‘Tis the Season….To Be Moderate?

Hey all you vegans! (Or vegetarians.) (Or people who just are trying to eat more healthfully and perhaps eat differently than those around you.)

I suspect that many of you are going to enjoy the next few weeks attending Christmas parties and events, where you will be in surrounded by your omnivorous fellows and where you may be confronted with potential awkward questions from well-meaning (you always have to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they’re well-intentioned) family and friends about your particular dietary choices.

You may here something like, “Moderation in all things,” or, “What’s a little treat or indulgence gonna hurt?” as a response to you choosing to not eat a certain food(s).

Personally, I don’t understand why it’s anyones business what I choose to eat or not eat, but alas, the fact remains, there will always be polite (or impolite) inquiries about vegetarian/veganism and it’s best to have a few tactful and kind responses up your sleeve so as not to start a debate or an argument, but rather address the issue at hand. Instead of responding with, “Hey, that large slab of roasted pig butt on your plate is making me queasy,” or, “Perhaps you could take your own advice and go easy on the cheesecake,” it’s helpful to remember that the reason why we get together during this season is to celebrate and show love and espouse a greater spirit of giving.

I received the following email from a blog reader, who happens to also be LDS (Mormon) and eats vegan, like me. I think she brings up some great points and I felt that posting this may prove helpful to some of you, especially if you happen to also be LDS.

She writes:

[Opinions are like noses. We all have them. Except for that lady that got attacked by the chimp. She was on Oprah recently.]

The phrase, “Moderation in all things,” is common extrapolation of
Aristotle’s Doctrine of the Mean (as presented in his Nicomachean Ethics).
His
ethic works around finding the mean, or middle ground, between excess
and
deficiency. An example of this would be his presentation of courage
being the
happy medium between the extreme of rash action and the deficiency
of cowardice,
in respect to a person’s possible action in the face of
danger.

It should be noted that Aristotle’s ethic is often misunderstood
by its
summary: moderation in all things. It is frequently reasoned by those
unfamiliar
with context that the common phrase means that a person should
approach all
things (whether healthy or unhealthy) with moderation;
therefore, reasoning that
a moderate amount of a bad thing can be indulged
is not uncommon to find. This
is an inaccurate representation of the
perspective summarized in the popular
phrase.

But what about
Scripture? Though there is no direct quotation matching the
proverb, Paul
does use a similar idea in his description of the successful
athlete: “And
everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all
things. Now they do
it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable
crown” (1
Corinthians 9:25).

While Paul could be making reference to an
Aristotalean sort of ethic of
moderation here, it is more likely that the
phrase translated here as “temperate
in all things” should be better
rendered as “wholly self-controlled” or
“entirely self-disciplined.” Several
alternative translations favour this
reading of the text. Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon notes that Paul is presenting the
figure of an athlete who trains
himself, taking charge of his body, abstaining
from “unwholesome foods,
wine, and sexual indulgence” that he might perform at
the peak of his
potential prowess. (http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/sayings.cfm)

Here are a few examples in my life where MODERATION doesn’t work, and hopefully I won’t be judged for it.

The following quotes pretty much sum it up for me and my beliefs.:

Some unstable people become cranks with reference to this law of health. It
should be understood that the Word of Wisdom is not the gospel, and the
gospel
is not the Word of Wisdom. As Paul said, “The kingdom of God is not
meat
and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
(Rom.
14:17.)

There is no prohibition in Section 89, for instance,
as to the eating of
white bread, using white flour, white sugar, cocoa,
chocolate, eggs, milk, meat,
or anything else, except items classified under
the headings, tea, coffee,
tobacco, and liquor. As a matter of fact those
who command that men should not
eat meat, are not ordained of God, such
counsel being listed by Paul as an
evidence of apostasy. God has created
“meats,” he says, “to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe
and know the truth.” (1 Tim. 4:3.)

If some particular food or drink
disagrees with an individual, then that
person should act accordingly
without reference to the prohibitions in this
particular law of health.
[Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd edition, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1966), 845–846]

AND, regarding the admonition in the Word of Wisdom to “eat meat sparingingly.”

[S]paringly. Again, sparing is a good word. It means “sparing Gods
creatures.” It is to be used with thanksgiving and not with gluttony, which is
one of the national weaknesses [Obesity plagues nearly one third of the U.S.
populace]. That’s gluttony, which is one of the seven deadly sins. You have a
right to meat, according to the 49th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. The
family who needs a deer to get through the winter have a right to that. The Lord
will not deny them, but He is also pleased with those who forbear. They can eat
meat only in times of starvation, winter, cold, famine. “Starve” means to die of
cold as well as of famine. And the Saints need meat to see them through the
winter and restore their fainting strength. Remember the miracle of the quails,
for example. Game only in times of famine and excess of hunger. But the supplies
are limited, and we cannot afford to hunt the year round, promiscuously. At the
first sight of buffalo in Iowa the plain was covered with buffalo as far as the
eye could see. Brigham Young called the brethren together and told them not to
shoot one unless they absolutely need it. And this turned out to be a great
blessing for them. Hugh Nibley

So, as long as we don’t command (take free agency away) anyone to abstain, we are okay. If we choose to eat meat, we are okay, and if we choose to “forbear” as he put it, (definition- abstain from), we are okay also. And if we only choose to eat it on holidays, and other special occasions, that is okay too.

Hopefully none of us will become “CRANKS” as Hugh Nibley put it, in any area of our lives….and if we are, then, that is our prerogative.

[Later this week, a few tips on how to deal with questions that inevitably arise at potlucks, parties, and other holiday gatherings.]