Sunday, November 18, 2007

why I can't eat meat

It may be relatively 'trendy' to be a vegetarian in some communities today (more so in some parts of the States... not Denmark), but I had a dream two nights ago that I think really gives you a glimpse of the extreme feelings I have about meat.

Warning: upon typing this dream out, I realize how grotesque it is.

The dream was pretty brief. I'm not even sure what the exact context was since it seems kind of random and far-fetched. Basically, the dream was this:
For some reason (I still don't know how or why), someone was forcing me to eat a burger. (as in it wasn't an option to not do it.) So I was eating this burger and sobbing at the same time because it was causing me serious grief. Then, finally, there is only one bite left. I hold it in my hand, contemplating what I am doing, and it just strikes me that I am eating flesh. As I go to take the last bite, I quickly realize as I start to chew, that inside that last, menacing bite of burger is a pocket of liquid blood, and I gag on it, blood seaping out of my lips and onto my hands.

...

I do not think I need to point out the potential (obvious) religious imagery and implications at play here in detail, but I will say that I think this highlites the fact that not eating meat for me is a strong conviction. It's not just some whim that I am trying out for kicks.

I used to think I could perhaps go back to eating meat--just white meat of course--but sometime in the last year or so, I have started to seriously doubt that this is even an option for me. It has ceased being meat and is now flesh... and living flesh at that.

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