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Nobody wants this thread in the D&D. It's fun taking subtle jabs at each other. Wild boar + monkey = caveman.
I find it interesting that Muslims not eating pork is such a controversial topic. What about not eating shrimp? What about Hindus not eating beef? What about Mormons not drinking caffeinated beverages? As others pointed out the reasons are religious most likely stemming from health concerns. Not that big of a deal. I dated a girl that wouldn't eat tomatoes or onions even though she liked Mexican food never quite figured that out but it didn't keep me from dating her.
That's the thing. It doesn't matter to me that he is picking on my religion or anyone elses. I just think there is a way things can be said to make the conversation flow about why you think a certain way rather than coming out and acting a fool about it. He has cleared it up by saying that all the books are equal to him. Now to me that makes more sense then someone coming out and saying it like that. Big difference in how you say things. "Because a stupid book tells them to" or "I don't agree with a book telling them to do this in their religion" (or something to that effect) Just think there is a better way to convey your message and that's my point. I don't think anyone should agree with everything but disagree in a more mature manner that is all.
Even more so grammatically...."a stupid book" does not equal "stupid books" but glad he cleared it up because it does help aid the conversation.
Gotta love the "it's because it's written in some old book" people (that would go for any people in whose old book this is written). Independent thinking...questioning why some men wrote it into the book a long time ago...and if those reasons still apply...nope. As long as it is something harmless like what a person decides to eat, no harm...but it gets dangerous when the literalists blindly follow other parts of their book that they think tell them to do or not do certain things.
For what it's worth, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist (a Christian denomination) and I follow the Old Testament dietary laws - no swine, no seafood except fish, etc...and many Adventists don't eat any meat at all. The original question posed in this thread is basically - "why not eat pork". The reason is simple - it is unhealthy for you. Those who follow the Adventist dietary beliefs have been widely documented to live longer, healthier, happier lives. The most commonly mentioned Adventist hotbed of health is Loma Linda, California, a city with a large Adventist University and hospital. A study comparing Loma Linda Adventists to other Californians in the 1960s showed: -Death rates from cancer was 60% lower for Adventist men and 76% lower for Adventist women. -Lung cancer 21% lower -Colorectal cancer 62% lower -Breast cancer 85% lower -Coronary heart disease 66% lower for Adventist men, 98% lower for Adventist women. A later study in the 1980s showed: -Adventist men live 7.3 years longer and women 4.4 years longer than other Californians. -Five simple health behaviors promoted by the Adventist church (not smoking, eating a plant based diet, eating nuts, regular exercise, and weight maintenance) increases life span up to 10 years. -etc... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventist_Health_Studies <a href="http://www.oprah.com/health/The-Secrets-of-the-Blue-Zones/10">Dr. Oz has mentioned Adventists on the Oprah show</a>, <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/feature1/index.html">National Geographic featured Adventists as one of four phenomenal groups in the world that live longer lives</a>, and there is a book called <a href="http://www.bluezones.com/">"Blue Zones: Live Longer, Better"</a> which also features many sections on the Adventist diet. The basic Christian view on this sort of thing is that it's a choice that is up to you. I believe that my body is the temple of God and therefore I do my best to maintain it based on the information I know. If you can take great care of your body while enjoying pork and whatever else - great! That's awesome. And if you aren't a Christian and you could care less about whether or not your body is a temple of God, there are still many benefits to maintaining a healthy body - whether that means cutting out pork, ice cream, pop, cheese, or whatever. I'd recommend checking out the book <a href="http://www.thechinastudy.com/">"The China Study" by Dr. Colin Campbell</a> - it has some very interesting information on how we are consuming far more protein than we actually need and how animal protein is one of the most cancer-causing things we could put into our body.
My last girlfriend grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist...she told me she felt repressed by the restrictions and later left the church. A lot of relatively strict (compared to most other Christian religions) rules, no?
You could apply the same reverse logic; if it's harmless to follow it, then why not? Either way, blindly following something is something I agree is harmful...it's how powerful warlords/dictators conduct business over the ignorant poor uneducated masses. However following something because you believe in it, and following it brings no harm to you or your fellow man, but does enhance your living and make you feel good, do good, and be good, then whats the harm? In the end we all die and I'd rather live happy, die happy then question any and all to a point of insanity. An open, intelligent, curious mind is a good thing; a paranoid, insecure cynical life is not exactly the path toward happiness or health.
That was actually what I was trying to say...I don't have a problem with people who "blindly" follow rules that have no impact on others - the problem is that the same people often blindly follow rules (or what they perceive as such) which do have an impact on others. I agree with everything in your post, the only caveat I see is what I posted above. Personally, I would have a much more difficult time in India, I guess, because basically the only meat I eat is beef.
I was told that there was a great Hindu leader many generations ago that thought India's milk was so good that it was a shame to kill the cow that produced it, and that's how cows became holy. Can anyone confirm this?
I believe alcohol is shunned upon due to mental health reasons rather than physical health reasons. There are physical reasons but the mental aspect of it is most important. Why are drugs banned by our Govt? Because they affect the mental state in an adverse way, some more than others. Alcohol has the same effect. Although this is a subjective reason, I think it is valid. Why put yourself in a position where you lose control over yourself. We see it everyday...drunk drivers, wife beaters, general asshaterry, etc. Almost every person will say, "oh no I can control myself". But when alcohol (or any other drug) screws with your judgement of what "control" is, nobody can truly make that claim.
From what i've been told by Hindu friends, they've explained to me that they can drink the cow's milk, cheese, etc. just not eat meat. This is because the cow provides in so many ways (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc) that you'd have to kill it to eat it's meat and that'd be cruel to kill a providing creature. And yes, ATW you can get beef in India. India is almost 20% muslim and 10% christian these days, you can usually get whatever you want.
