Chawlk

1. Drawar
2. Fenxy
3. Decaflon
4. Two Credits
5. Wriging
6. Loose Suits
7. Chixe
8. Dud3s
9. Wing Colors

 

I had a discussion with my brother recently, who you might call a fundamentalist. From his readings, he had decided that pork is not to be eaten, as decreed by God. I was wondering what some of you experts had to say about this oft-debated topic; the following was my argument 'pro piggy'.

The earliest anti-pork statements I know of come from the Torah... but as a Jewish friend pointed out to me, much of the Torah is believed to have been written as general living guidelines, not necessarily decreed by God, but sensible nonetheless, which is why they were included.

This makes sense for that time and place, as meat was often sold raw at outdoor markets in the desert climate. As pork spoils very easily (and was believed to be a rare animal in that region), it's easy to see how people could've gotten sick almost every time they consumed pork, hence making it a dangerous meat to play around with. At that point, it would make perfect sense for the wise men of the land to simplify things by saying that God hath commanded that his people steer clear of pork.

Of course, times have changed now... we breed everything for optimal productivity, and with (somewhat respectable) regard for health. A raw, bloody loin from an outdoor market is a far cry from what we have available today. This also nixes my brother's sub-argument that pigs are "inherently dirty, eating their own feces and acting as cannibals on a whim". If they were 2,000 years ago, then so be it. But no 21st century pig is running around the Butterball factory eating its young... that's bad for business. They get reared the same way a cow or chicken does... very little physical freedom, including almost no freedom to choose what they consume. It's all a system now.

Given all this, I can't see how God could be the one responsible for declaring pigs inedible. There are plenty of things out there that humans can't eat... if refrigeration is all it takes to turn pork into a nutritious and delicious meal, then obviously the ban was declared out of convenience at the time, and not out of divine command. Unless of course, refrigeration is a stepping stone on the path to hell.