan.

" Here's Tim giving his reasons why he thinks it could be seen as a religion.

So for each point, you're going to give an explanation and then decide which one you think is stronger or why.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Your response might look something like this.

Faye says, "There's no central leader for ethical veganism.

Most religions have a leader or someone to follow.

In veganism, people may be vegan for all sorts of different reasons.

You can still be in a religion and be an ethical vegan.

Someone doesn't have to swap religions when they become religion.

" You don't have to stop being a Christian or a Muslim when you become a vegan.

And there's no central text or myth about the world.

Vegans can believe different creation stories, for example, or none at all.

Tim says, "Yes, but there is a core central belief in ethical veganism, not harming animal life, which is similar to ahimsa in the Jain faith.

" And Tim says, "You could have intense feelings of awakening, you know, like you did Faye watching that documentary that someone could kind of convert to being vegan after eating meat for many years, for example.

And some vegans hope to help others become vegan by spreading the word and trying to encourage others, and I think this makes it more of a religion.

" And I wonder which one you think has the stronger points.

You might have said something like this: "I think Fay's argument that ethical veganism is not a religion is stronger because this is consistent with the UK law.

It's still protected as a belief, but it doesn't have all the right aspects of a religion to be considered one.

" Or you might have said, "I think Tim's argument that ethical veganism is a religion is stronger because there are many belief systems which are considered religions, which don't have the aspects of other religions, and ethical veganism shows many aspects of religion.

" And I wonder which one you've agreed with most there.

So let's summarize everything we've learnt today.

Veganism, could it be seen as a religion?

Ethical veganism is a philosophical belief protected by the Equality Act 2010.

It means that someone avoids harming any non-human animal and doesn't consume meat or products that come from or cause animal suffering.

Some people may argue that ethical veganism is a religion due to the strong ethical code and how this can guide people's lives.

Others may argue it's not a religion, but a philosophy and a lifestyle choice.

We can use Ninian Smart's dimensions to aid the discussion of ethical veganism being a religion.

We can use the example of the Jain religion to see what the line may be between a philosophical belief and a religion.

Well, well done for your hard work today and all your hard thinking, my philosophers, theologians and social scientists, and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye-bye.