What can a vegetarian do during the Feast of the Sacrifice?

Sunday, January 15, 2006

  Spending a portion of the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday in Adana gave me the opportunity to confirm two of my basic assumptions: The first is that Turkish people like to eat meat and the second is that it is I who am “abnormal” seeing as I don t eat meat. It s a very hard fact to explain. I often find myself confronted with the following exchange at the dinner table.

  “No thanks. I don t eat meat.”

  “That won t do. Why don t you eat meat?”

  This is the hardest question to answer. I need a good response to justify my stance. However, one can never find the justification for my decision not to eat meat suitable for convincing a nation that is so in love with meat. Eventually, I m forced to defend myself by saying, “There s no political, philosophical or ideological reason. One morning I woke up and decided I would never eat meat again. I ve been loyal to this promise ever since.”

  “Since when?”

  “For about 12 years.”

  “Don t worry. Take some meat and with one bite, you ll get used to it.”

  I never get angry with those who try to force kebabs down my throat, considering the fact that even my mother who was well aware of my aversion to meat since my childhood still believes I ll snap out of it if I just take a bite.

  Consequently, I, as a person who doesn t eat meat, become an objective bystander to the polemic that erupts every Feast of the Sacrifice holiday. Every year, the majority of people sacrifice animals as if it is a commandment, the media publishes its photos, the cultural elite becomes annoyed with it and the political elite, in order to placate both sides, promises to fix the way animals are sacrificed. Some things get fixed, but most remain the same. Later on, things are forgotten until the next feast.

  The issue is not the tradition of sacrificing animals, but the change in the way we see the sacrifice. We have become coarser, cheeky and have lost our decent qualities while trying to adapt to the capitalist world of consumption. Fuat Köprülü used to say how one would draw a circle around a tree and silently pray beneath it to get its blessing before cutting it down. This was done because they didn t see the tree as an object that could be utilized in any way they wanted, believing the tree and the human being came from the same source. What s changed since then is not our tradition of sacrificing animals, but our attitude towards the sacrifice. I take a look at the photographs taken around Turkey and the people around me. It s obvious that most people see themselves as being better than the animal they sacrifice. They think they re the master and the sacrificial animal is an unfortunate entity. “God sent them to us so that we can butcher them.” Some are so disrespectful towards the animal that they step on the cow s head, like a show of force.

  As a person who doesn t eat meat, I like the rituals of the Feast of the Sacrifice holiday, especially the practices of women that have been passed down from past generations and our nomad instincts that force us to have a barbecue when we find a small spot of grass. What I don t like is the increasing cheekiness that has occurs as we become more modern. The way we treat animals, believing we are the center of universe and the small masters of all life. Those who sacrifice animals should remember Neyzen Tevfik at every Feast of the Sacrifice holiday and wear labels that say “NOTHING” in public. Maybe then they will be more modest and remember how things used to be done. Maybe then they will not confuse worship with insult.