Given the health regulations of the meat industry, isn't pork just as clean as any other meat?

Question

2000 years ago pigs were probably very unsafe to eat. But today? Why are there still religous restrictions on eating pork?

Answer 1

Yes, I think that you are correct that pork is just as clean (or not!! --remember mad cow disease) as any meat produced according to modern standards.

However, the reason that some religions do not eat pork (or shellfish)is not necessarily because of the potential of getting a disease from improperly cooked or handled meat. This is only one of many theories that attempt to explain dietary laws -those in the Old Testament as well as those in other cultures.

What it comes down to is that we don't really have a definitive reason why some foods were banned. Probably the most important reason of all was that dietary restrictions are a way of defining a group of people, though their rituals, practices and beliefs.

Answer 2

Actually, beef has never been all that much safer than pork. While you can get trichinosis from eating pork, you can get anthrax from eating beef. Not to mention the modern threat of "mad cow" disease. It is probably the most accurate to think of these restrictions as more a way to set a group of followers apart from the population at large.

Answer 3

Traditions die hard. According to the laws laid down in Leviticus, any animal with a cloven hoof was unclean. Christians, who generally do not follow those laws of cleanliness, have a hard time understanding that Orthodox Jews still follow those laws. Hindu believers do not eat cows. In Hinduism they are considered holy. These traditions are what make our religions distinctly ours. Rather like Christians giving up something for Lent.

Answer 4

Technically, yes, it is.

And I hate to admit it, but Roman S has a point. What I mean by this, is that if I shut a plant down, all the "owner of the plant" had to do was call the Governor or Senator, etc and chew *ss - because they are "usually" campaign contributors they can pull favors and call "my ex-bosses" and demand I start the plant back up. ::SIGH::

Not fun at all. I always called it an "end run."

Answer 5

Peter saw a vision in Acts of alot of "unllean animals in a blanket coming from heaven and God said 'eat it' peter said 'no those animals are unclean' and God said all animals were created by me and are therefore clean.

My own paraphrased version.

Since this story os in the New testament Christians can eat anything now, but jews still believe in unclean animals.

Answer 6

Well since God can see the past and the future in his present
he must've seen in the future that it is still unclean to pork. Plus he's the person who made the animal in the first place of corse he will know what's good for us.................................................But it does'nnt mean I don't eat pork myself sometimes

Answer 7

"The Lord Jesus has made it clear to me that God considers all foods fit to eat."
- Romans 14:14

"God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit."
- Romans 14:17

"The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.

Don't you know that the food you put into your mouth goes into your stomach and then out of your body? But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God. Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others. These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God."
- Jesus speaking in Matthew 15 (also in Mark 7)

Answer 8

Maybe because everyone knows that pigs do not sweat, therefore, they have toxins still harbored within the meat...

Answer 9

I had a heart attack because my arteries were clogged from eating pork all my life. My cardiologist said,"don't do it anymore. Fat sticks to everything inside you." I really do miss it tho.

Answer 10

It is now but was not then. It is also important to cook it thouroughly by they follow that restriction based on their beliefs not the reasons for the mandate. "All things are lawful for me but not all things are expediant." This is why Christians no longer follow those restrictions.