Well, to be honest, I understand both sides. There are preachy, hateful, superstitious, uneducated, violence-advocating fanatical vegans. And that is not just a coincidence, there is actually a connection between their veganism and these attitudes. Veganism is not a philosophy, it is a practice. The practice of not using animal products, either in food regarding dietary veganism or in other products as well. No matter for what reasons!

Any attempt to sell the belief "Only good people are vegans" is doomed to backfire, because there are plenty of unbearable vegans out there. So if all vegans are supposed to be good, then these pricks are representatives of "vegan goodness". Way to go.

In my opinion, the very first thing one should do as a vegan in a discussion is to admit that these fanatics exist, and one should denounce them clearly! Preferrably with rational arguments. If one thinks in the categories "For Veganism" and "Against Veganism" in the first place, then one demands to be put in the same group as the lunatic fringe. The categories should be primarily "For Rationality" and "Against Rationality" in order to avoid that.

Unfortunately, the hunger for appreciation and power prevents the fraction of rational vegans to keep a distance from such people. For example, my local animal rights group gladly allies with female sexists and deluded esoterics, which debunks any claimed "ethical maturity" and "scientific enlightment" as obvious lies.

In my city, there are regularly people in the mall advertising various organizations, including environmental ones. I use to stop by and ask them questions like "Can you name me the three best arguments against your position and your reply?" or "If I go home and google, which scandals about your organization might I find?". These are questions that critical people would have asked themselves before standing up for an organization, so it should not be hard for them to answer. Yet it always catches them entirely off-guard. Because their opinion is not based on facts, but on faith.

Therefor, contrary to what the article states, Veganism is indeed practiced as a cult by many. And I am missing the counterbalance in form of a rational vegan organization. If such an organization exists, please tell me. But I would not bet my money on that. Even when it comes to criticism of religion, about 95% of the critics (entirely subjective estimate) are not scientifical thinkers, but apply the same fallacies merely the other way round or in other fields. Just ask self-proclaimed atheists about Agnosticism or Absolute Morality, and you will get illogical answers most of the time. And that is the very battlefield of Rationality! So how bad does it get when it comes to issues where solid epistemology is not even the main topic, but a prerequisite?

Nevertheless, it is a nicely written article with several good points. So thanks for sharing Also, I like the words "Vegangelical" and "Veganlogical"