At the level of community, veganism operates as a religion in almost every way except the dictionary definition. It fulfills many of religion’s most important functions in human life — it offers a culture, a community, an ideology, and a purpose. It gives us a hell to save souls from, and a gospel to preach.
MACKEN MURPHY: In a definitional sense, the generalized accusation (that veganism is a religion) is wrong — there is no reasonable definition of the word “religion” into which a vegan lifestyle can be gerrymandered… You do not need to believe in a higher power, let alone worship one, to be a vegan. In fact, you need not entertain any fantastical or superstitious ideas in order to follow a vegan lifestyle. You can simply believe that unnecessary suffering is bad — a truth derivable from any direct experience of agony…
religion /rɪˈlɪdʒ(ə)n/ The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
From that rather trivial belief, veganism unfolds almost as a tautology: Animals suffer horrendously due to the consumption of animal products, animal products are almost always unnecessary, and so the vast majority of animal product consumption causes unnecessary suffering — it is, therefore, bad. The premises of this line of argument are not even remotely controversial, and veganism logically follows. Throw in the humanitarian and environmental arguments for veganism, and the counterarguments (e.g., “bacon tastes nice,” “look at my canine teeth,” “plants have feelings too”) begin to look a little silly. You don’t have to believe in magic to believe needlessly torturing and slaughtering animals is wrong, you just need an ounce of empathy for your fellow creatures.
However, even if veganism is definably not a religion, even if its beliefs are firmly grounded in the material world, the vegan community still has a suite of features that are found elsewhere only in religious groups. Though in principle, veganism might appear analogous to other philosophies or political factions, in practice, it manifests itself in ways that only religions do.
veganism /ˈviːɡənɪzəm/ A way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.
Veganism is a practical philosophy — that is to say, it is a philosophy that can only be claimed if practiced. I can call myself a consequentialist, or a deontologist, or a virtue ethicist, without changing anything other than the sounds I make with my mouth when I want to share what branch of moral philosophy I fancy. But veganism isn’t about what comes out of your mouth; it’s about what goes into it. And — despite widespread confusion — it’s about more than just diet: It’s about the clothing you wear, the type of entertainment you consume, and the kinds of activities you partake in; it’s like keeping Kosher and following the mitzvot, wrapped into one. Thou shalt not needlessly harm animals.
Veganism, like religion, goes beyond practice and into the realm of identity. You don’t say, “I practice a vegan lifestyle,” you say, “I’m vegan” — the former would sound confusing for the same reason “I follow an Islamic lifestyle” would. Your veganism is a part of who you are, and, notably, it’s a part that you can change at any moment — you can’t choose your race, or your country of origin, or your sexual orientation, but you can choose your faith, and you can choose whether to be a vegan.
Veganism’s kinship with religion on a practical and personal level lays the foundation for the construction of analogous structures on a cultural level. At the level of community, veganism operates as a religion in almost every way except the dictionary definition…
Veganism doesn’t tell us soothing stories to help us cope with grief or our fear of death, and it doesn’t offer the comforts of an omnipotent supervisor. Quite the contrary, veganism forces us to confront death as it performs on its grandest and most nihilistic stage, dancing on the graves of some 3 billion animals every day. Nevertheless, veganism fulfills many of religion’s most important functions in human life — it offers a culture, a community, an ideology, and a purpose. It gives us a hell to save souls from, and a gospel to preach.
Vegans, atheists as we often are, tend to resent the comparison between us and the religious. It’s time we admit — and perhaps embrace — this analogy. Though veganism is not a religion, it has a religious nature: We are a diverse and accepting community, united under one identity through ideology, and we are hoping to bring everyone into our tribe. These are features, not flaws, of our movement.
Veganism is often conceived of as a step away from human nature, a betrayal of our identity as omnivores — but in an increasingly secular, individualistic world, it is also a step back towards our origins as idealistic apes, yearning to build community around belief. SOURCE…
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