Vegetarianism as a sign of Piety?

[Maria]

Vegetarians are people who follow their own will, whether that be not eating meat because they "love" animals, or perhaps because it is part of some kind of new diet fad.

This simplistic stereotype surprises me. Most of your posts I always have thought intelligent and carefully thought-out. Neither I (a vegetarian) nor many other vegetarians fall under so silly a label.

Orthodox6

But is it?

I went to del Taco and ordered a Veggie Works -- well a vegetarian told me that it was false advertising because the Veggie Works has cheese and sour cream - products from animals.

So, is del Taco going to be sued by the Vegetarians -- they could. There are some militant vegetarians who are becoming quite vocal ... it's definitely a pride thing.

And they are "more holy" than the monks at Mt. Athos who will eat fish on holy days.

A lot of vegetarians are gnostics -- yes, they are alive and well. I've encountered a few gnostics and they told me that they hate Orthodox Christians. Not a very nice bunch. The group here in Los Angeles encourages their members to obtain black belts in Karate and Judo and to try to obtain that "chi" power. It's all about power not humility.

[joasia]

CHRIST IS RISEN!

The issue is not whether being pious makes us vegetarians or whether being vegatarian brings us to piety. The issue is rather whether our actions are done in the name of Christ. A person may follow the fasts, as ascribed by the church calendar, but does he think of Christ and do it for his faith? He may not. And then again, a vegetarian may be doing it for his own reasons, without the Orthodox understanding. In either case, Christ is not the point of reflection.

Anything done, that is good, and is not a consideration of Christ, is an empty action, because if Christ is not the reason for the action, then there is no spiritual benefit to gain: there are no treasures accumulated in heaven by our actions, if they are not in the consideration of Christ.

Everything we do has to be done in Christ's name. That is the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Because Christ is God, then anything done in His name is a means of building up the treasures in heaven.

We cannot gain salvation unless we believe in Jesus Christ. That is why all our actions are so important. He wants us to act according to His teachings and by doing so, we are accepting the Creator and all His teachings.

What I just wrote sounds very academic. What I mean to say is, that Christ is our Saviour. He is our hope,along with the Theotokos and all the martyrs and saints. But, He is our God. The true God. I cannot express how much I love Him. It is beyond words. And I love the Theotokos. I pray to her everyday. And even on the way to work and at work. I call to her. And I call to Christ, to hear me.

Fasting to me is not an attempt to prove that I am pious because I follow a fast...it is an action, in replacement of a hug and a kiss, to Christ. I can't hug Him and Kiss Him, in person, so I fast. It's a physical fast, but it's transformed to a spiritual expression from my heart. And it is done out of love. We all do things for the people we love, why not for Christ?

[George]

I have hardly touched meat in the last four or five years, and I have found this has helped to calm certain passions I struggled with greatly. Whether I am 'fasting' in an Orthodox manner I am not sure though, as I wonder if there isn't an element of pride in my not eating meat.

I have a question about meat though. I was reading in Eusebius a letter from an early martyr or a witness of martyrs (I can't remember) who mentions that they don't eat meat with blood in it, according to the apostolic tradition. Do we still follow this tradition - if we eat meat, should we only have 'kosher' meat, or did this rule change. If so, how and why?

[尼古拉前执事]

George, this means not eating strangled animals or roadkill as the blood has not been drained from them but rather has been absorbed into the muscle tissue. This was agreed upon at the Apostolic Council mentioned in Acts.

[George]

Oh, that kind of clears it up for me. It isn't a big issue for me as I don't really eat meat, but I still wonder, do modern methods of butchering drain the blood so that it doesn't get into the tissue? I know nothing about it, but I am pretty sure that (at least in NZ), the animals are electrocuted.