Citizen Columns
Question
Do you think it is morally superior to be strictly vegan?
Answer
I admit I am not vegan, or even vegetarian, but this question did cause me to think. Here’s my reply.
“Strictly vegan” is based on an animal rights philosophy I can’t accept. It admits no distinction between human beings and animals and condemns any preference given to human beings as specie-ism, the moral equivalent of being a racist. Moderate vegans draw the line at insects—and thus allow use of honey, beeswax, silk—but for true believers even this is theft and exploitation. In the Christian worldview, human beings are the crown of God’s creation, they name the animals and have the care and protection of the earth as their vocation.
That said, I do accept much of the vegan way of life as a worthy goal, especially given the horrors of factory farming. The Orthodox Church has long periods of fasting throughout the year that are essentially vegan. No eating of meat, fish, eggs, dairy products (but also no wine and olive oil). This helps restore some sense of the communion between human beings and animals that existed at the dawn of creation, when God gave all creatures a common vegan diet: “I have given every green plant for food” (Genesis 1:30). “Surely,” said St John Chrysostom (347-407), “we ought to show animals great kindness and gentleness for many reasons, but, above all, because they are of the same origin as ourselves.” And St Basil the Great (330-379) says, “If one lives soberly, “The animals will be secure; they will never pour forth their blood; men will never cause beasts to die; the knives of cooks will be useless; and the table will be loaded with the fruits given us by nature, and we will be content.” Although Jesus himself was not a vegan, he also said that his followers would exceed even what he was able to do. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do…” (John 14:12). Perhaps becoming vegan, as a sign of restoring the divine order of creation, is one of these “greater works.”
With love in Christ,
Fr John
|
