Andrei Pleșu: To be or not to be a vegetarian

After the wonderful (quasi-fatal...) meals during the holiday season, I remembered older experiences of all kinds, recorded in an article from Dilema (published about nine years ago). This is not about the current deviations of vegetarians (among whom I counted myself for many years), but about the vegetarian "code," which has often amused me to the point of anger... Here it is:

Let it be clear from the very beginning: it is a grossness to ridicule opinions and habits different from your own (obviously, when it does not concern antisocial, self-destructive, extremist, or criminal opinions and habits). Everyone has the right to freely cultivate their inclinations, affinities, and beliefs. Therefore, I find no reason to despise or condemn (ideologically, medically, or sagely) my fellow beings who, for one reason or another, have decided to become vegetarians. However, the issue deserves to be calmly debated and, if possible, with friendly humor. Especially when the camp of those who consider that eating ethically and biologically "correct" comes with arguments that can incriminate you. In such cases, their "opinion" feeds not so much on the rigor of a private decision, not so much on the specificity of their physiological makeup, from conviction and self-discipline, but rather from the pride of being "on the right path," unlike all the other mortals, still uneducated, primitive, lacking a healthy eco-planetary conscience.

The monk who has given up meat knows what he is doing. He knows that the spiritual "technique" from which he has made a vocation works better without a protein intake to enhance the physical, to stimulate a centrifugal, deviant vitality. On the other hand, he knows just as well that it is not at all sufficient to eat only vegetables and fruits to find God... Asceticism is imperatively necessary, but it needs an inner dynamism, a motivation, and a focus that go beyond the strict requirements of the diet. In any case, practicing vegetarianism with arrogance, with the lack of humility of the "initiated," looking down on the carnivorous majority, is, spiritually speaking, "empty glory," a sin of pride, egolatry. Not to mention that the ascetic effort lacking grace, built through a stubborn, vaguely masochistic abstinence, is pure heresy. To a gluttonous ascetic trying to "achieve" spiritual heights, Father Ilie Cleopa did not hesitate to say, with characteristic humor: "Wait, man, don’t rush to heaven so quickly! Stay a little with us, the needy, here on earth!" A "specialist" in the matter also left behind, for followers, a memorable saying: "Better to eat meat than to dream of it!"

I like vegetarians when they practice their choice naturally, without too much doctrine and without exclusivist zeal. When they become militants, competent, "scientific" or "mystical," they amuse me and, in the end, irritate me. I also become, in my turn, "combative," in a way that is probably too mundane. I hastily spout the current apologetic "platitudes": man is, by definition, omnivorous, that is, structurally adapted to a mixed diet. He is neither a bloody scavenger nor a placid herbivore, from the virginal category of sheep. Yes, it is cruel to kill to feed oneself. But that is how our prehistoric ancestor launched onto the stage of life: he could not become a metaphysician before practicing hunting. But what about animals? With what fury and pleasure do they taste each other’s species, if not even the ravenous or nervous representatives of the same species. And what can we say about carnivorous plants?! "Well, but we are humans!" – sounds the naive objection of professional vegans. Yes, but we were not born from pansies and did not evolve based on fasting. We are complicated enough to celebrate, for example, Holy Easter by eating roasted lamb with green salad. Attention! It is not mandatory to impose on everyone the dietary behavior of bloodthirsty tigers. But neither the diaphanous digestion of our ruminant sisters. Let’s do what we believe suits us. And always in moderation! Otherwise, theorizing every morsel, we will end up with indigestion of ideas...

As an anecdote, I will mention a youthful experience, in the company of a radical intellectual, converted to vegetarianism. He invited me to dinner and treated me only to "pure" plant delicacies. However, the "packaging" was spectacular. The dishes were, undeniably, "anti-meat," but on the plate, they signaled a solid "traditional" memory: carrot sticks with celery, beetroot patties with rice and peas, chard steak, etc. In short: one thing was in the host's mind and another in her soul. That said, I ask vegetarians to enjoy their food honestly and, if possible, not to sulk melodramatically in front of my little Neanderthal deviations. Ultimately, there are still many things that could connect us. Thank God, the borscht, vodka, and wine are all made from plants! Cheers!

https://www.dilema.ro/situatiunea/a-fi-sau-a-nu-fi-vegetarian