h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

anhaga:

Respect! Did you meet The Penguin?

Ed:


to be completely honest, No.

>>But then, kashrut is probably the most intricate and restrictive culinary tradition on


Which raises an issue: Is kashrut mere illogical superstition?

Some have argued that it functions to exercise the moral faculties. To keep kosher, Jews have to constantly make intricate decisions on what is or isn't fit to eat. This prepares from for making wider ethical judgements.

Now it *could* be argued (maybe it has?) that the ritual associated with halal, and the fact that the goat is still conscious reminds one:
'Actually...let's not dress it up, guys...if we decide to slaughter and eat another animal, we *are* inflicting suffering.'. Some non-halal meat eaters make a similar argument: 'Don't eat enything unless you're prepared to kill it yourself.'

Of course...I'm speculating. Wildly. My point is - why should we think of halal slaughter in particular being any more illogical than non-halal? Both types have their underlying logic.

Hi Ed,

>the Spitfire they've been using is from a Polish squadron.

Made my day.

Bloody Poles, coming over here and defending our island and creating our jobs. Why don't they go home?

Oh, they are.

Gif

Hi Taff,

>i would consider myself a semi-veggie,

Me too. I often have a sprig of parsley on my steak.

Gif

<>

parsley?????? thats rabbit food. what about the CHIPS???????????

Those who are concerned about ethics and food, should consider how the food and other products they consume have been obtained.

And those who consider fairtrade useless for the development of third world economies because it prevents them from getting mechanised, should also consider the enviromental consequences of massive industrialised farming.

my

Beau Brummel was once asked if he never ate vegetables. He replied:
'I believe I once ate a pea.'


Actually...I'd like to explore the illogicality of religious practices a little more. Do the faithful do what they do simply because a big book tells them to?...Or might the practices actually have meaning for them? Speaking to religious people, they don't, in my experience, rely simply on 'God told me to' explanations. Oftentimes they are capable expressing the basis of their beliefs and practices in secular terms.

Let's leave halal aside for a moment. Let's look at what the justifications might be for the Five Pillars of Islam:

Charity - well...that's pretty obvious.
Prayer - Effers has covered this
Fasting during Ramadhan - Muslims have told me that it's to remind them what it's like to be poor.
Pilgrimage to Mecca - Lets you meet all sorts of people from all over the world. (the last chapter of Malcolm X's biography was very good on this)
Declaration (that there's no god but god) - Well I guess that's just how you take out club membership.

Maybe these are rationalisations. Or maybe not.

Thoughts?

<>

christianity was peppered with rituals like this, now most people only pay lip service to them.

when did you know of someone observe lent fully, or eat fish on a friday or even go to church regularly.......carol service is not regular!!!!

>Those who are concerned about ethics and food, should consider how the food and other products they consume have been obtained.<

Who are you meaning Mar? It would be helpful if you could be more specific. We are all individuals here.

Speaking personally I have already made the point that I only buy free range chicken and eggs and outdoor reared pork.

I feel I do far more than vegetarians do in helping to confront what goes on conventionally in the UK because my money is going to support farmers who have to charge extra for the way they produce their food. The hard reality is that the vast majority of people aren't going to give up meat anytime soon; it's just too delicious. So farmers who farm in a more ethical way need all the money and support they can get, which I give them.

With regards eating meat at all though, I probably only do it once or twice a week. But you'll never catch me describing myself as semi vegetarian as Taff has. I just eat, fullstop.

Me, too, Effers. I'll have meat a couple of times a week if it's around. I buy everything I can, meat and veggies, at the local Farmer's Market http://www.osfm.ca/ I even buy my beer (that which I don't brew myself) just down the road at what is perhaps Canada's only hundred-mile brewery http://www.ambersbrewing.com/

Taff:

>>christianity was peppered with rituals like this, now most people only pay lip service to them.

>>when did you know of someone observe lent fully, or eat fish on a friday or even go to church regularly......

Sure, sure. But when did you know *anyone* who consistently acted in accordance with their beliefs. I know I don't. At least the religious have their rituals to remind them from time to time.

One of the things I don't like is when vegetarians in this culture impose their fad on their kids. I have had 4 significant long termish relationships, and two of those were with vegetarians. In both cases the children of my partners from previous relationships, would come to me to confide that they had sneaked meat sausages etc at school or in other places...but would I not tell mummy. I felt awful but completely sympathised with them.

It's a bit different I think if you are living in some Budhist culture where everyone is a veggie, so the kids don't feel they are being denied something pretty fundamental.

It's one thing for an adult to make this decision, but quite another to impose it on children.

>> ...the Spitfire they've been using is from a Polish squadron. <<

Well spotted, Warden.
I wondered where my ten foot Pole had got to.

>>One of the things I don't like is when vegetarians in this culture impose their fad on their kids


Is that 'imposing' as in serving them the same food as you eat yourself?

Hi Ed,

On the Five Pillars: actually, I'd quite like to do the Hajj. (Partly, I admit, because it annoys me that non-Muslims are not allowed into Mecca! But also partly because it would be ). That's why I'm so interested in whether Warner or Stanley have done it. Sadly, neither of them will tell me.

Gif

PS: My Mum's of the vegetable persuasion.

No it's about giving kids the same as the vast majority of those around them in the real world eat. There's nothing kids hate more than being viewed as a bit weird by their peers. It's hard enough being a kid as it is.

Mind you it depends on what school you go to. I'm sure a veggie kid would fit in just fine in a special school like a Rudolph Steiner thing, or a faith school if they were forced to just eat Halal.

we feed the kids "normal food" and the wife will not impose veggyism on them, she says that they can make their own choices when they are old enough

I'm not sure you know what you're on about, Effers. If anyone's teased my kids for not eating meat, they've not told me about it. In fact...it seems quite common nowadays. Maybe today's kids are more open and tolerant than you.

Richard Burton (the explorer, not the actor) did the Hajj in disguise. The disguise went as far as getting circumcised.

Having second thoughts?