The Creator of life, the Universe and everything in it says "don't eat pork!" Is he having a laugh?

Question

Just interested in your views. Reams of rant welcome ;-o

I don't actually believe in god, so I find the prescriptive trappings of religion quite bizarre.

Mahal, I am being respectful, but I do find religion bizarre. Sorry!

Prof Lee - the pork prohibition was actually socially useful - pork was difficult to keep clean in hot climates. But now we have fridges, so....?

Brotherjonah, you really take the biscuit - so serious! I like a nice pork roast, and the quality of the meat is just like any other, because we have left the biblical days behind. As for pigs destroying our environment....what the? Almost everything man does is destroying the environment because of the intensity with which we do it. Get real.

Muhammad, you amuse me, scrabbling around for "scientific" evidence to support the pork ban. Admit it - people in ancient times couldn't figure out how to beat the contamination, and now we know better. I have been eating pork all my life, and I will continue to do so and I know for fact that I am not damned for doing so - any god concerned with such trifling rubbish isn't worth one second of my time.

Answer 1

um... think about what time period the doctrines of 'don't eat pork, or any hooved animals' was written. In that time period, an 'unclean animal' tended to have terrible diseases and were nearly toxic if consummed. This is one of many things from historical reference turned superstition turned dogma.

Answer 2

This was a requirement of the Old Covenant, or agreement, that God had with Abraham.

(Acts 10:13-14) And a voice came to him: “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said: “Not at all, Lord, because never have I eaten anything defiled and unclean.”

(Acts 10:15) And the voice [spoke] again to him, the second time: “You stop calling defiled the things God has cleansed.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This came after Jesus had fulfilled the Law. The New Covenant was now in place, and it was time to allow the Gentiles a chance at salvation by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Answer 3

I believe the wording is something like "don't eat any animal which cleaves the hoof but does not chew the cud" - i.e any non-vegetarian animal.

It makes a lot of sense in the era and lands where it was written - those animals would have parasites and diseases caught from the other animals they ate, which would then be passed on to humans if they ate them.

Whether it makes sense to stick to the same rules nowadays is a matter of personal choice, like eating fish on a Friday or fasting on selected days.

Answer 4

Back in ancient times, pigs were subject to infestation with a parasite which later became known as trichinosis. It can also infect humans, causing painful muscle cysts. So the old prohibitions actually have a basis in rationality. But thanks to modern sanitation and antibiotics, trichinosis is now virtually unknown, except in the Third World.
That said, I love pork ribs cooked slowly on the grill. And ham? Don't even get me started. And chops. And bacon! Jews and Muslims don't know what they're missing. Excuse me, I have to go get a ham sandwich now.

Answer 5

I am also non-religous and find many strict rules laid down by religion as strange and can not understand why people would follow them in a educated 21st centry.

But then I still have great respect for somebody with blind faith in something that can not be proven.

But still I would rather be ignorant and eating a bacon sandwich or a sausage and egg mcmuffin.

Answer 6

Well the creator of the universe has given you a choice in this life. You could try making up your own set of standards and rules but the "manufacturer" reccomendations will be the best.

After all, the creator of life also created every pig.

Answer 7

The creator of the universe undoubtedly never wrote that people cannot eat pork. The ones who wrote the old testament obviously knew that pigs were extremely filthy animals and possibly carried contamination of some sort that would make people sick. Pork was, therefore, outlawed. Muslims copied from the Hebrews and forbade the eating of pork.

Answer 8

This was a requirement of the Old Covenant, or agreement, that God had with Abraham.
When Jesus arrived, he changed it [ with his Father's approval, of course].
(Acts 10:13-14) And a voice came to him: “Rise, Peter, slaughter and eat!” 14 But Peter said: “Not at all, Lord, because never have I eaten anything defiled and unclean.”

(Acts 10:15) And the voice [spoke] again to him, the second time: “You stop calling defiled the things God has cleansed.”

(Acts 11:9) The second time the voice from heaven answered, ‘You stop calling defiled the things God has cleansed.’

God can change the rules, even if we do not understand why.

Answer 9

Yes the Creator of this unverse knows what is suitable for the human for the development of your physical and spiritual facutlties.Pork flesh gets bacterial growth more quickly and the effect of its flesh on moral is noticeable in the entire pig eating world.

Answer 10

No, He is not having a laugh, but He is crying to see the result of His children eating unclean meats which cause suffering and sickness, and to think that many will even suffer further when the judgment time comes:

Isaiah 66:15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.
66:16 For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.
66:17 "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, [To go] to the gardens After an [idol] in the midst, Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together," says the LORD.