A means or an end

My son recently relayed a story to me about an experience he had while at college. He and some friends had gone out for dinner. One friend, a devout Muslim, had ordered and was in the middle of eating a turkey sandwich, when he realized it contained bacon. He immediately excused himself to the restroom and forced himself to vomit. Muslims by law cannot eat pork. This young man was being faithful to the tenants of his faith.

I had two thoughts that immediately followed this story. First, regardless of the details, its really sad we don't see more extreme devotion among Christian youth. In America, its much too easy to be a Christian. Second, we shouldn't overlook the massive difference between Islam and Christianity in this regard. For the Muslim, eating pork is a matter of law. Violating this rule results in divine displeasure, whereas in Christianity, eating meat during a fasting period results in nothing. 

The point of asceticism is self-control. We use it as a tool to teach ourselves self-control. In short, in Islam law is an end into itself. In Christianity, asceticism is a means for spiritual growth. It is a tool we can choose to use or not. The Church strongly encourages us to do so because it actually works for our sanctification. Why miss out on a great tool?