Disclaimer: this article may gross you out, especially if you’re reading it early in the morning while having breakfast.One time, I just woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. Soon enough my mind was wandering and thinking about random issues. Here is one of the whacky thoughts that occurred to me that night: imagine a woman early on in her pregnancy with a vague fetus in her belly not quite resembling a baby yet. Somehow someone for some reason manages to extract this fetus from the womb of the mother, fry it in butter until golden brown, and then eat it for breakfast.
“EEUW!! That is so disgusting” is probably what you’re thinking right now. “That is the weirdest sickest thought I have ever heard” could be another one. But actually it isn’t that weird or sick as most of us apply this concept every morning while preparing omelettes or sunny-side ups. The weird thing actually is the fact that many vegetarians don’t even mind consuming eggs. Hello, eggs don’t grow on trees! They are dead fetuses.
This might be the mummy-hormones turning me into a softy, but can we go back to basics for a minute and think about how we turned so unconsciously cruel. At what point did it become ok for us to grab other creatures, end their lives with a slit of a knife, and simply prey on them?
Of course, the idea of vegetarianism isn’t new at all, as a quick glance around will show. Many practicing Buddhists, for example, refrain from consuming any type of meat. Jesus is thought by many Christians to have been a vegetarian. In Islam it is quite permissible to opt for vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice.
As I mentioned in the title of this article, I haven’t come out of the closet as a vegetarian – yet. While it’s true that I haven’t had any meat or eggs in a while, and the idea of feasting on dead carcasses is troubling me more by the day, I still don’t want to rush into any kind of labels. I already carry more than enough.
Either way, the bottom line is in times of troubled politics in a place like the Middle East, this issue might not be making headlines. Still, it is a grave matter for everyone and it deserves to be given due consideration.
(Painting by Hristian Kunchev)