And The Cherry On Top...

Through my online journey I have learnt that food can take many important roles in any religion. Initially when I started this blog I was hoping to see how the famous saying of 'You are what you eat' fits in with food and religion and whether food can take on the role of religion. What I learnt is when it comes to religion it is not 'You are what you eat', rather 'You eat what you believe is right' is more fitting. So far, what I discovered is that for most people food is what we consume to keep us alive. However for some, food can take a much more deeper role, it can; 

• become religion
• be used as means to get closer to deities 
• be used to lift our spirit 
• become an obsession or personal choice rather than religious requirement 

But most importantly the dietary requirements can become an identity of a religion, i.e. Halal and Kosher. On the flip side these identities have been the subject of political campaigns and public concerns. It makes you wonder what kind of world we are living in where food has taken over!

For those who followed my blog I hope it gave a useful insight in the world of food and religion. This blog was not intended to offend rather it was meant to be informative and enjoyable. Finally I would like to show my sincere gratitude to everyone who read and followed my blog, especially those who took their valuable time to leave a comment. THANK YOU!

Lord's Command or Personal Choice?

Having looked at the similarities and differences of the dietary requirements of the two monotheistic religions (Islam and Judaism), I wonder if similar rules apply to the third monotheistic religion (Christianity). I remember coming across one saying, that if a Muslim were to eat from a Christian or Jew, then he/she could trust a Jewish meal. In the back of my mind I used to ponder on the meaning of this saying but never fully grasped the logic behind it. By looking at Halal and Kosher, it became clear what it meant, i.e. both diets follow similar rituals for animal slaughter and pork is strictly forbidden in both religions. But is it the same in Christianity? Some of my Christian friends and neighbours do eat pork, but some don't. Upon asking, the answer I get is 'pork is forbidden in Christianity but it comes down to personal choice'. For me this doesn't make sense, if something is forbidden in a religion then where does this 'personal choice' fit in. As much as I longed for clarity, I never had a clear answer, so I decided to dedicate this post to find out whether ‘Pork in Christianity’ is forbidden or not. By typing 'Pork in Christianity' in Google, I found an endless list of articles, forums and blogs on the topic discussing whether it is allowed or forbidden, and most importantly why Christians eat it. Some of the online sites I consulted were;

• http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_Christians_eat_pork_while_in_the_Bible_it_is_forbidden

• http://www.quora.com/Why-can-Christians-eat-pork-shellfish-Muslims-eat-shellfish-but-Jews-cannot

• http://hudabaharoon-christianity.blogspot.co.uk/2004/03/bible-says-do-not-eat-pork.html

• http://www.versebyverseministry.org/resource_library/questions_and_answers/can_christians_eat_pork/

• http://easywaytoheaven.co.uk/I_articles/Are%20the%20Christians%20allow%20to%20eat%20pork.htm 

From these articles and forums I did not find a clear cut answer. What I wanted to know was whether eating pork is strictly forbidden or not in Christianity. I discovered that it was forbidden in the Old Testament but in the New Testament there is leniency towards personal choice. For someone who seeks a definite answer leniency doesn't seem adequate. Still confused, I searched video clips to shed light on the topic. I found many video clips discussing this topic from different perspectives. I was intrigued by the following videos;

and

The following videos highlight why consuming pork is forbidden in religions as well as how it is harmful for human health. Very interesting facts! Indeed everything has a valid reason in God's Law. 

and

After watching these videos, it is clear that originally pork was forbidden in Christianity, but it is not conveyed as a religious requirement across some Christian sects as shown in this table; 
 

Type of religion	Practice or restriction	Rationale
Eastern Orthodox Christianity	• Restrictions on Meat and Fish • Fasting Selectively	• Observance of Holy Days includes fasting and restrictions to increase spiritual progress
Mormonism	• Alcohol and beverages containing caffeine prohibited • Moderation in all foods • Fasting practiced	• Caffeine is addictive and leads to poor physical and emotional health • Fasting is the discipline of self-control and honoring to God
Protestants	• Few restrictions of food or fasting observations • Moderation in eating, drinking, and exercise is promoted	• God made all animal and natural products for humans' enjoyment • Gluttony and drunkenness are sins to be controlled
Rastafarianism	• Meat and fish restricted • Vegetarian diets only, with salts, preservatives, and condiments prohibited • Herbal drinks permitted; alcohol, coffee, and soft drinks prohibited • Marijuana used extensively for religious and medicinal purposes	• Pigs and shellfish are scavengers and are unclean • Foods grown with chemicals are unnatural and prohibited • Biblical texts support use of herbs (marijuana and other herbs)
Roman Catholicism	• Meat restricted on certain days • Fasting practiced	• Restrictions are consistent with specified days of the church year
Seventh-day Adventist	• Pork prohibited and meat and fish avoided • Vegetarian diet is encouraged • Alcohol, coffee, and tea prohibited	• Diet satisfies practice to "honor and glorify God"

When it comes to eating, some Christians follow their own personal choice. Can personal choice take over the requirements of religion?

How Far Would You Go?

After discovering how food can become a religion in my previous post, I was curious to find out what different people say about the role of food in religion. During my online search I found a 
rather interesting YouTube video by Susan Marque. 

In this video she explains different religion’s view point on the role of food. What is so interesting is the fact that in many religions, food is a vital component and was used over the centuries not only to keep one 
alive but to have a deeper connection with spirituality. It is this deeper connection that helps 
one to concentrate on his/her belief no matter what religion they follow. This is the 
point which I think helps us to reflect that food is not just something to fill 
our stomach but means to lift our spirit. 

But if food is a mean to lift out spirit, then the question is; how far are we prepared to go? Are we satisfied with this deeper connection, or are we prepared to go to extreme measures? The following video 

reveals some people killing and eating bats to satisfy their spiritual needs. Horrifying for 

some but not for these villages. Landing bats on a dinner plate to keep 

misfortune away is considered a religious ritual by these villages! 

If this is not horrifying enough, watch this next video. This video shows how some people can go as far 

as eating human flesh and drinking from a human skull, to satisfy their religious belief and to gain 

spiritual power. Unbelievable! But it is happening!!!  A warning before you decide to watch, 

it is quite disturbing and shocking, you could lose your appetite for a long time (I did)!

Disgusting! Would anyone even consider eating to such an extent, especially in the name of religion? I certainly believe this is pushing the boundaries of religion too far. What do you think?

Raw Food Religion

People have different perceptions on food and religion. But calling food 'religion' is something that draws immediate attention and we end up asking ourselves how the food that we eat can be a religion. It might be something new for some (like me) but for others it might not be a foreign belief.  While searching online on this topic, my attention was drawn to a particular YouTube video clip under the heading, ‘Danger!! Raw Food Religion And Fanaticism !!’. In this video a raw food (only vegetables) activist talks about how food can become a religion. He also compares the raw food movement as a connection between religious fanaticism and health fanaticism and points out that it is similar to a war. 

I found this extremely intriguing and the first question that came to my mind was, ‘can food take the role of religion’, or could it be a fantasy. Certainly, the raw food activist saw it as a religion. In which the war is fought within oneself rather than with others by keeping to the restrictions of the diet. He claims that he and his family has been eating raw food for over 8 years. Another video reveals a 78 years man on a raw food diet for 50 years. 

Can you imagine eating uncooked 

food even in winter, would you not 
long for a steaming hot dinner on a 
cold winter night. I am sure I wouldn't 
last long without cooked meal.

I admit food plays an important role in keeping us alive, but surely to consider food in the same light as a deity is pushing the boundaries of  belief, is it not?

How Halal Is My Chicken?

In one of my previous posts I looked at the issue surrounding the controversy about halal meat in France. I got the urge to further search for such an issue at home. I typed ‘religion and food issues in the UK’ into a search engine and was surprised to see many online articles and YouTube video clips on the topic. What caught my eye was the title ‘Britain Goes Halal (…but nobody tells public)’.

The issues at home are slightly different than across the channel. Here the public is consuming halal meat without knowledge of it being so. The criticism at hand was not so much of the meat being halal, but it was directed at various supermarkets who sold meat without labelling it halal. What difference does it make? For Muslims it has to be prepared according to Islamic religious rituals. For others, it was more to do with whether the animal was stunned or non-stunned prior to killing, as discovered in this video.

According to this video, there is not much of a difference between halal or non-halal meat, as animals are stunned prior to killing, only 10-12% of the halal meat in the UK is non-Stunned. Having discovered that, we end with the question of whether stunning the animal prior to killing renders it lawful or not in Islam.

 

If I remember it correctly, some years ago there was a similar issue about stunned and non-stunned animals prior to slaughter. This problem caused many individuals to give up eating meat especially poultry. My own father never consumed poultry after this issue. Being a fan of fried chicken I didn't want to give up, but the question for me was ‘How Halal was my Chicken’? Having watched the above video I found myself asking the same question again. Here on one hand we have the issue of Britain going Halal but on the other hand we have some Muslims (like me) still struggling to find Halal poultry or Halal reliable takeaways. I mean when going to places, I have to check in advance for the availability of 'HMC'  restaurants or takeouts, otherwise our going out ends up on a pure veggie meal  or a pack lunch from home. The reason I choose 'HMC' labelled  takeouts is that previously I was told I’ll be on the safe side if I only consumed ‘HMC Halal’ labelled poultry. Is this correct? Well according to many websites this is the best solution to the problem. But what about the other 'Halal', labels? Are they not 100% halal also? This table shows the difference between these labels;

Looking at these differences, it is clear which one is more reliable. Doesn't this make you think then what is all the fuss about 'Britain going Halal', when there is an issue with so the called 'halal' being halal?