You think the religious idea that pork is unclean had anything to do with the fact that a thousand or so years ago, unrefrigerated pork could kill you? I bet it wouldn't be considered unclean if there was refrigeration back when those allegories were written.
I think the Jewish & Mulsim faiths believe that Pigs are unclean because pigs can not sweat, and they roll around in their own poo and urine if no fresh water is available (think deserts). There would not be fresh water to wash the pigs in the desert. People also claim that pigs are scavengers and will eat poo. (what do we use for plant fertilizer?) There is also trichinosis, and people might of gotten sick from eating undercooked pork. This is great example of culture becoming religion by it being dictated by the "word of god". This is exactly how religious beliefs are formed.
The woman could file a discrimination suit. The law doesn't allow a person to be discriminated against because of religious reasons. If the company's rule on pork had religious reasoning behind it, she could claim she is being discriminated against because she is not of the same religion (does the article say what religion she does belong to?). Furthermore, the company would be very hard pressed to prove that avoiding pork is a bona fide job qualification. Finally, she really has a good case if she never signed a policy manual that included the no-pork rule. However, if Florida is an at-will state and the court feels the no-pork rule does not constitute religious discrimination (always a possibility as I don't think the woman could realistically claim that her religion requires her to eat pork), the company could win. Just the same, I don't like it when companies try to control the personal lives of their employees. There is a company here is Houston that I won't name that is notorious for its stringent personal habit requirements (no smoking, no drinking) and several people I know have walked out of interviews with them because of their authoritarianism.
Actually, in terms of health value, pork is much better for you than red meat, particularly if it is lean. The only reason they though that pigs were "unclean" in Biblical times was because they roll around in slop. But, pigs do that to keep cool because they have no sweat glands. In addition, the chances of undercooking or having pork spoil thousands of years ago was much greater than it is today. Trichinosis was a serious problem which is why they began to salt-cure all their meat later. With refrigeration and health codes, your chances of having problems with pork are greatly minimized. Man, my middle school health teacher who taught about the reasons why Jews in the Bible made the choices they did with food would be so proud of me now!
I'd be in favor of that. The penalty for practicing religion could be immediate execution, that way the nonreligious would be happy and the now dead religious would also be happy to enter the eternal bliss of afterlife. And gay people could get married.
I've been kind of waiting for a moment like this. A discrimination case against a minority group in the states. Should be interesting. It seems like clear cut discrimination.
Should I get mad because I am the only Catholic at my work and my fellow employees eat meat on Fridays during Lent?
Don't you just love religion and all the ridiculous rules about food etc? I mean come on......morals, ok...but what you can and can't eat. SHEESH !!! DD
The thing is it kind of made sense way back when, for that particular culture. The problem is when you try to mix ancient cultural beliefs with modern society you will have major problems. Here are some good quotes concerning religion and the need for it to be dynamic. "Many of our young people are uprooted. They no longer believe in the traditions of their parents and grandparents, and they have not found anything else to replace them. Spiritual leaders need to address this very real issue, but most simply to not know what to do...when a priest does not embody the living values of a tradition, he or she cannot transmit them to the next generation. He can only wear the outer garments and pass along the superficial forms. When the living values are absent, rituals and dogmas are lifeless, rigid, and even oppressive...Many young people all over the world have abandoned their church because church leaders have not caught up with the changes in society. They cannot speak to the youth people in the kind of language the young can understand...That is why so many young people are left with nothing to believe in. They feel uneasy with their church, their society, their culture, and their family. They don't see anything worthwhile, beautiful, or true." -Thich Nhat Hanh "Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble." -Joseph Campbell "The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic." -Albert Einstein
I believe it is quite legal to have a company with a religious or philosophical position that has various company rules like this. Certainly if she was working in a synagogue or mosque, or in a related organization such as the JCC, people would understand a written policy against bringing unclean food onto the premises. It sounds like the company didn't have any problem with her eating BLTs off premises but her bringing it into the office was an offense. It seems that where they went wrong was in failing to have a written policy about it. The way they went about it makes it sound as though they could have fired her for not wearing a veil in the office even though they said that her difference in faith wasn't an issue.
If that's true, then why that not given as the reason they were considered unclean? And why were other animals that don't roll around in slop also considered unclean -- and evidently considered so based on the same criteria? This isn't really all that significant. I'm not "calling you out" or anything, Jeff. I'm certainly not going to consider you a "mortal enemy" because of your unorthodox views on this. Given the instruction in the Hebrew Scriptures, however, it just seems to me that your former teacher's views about the biblical dietary laws may have been a bit simplistic.
You do understand that these are nothing more than statements of faith, right? On what basis should we accept them and reject others?
The difference is that the company involved is a communications company and therefore it must establish that religious rules serve a legitimate business end. If, for example, the company did business exclusively with traditional Muslim organizations only (like mosques or charities), they could argue that the presence of pork in their office could offend their clients. However, the article doesn't mention this, and so I think the possibility of religious discrimination (which is illegal) is quite high.
I was just making a point that we should think freely, examine and try understanding things for ourselves before accepting any teachings. There is a difference between faith and blind faith. We should do what is right becuase we understand it is right. What is the point of being moral if you don't fully understand why your action is moral or immoral? I would think blind faith is immoral.
I agree that it is a little difficult to see why it should matter to a communications company. I remember hearing about a Christian long-distance company (I don't know anything about their policies but they donated procedes to Christian organizations). Certainly, if the only thing that made the company Muslim was that the owners and/or many of the employees or customers were Muslim then they would have a difficult time showing why they should have those sort of restrictions. You point out that if their clients were EXCLUSIVELY Muslim they might have a point. I think they might have a point in that case but they would have to show more than that. It would seem that a significant aspect of their business purpose statement should have to be tied to the practice and support of Islam. In that case, the employee would have known how important the issue was at work.
