Interesting Pork Topic I saw

[♥JP♥ 5]

In my high school science class, I remember our teach putting a piece of bacon under a microscope and pouring something on it and all these tiny little worms came out. I don't remember what he poured, it surely wasn't a soda, but it did actually make the worms come out. However I wouldnt be surprised if this happened with any dead animal.

[sereia 0]

yummy...worms!!!

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

kaaaaaakaaaaaa i havent eaten red meat since i was like ten, i was never a fan, but, pork seriously gives me the willys when i see it, smell it, etc....its just, gross....

[sereia 0]

don't you know...pork is the other white meat!!!

[~Jackie~ 30]

[Nutty 2]

Not necessarily true.....

Pork is the food of the poor....

I have been all over India and I see pigs all the time. I asked and was told, that pigs are eaten but mostly by impoverised people.

And Tibetans love pork. See it all the time being sold in Dharamsala.

But i do love a pork roast! And smoked ham!!!'

What about Sheeps lips and eyeballs?

See that eaten a lot in Iran.

The whole head boiled and served up on a platter...with teeth laying about mixed in with the meat...

[SaadBell 0]

Pork and Religion: To Pig Out or Not?

Pork, that other white meat, has a bad biblical reputation. So are all of us pork-eating heathens on the express elevator to Hades or what?

Pork in the Bible/Torah/Koran has been condemned as unclean. Believers should not eat or even touch the carcass of a pig. Hence, the Target stores employees from Somalia requesting not to have to touch pork at the check out line. I am not going to berate anyone for his or her beliefs. This is a free country. Their qualms, caused me to think, why pork?

Pigs are omnivores meaning that they eat anything! They eat things many find disgusting and others find inconvenient. They eat, they survive and they live like pigs. Why do they live like pigs? Because they are treated as pigs. Pigs are actually clean and intelligent animals. A pig in a pigpen or sty chooses one corner of the pen for potty duties and the rest for the everyday things of pig life. It is up to the pig owner to clean out the poop if the sty is to be less sty-ish.

Pigs don't sweat, so they are into getting wet or hanging in the shade to cool down. Since few pigs can afford a swimming pool, they often have to opt for a mud bath. Elephants enjoy their mud baths if the pool is closed. So why are pigs picked on in religions?

Illness is the reason. Omnivores, especially outcast omnivores, eat things that can cause them to have parasites and other microscopic bugs that cause disease. Bears, horses, cats, dogs, and walruses can all contain parasites in their meat that can cause illness in the consumer that are in the same parasite groups as the pig. Okay cats, dogs and walruses are not omnivores, but they eat their entire prey. Think about it. Horses? That will have to be another discussion. Just about everything all critters that walk, fly or swim can have parasites harmful to humans.

So the porker has a bad rep religiously because people that eat pork then to get stupid, fat and die younger, according to the anti-pork religious groups. Some of these groups have gone into great detail listing every possible illness that can be caused by pork products and how unhealthy pork is for you. They make a great argument, but they are wrong. Not picking on anyone just stating the facts.

Pork meat causes disease: No, little microscopic parasites, bacteria, and viruses cause disease, not pigs.

Pork makes you stupid: Nope, parasites and other microorganisms that affect the brain, along with environment influences tend to make people stupid.

Pork meat in difficult to digest: Yep, just as difficult to digest as lamb, goat, beef, poultry and bran.

Pork meat is very fatty: Sorry, pork tenderloin is one of the least fatty meats there is. Ham, once trimmed, is over 96 percent fat free.

Pork is full of saturated fat: As is the fat of most animals. Face it beef tallow in pretty saturated and have you noticed how chicken fat congeals at room temperature?

Eating pork shortens your life span: This I found extremely entertaining! Follow this simple logic: If pork shortens the consumer's life span, then countries consuming the most pork meat per capita would have the shortest per capita life span. Does that make sense? What country consumes the most pork per capita? Denmark, love those Danish baby back ribs! So Danes are dieing in their early years because these heathens eat unclean meat! Those sorry pork fat-swilling Danes! Nope, they live well above average life spans!

So how did the whole anti-pork religious movement start? I guess in the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of the modern religions (Hindus give me a moment to deal with the big three. I know you were the first monotheistic religion that happened to involve a trinity. Chill out and relax!) Two millennia ago for the Christian and 1.4 millennia ago to the followers of Islam, and 4000 plus years ago for Judaism, the prophets delivered the word of God to their followers. Their words were divinely inspired and above reproach! So I won't mess with them.

The words of the followers that try to explain the words of the prophets? Ha, open season Bubba! The

Word of God is beyond reproach, but mortal interpretations of the intent of the Word can be reproachable! I have to imagine that God and his prophets were more concerned with getting people to understand the thou shalt nots and don't plow your neighbor's heifer! Simple stuff that the average follower can't seem to get a handle on. If the followers might have clued in on the basics, maybe God would have gotten into more advanced stuff like environmental protection, microbiology and refrigeration.

So back to the olden days before Christianity and Islam. In the Northern lands of the soon to be called heathens or infidels, pork was not as much of a problem. These Northern heathens found that fully cooked pork was tasty and the pork eaters were no more loopy or unhealthy that the average mead drinker. The Romans were pork eaters, but they also liked to cook wine in lead pots. So wealthy lead pot owning Romans were nuts anyway. That would make it hard for Romans to associate stupidity with pork eating.

It took a couple of millennia for scientists to find out about the little parasites, bacteria etc. and how to kill 'em. Freezing the meat wipes out the little buggers and cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 140 degrees or over, finishes the job. So if pork is not a bad thing, why didn't God say, "Freeze and the fully cook the meat of the swine, my children, if you wish to enjoy great barbeque?" Because the chosen were still plowing the wrong heifers? Because the thou shalt not kill thing never really caught on?

Don't know. I talk to Him a lot, but he hasn't helped me out on the pork thing yet. So pork may be one of those, figure it out on your own things. Being created in the image of God should mean more than being furless bipeds with opposable thumbs. Maybe thinking for yourself was a part of that?

Anyhow, I think that religion is more that just understanding the past, but understanding the present and looking to the future with morality. Science does not need to replace religion, it needs to compliment religion. While science and religion battle on many fronts, I choose my battles. Pork is my choice, so let the battle begin.

[sereia 0]

Pork and Religion: To Pig Out or Not?

Pork, that other white meat, has a bad biblical reputation. So are all of us pork-eating heathens on the express elevator to Hades or what?

Pork in the Bible/Torah/Koran has been condemned as unclean. Believers should not eat or even touch the carcass of a pig. Hence, the Target stores employees from Somalia requesting not to have to touch pork at the check out line. I am not going to berate anyone for his or her beliefs. This is a free country. Their qualms, caused me to think, why pork?

Pigs are omnivores meaning that they eat anything! They eat things many find disgusting and others find inconvenient. They eat, they survive and they live like pigs. Why do they live like pigs? Because they are treated as pigs. Pigs are actually clean and intelligent animals. A pig in a pigpen or sty chooses one corner of the pen for potty duties and the rest for the everyday things of pig life. It is up to the pig owner to clean out the poop if the sty is to be less sty-ish.

Pigs don't sweat, so they are into getting wet or hanging in the shade to cool down. Since few pigs can afford a swimming pool, they often have to opt for a mud bath. Elephants enjoy their mud baths if the pool is closed. So why are pigs picked on in religions?

Illness is the reason. Omnivores, especially outcast omnivores, eat things that can cause them to have parasites and other microscopic bugs that cause disease. Bears, horses, cats, dogs, and walruses can all contain parasites in their meat that can cause illness in the consumer that are in the same parasite groups as the pig. Okay cats, dogs and walruses are not omnivores, but they eat their entire prey. Think about it. Horses? That will have to be another discussion. Just about everything all critters that walk, fly or swim can have parasites harmful to humans.

So the porker has a bad rep religiously because people that eat pork then to get stupid, fat and die younger, according to the anti-pork religious groups. Some of these groups have gone into great detail listing every possible illness that can be caused by pork products and how unhealthy pork is for you. They make a great argument, but they are wrong. Not picking on anyone just stating the facts.

Pork meat causes disease: No, little microscopic parasites, bacteria, and viruses cause disease, not pigs.

Pork makes you stupid: Nope, parasites and other microorganisms that affect the brain, along with environment influences tend to make people stupid.

Pork meat in difficult to digest: Yep, just as difficult to digest as lamb, goat, beef, poultry and bran.

Pork meat is very fatty: Sorry, pork tenderloin is one of the least fatty meats there is. Ham, once trimmed, is over 96 percent fat free.

Pork is full of saturated fat: As is the fat of most animals. Face it beef tallow in pretty saturated and have you noticed how chicken fat congeals at room temperature?

Eating pork shortens your life span: This I found extremely entertaining! Follow this simple logic: If pork shortens the consumer's life span, then countries consuming the most pork meat per capita would have the shortest per capita life span. Does that make sense? What country consumes the most pork per capita? Denmark, love those Danish baby back ribs! So Danes are dieing in their early years because these heathens eat unclean meat! Those sorry pork fat-swilling Danes! Nope, they live well above average life spans!

So how did the whole anti-pork religious movement start? I guess in the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of the modern religions (Hindus give me a moment to deal with the big three. I know you were the first monotheistic religion that happened to involve a trinity. Chill out and relax!) Two millennia ago for the Christian and 1.4 millennia ago to the followers of Islam, and 4000 plus years ago for Judaism, the prophets delivered the word of God to their followers. Their words were divinely inspired and above reproach! So I won't mess with them.

The words of the followers that try to explain the words of the prophets? Ha, open season Bubba! The

Word of God is beyond reproach, but mortal interpretations of the intent of the Word can be reproachable! I have to imagine that God and his prophets were more concerned with getting people to understand the thou shalt nots and don't plow your neighbor's heifer! Simple stuff that the average follower can't seem to get a handle on. If the followers might have clued in on the basics, maybe God would have gotten into more advanced stuff like environmental protection, microbiology and refrigeration.

So back to the olden days before Christianity and Islam. In the Northern lands of the soon to be called heathens or infidels, pork was not as much of a problem. These Northern heathens found that fully cooked pork was tasty and the pork eaters were no more loopy or unhealthy that the average mead drinker. The Romans were pork eaters, but they also liked to cook wine in lead pots. So wealthy lead pot owning Romans were nuts anyway. That would make it hard for Romans to associate stupidity with pork eating.

It took a couple of millennia for scientists to find out about the little parasites, bacteria etc. and how to kill 'em. Freezing the meat wipes out the little buggers and cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 140 degrees or over, finishes the job. So if pork is not a bad thing, why didn't God say, "Freeze and the fully cook the meat of the swine, my children, if you wish to enjoy great barbeque?" Because the chosen were still plowing the wrong heifers? Because the thou shalt not kill thing never really caught on?

Don't know. I talk to Him a lot, but he hasn't helped me out on the pork thing yet. So pork may be one of those, figure it out on your own things. Being created in the image of God should mean more than being furless bipeds with opposable thumbs. Maybe thinking for yourself was a part of that?

Anyhow, I think that religion is more that just understanding the past, but understanding the present and looking to the future with morality. Science does not need to replace religion, it needs to compliment religion. While science and religion battle on many fronts, I choose my battles. Pork is my choice, so let the battle begin.

I'm Danish and my dad (and I) grew up eating Pork at least five days a week (Denmark is craaaaaazy for pork) and most live to be a nice ripe old age (and are thin!)! I always hear so much ignorance about pork because their religious leaders come up with all this...but hello! Its 2008. Things have changed!

So they're intelligent animals... yes, so does that make eating a dumb animal make you a better person?

Anyway excellent article! Thanks for sharing!

Edited April 1, 2008 by sereia

[SaadBell 0]

I love Denmark, the people are beautiful and yes they live a long time. I am spanish so of course I enjoy the pork.

[sereia 0]

i just had to post this picture... i was looking for a pic for chicharones and this came up:

haha!

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Problems, problems, so now do i go cook that package of pork steak i just bought this weekend?

[Alex+R 0]

Grooossss.... I never eat pork but at the insistence of my BIL's girlfriend, I ate chichas in Spain last month. Did not sit well with my lil digestive system. Serious trouble. Now I'm about to vomit all over again, true or not.

[sereia 0]

mmm Spain has the best cured Iberian pork. *drool

[Nasturtium 500]

Pork in the Bible/Torah/Koran has been condemned as unclean. Believers should not eat or even touch the carcass of a pig.

Actually the Torah says any animal carcass is unclean and makes you so. Any dead thing makes you unclean. This is not some magical thing against pork.

Pigs are omnivores meaning that they eat anything!

And omnivores that are mammals are fordidden. The reason a pig has special mention is because even though it meets the hoof requirement for clean it is an omnivore which makes it unclean.

Pigs don't sweat, so they are into getting wet or hanging in the shade to cool down. Since few pigs can afford a swimming pool, they often have to opt for a mud bath. Elephants enjoy their mud baths if the pool is closed. So why are pigs picked on in religions?

See above. Also elephants are unclean for eating so it's a poor analogy. as stated above: the reason a pig has special mention is because even though it meets the hoof requirement for clean it is an omnivore which makes it unclean.

Illness is the reason. Omnivores, especially outcast omnivores, eat things that can cause them to have parasites and other microscopic bugs that cause disease. Bears, horses, cats, dogs, and walruses can all contain parasites in their meat that can cause illness in the consumer that are in the same parasite groups as the pig. Okay cats, dogs and walruses are not omnivores, but they eat their entire prey. Think about it. Horses? That will have to be another discussion. Just about everything all critters that walk, fly or swim can have parasites harmful to humans.

Illness may be the reason stated by people who cannot reason or read, but the reason is it's an omnivore mammal. All the other mammal examples listed are also unclean-- carnivores, single-hoofed animals, sea mammals, etc. So this is not an actual point.

So the porker has a bad rep religiously because people that eat pork then to get stupid, fat and die younger, according to the anti-pork religious groups. Some of these groups have gone into great detail listing every possible illness that can be caused by pork products and how unhealthy pork is for you. They make a great argument, but they are wrong. Not picking on anyone just stating the facts.

Actually they make a stupid argument. The reason is pretty clear-cut. It's not all mystical like those who don't understand (ok, basically it comes down to just plain reading) scripture make it to be. It's pretty clear. The reason a pig is mentioend specifically is because of it meeting one but not the second requirement.

Which again brings me to this-- why ar epoeple not all in a bunch over camels? Camels are forbidden although islam decided it was OK after all to eat camels and rabbits, two specifcally forbidden things. So? What's the deal with harping on pigs?

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

we are all sinners and all sin is equal in gods eyes.