Monday, June 27, 2005
(8:41 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Vegetarianism: A Question of Religion?
In a comment thread below, I referred to vegetarianism as being "like a religion," in that people say "I can't eat that." Anthony felt that was unfair, and although he has not yet detailed why, I can imagine -- vegetarianism is an ethical or moral stance, arrived at through reasoning rather than through divine command. That is true. It is also true that there are people who are vegetarian because of their knowledge of the present regime of meat-production in the United States, rather than out of a principle that one must never eat meat (such as Anthony).It does seem to me that vegetarianism is a religious question. The matter of holy days and eating habits are the most essential material aspects of any religion, and also the last ones that one "loses" as one drifts away from active participation in that religion -- for instance, many lapsed Catholics continue to observe the prohibition of meat on Friday during Lent, many Jews' observance of their religion is basically limited to kosher, etc. Broadly speaking, my religion, Christianity, prides itself as being the one where you can eat any food. I think it's a good thing to be proud of.
I don't continue my Christian observance in the area of food simply out of inertia, however. In the comment thread in question, I mentioned the idea of table fellowship as being crucial to my observance of Christian food (non)regulations -- a flexible diet allows one to be flexible in receiving hospitality. Of course, the corollary, using Romans 14 as a guide, should be that those who are more "liberated" in this matter should accomodate those whose conscience will not allow them to eat particular things, either because of a reasoned moral stance or because of respect for ancestral tradition (which are not mutually exclusive). That corollary is seldom observed among Christians, particularly for vegetarians (even though the Bible specifically instructs Christians with flexible diets to be accomodating to vegetarians in the passage already mentioned).
Where am I going with this? I think it's important for people to eat together. I think that the position that Anthony takes on vegetarianism makes a lot of sense, and I have no interest in persuading him to abandon it. It's more important to be able to eat with him, and since I'm the one with the flexible diet, if I ever make dinner for him, it will be vegetarian-compatible. I will, however, continue to indulge my meat-eating habit in private meals. (So in my case, I adopt the Christian religion's position on food because I agree with the reasoning behind it.)
