(RNS) — When Ami Doshi was invited as a new migrant from India to friends’ Thanksgiving Day festivities, it shocked the then-middle schooler to hear the meat of a rare, elaborately feathered bird would be on the menu.
“I actually had no idea what a turkey was,” said Doshi, now in her early 40s. But her bigger question was a moral one. “When you kill a bird, they can feel it, they can see it, you know, with all of the five senses, they can experience it,” she said. “Why is a pet’s life more important than a bird’s life?”
Doshi, who was raised in the Jain faith, has been a vegetarian her whole life. Committing to their fundamental tenet of ahimsa, or nonviolence, Jains avoid causing harm to all living beings, whether in thought, word or action. Many avoid eating root vegetables, like onion and garlic, out of reverence for every form of life, including the insects uprooted when the plants are harvested.
It seemed odd to Doshi, she said, that the centerpiece of a holiday dedicated to gratitude would be a roasted and stuffed creature.
For Jain Americans who want to participate in this most American of holidays, an alternative was needed. Jains in the U.S., who number about 200,000, have made the day their o …