Interview 1: Elli

My first interview was with a friend of mine named Elli. I chose her because I know that she has thought a lot about why she is a vegetarian, and has some unique views about vegetarianism, among other things. She became a vegetarian her first semester at Belmont as part of a bet she made with a friend: if he quit smoking, she would quit eating meat. From this humble beginning her experience with vegetarianism grew. She joined the Service house at Belmont and met a few new friends who identified themselves as Christian Anarchists. Many of these people were vegan, and as she met more people who questioned her about her vegetarianism, she began to think more deeply about it. She realized that vegetarianism was an expression of compassion, one of the supreme Christian virtues in her opinion. By being a vegetarian, she was showing compassion not only to animals, but also all the people that are negatively affected by the mass-production of meat. As she put it, "I don't think there's such a thing as overly caring about a living creature... I don't think you can have too much compassion for anything."

This interview was extremely helpful because Elli was the perfect example of someone who is a vegetarian for religious reasons. Even though the initial cause for her vegetarianism was something as playful as a bet, her ultimate justification for it that she has grown into is rooted deeply in her Christian faith.