religious ppl -why is it that you can not eat clams? or shellfish?

Question

I understand you can not eat pigs ,but you do it anyhow! you are not supposed to eat shellfish ,that one is beyond me? so why is that?

Answer 1

That all depends on what religion somebody practices. Me, I don't eat any animal, but that's not for religious reasons. It's for moral reasons. And yes, people, religion and morality exist separately.

Answer 2

The not eating pigs is actually Jewish not Christian. I don't like clams or shellfish so I don't eat those anyway. However, I've never heard anything about not eating shellfish. Again, I think that's a Jewish thing too. Jewish people have to eat Kosher foods. Kosher food are foods that are prepared a certain way. They have more of a strict diet that they abide by. But I've never heard that for Christian faiths.

Answer 3

In Leviticus, Moses told the Jews not to eat a whole bunch of food, including shellfish. In the New Testament, Jesus said that was all part of the old covenant, and that Christians need not follow that advice.

Answer 4

It's interesting how many Jews from Hebrew ancestry will not practice Judaism or Jewish laws. Yet most converted or born from a family who practices Judaism will be more likely to follow.
Torah laws state that these animals are unfit for consumption because they are unclean. Shellfish (everything but fish), pork, birds of prey and insects are forbidden to eat.
It's just how their religion and culture has been through many centuries, just like other religion have their way of worshiping and practicing their religion, this is the way that the Jews do it.

Answer 5

Some religious sects, not all, abstain or are forbidden from eating certain kinds of foods. Many of these practices are traced back to early concerns for health majorly because the ability to preserve food was limited. Religious leaders, who were also law makers, made rules restricting what people could eat. This was for their own safety. For some, those rules carried over to today. For most it has become a practice/custom. Secular people also have customs that they follow as well. It's no different.

Answer 6

Maybe adherents of Judaism aren't supposed to eat pigs (or shellfish, I need to reread Leviticus), but reference Acts 10. There are no restrictions on what Christians can or cannot eat. I can't speak for other religions.

Answer 7

As a Christian, I'm not bound by that particular part of the Mosaic law. It's in the book of Acts.

As for why that particular restriction was put in place, I suspect it's because at the time, the Jews didn't have the understanding of biology necessary to eat shellfish safely. Eating them at the wrong time of year is a very dicey thing.

Answer 8

And we don't eat cockroaches, snakes, ants and worms, either.

See Leviticus Ch. 11.

As a Christian, I follow the guidelines that the Bible gave for food. Mainly fruits, whole grains, nuts and vegetables (incidentally, this is the IDENTICAL diet that my exercise instructor recommended, and she's not religious). Once in a while, I may eat some meat, chosen from the clean ones listed in Lev. 11. But the meat isn't necessary. And even though the locust is allowed, I've never tried it.

Answer 9

In some part of the Bible it talks about the Israelites and how the Lord commanded them to not eat certain kinds of food for various reasons, some included: pigs, things that live in the ocean (excluding things with fins and gills and scales) and a few other animal I can't quite recall. But some people believe that they should still follow those commandments.

Answer 10

The Israelites where told not to eat them for their own protection Shellfish tend to eat by filtering impurities out of the water, hence they concentrate any heavy metals and other pollution that are in the water.
They also spoil quickly (especially before refrigeration)

Jesus himself said it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, it is what comes out of a man.

Answer 11

This us not true of all religions. Some do consider the pig an unclean animal. That is why it's forbidden, I think. Shellfish are bottom feeders, as a result unclean.