Forbidden food
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Regional History or Period History
Forum Name: Post-Classical Middle East
Forum Discription: SW Asia, the Middle East and Islamic civilizations from 600s - 1900 AD
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33049
Printed Date: 30-Apr-2024 at 03:43
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Forbidden food
Posted By: Nick1986
Subject: Forbidden food
Date Posted: 19-Jan-2013 at 08:38
 Among both Jews and Muslims, certain foods are forbidden: pork, shellfish, alcohol, and calves cooked in their mothers' milk. What was the reasoning behind these prohibitions? ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Replies:
Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 19-Jan-2013 at 11:19
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The fast answer is religious prohibitions in their Holy scriptures and guidance by the leaders (ie. Mosaic law which they share in part). The follow on answer is more complex and has been bandied about for years. Rationales primarily center around 'unclean behavior' of the animal in question and their lack of understanding of the biological potential reasons behind it. Why pigs for example wallow...To disease they may have contracted as a result of ingestion. Which they viewed contextually as divine curse. Now it's more religious tradition for fundamentalist types then any thing else. ------------- "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" S. T. Friedman Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true' |
Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 19-Jan-2013 at 12:58
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I don't know about the others, but Pork and shellfish I do know. Pigs carried a parasite, the condition resulting from eating infected pork is called Trichinosis. Yes it is connected to the conditions pigs usually were found living under. It's also the reason for it being unlawful to feed pigs unsterilized garbage, in the US.
With shellfish it's the same idea. The fact that they are filter feeders made them "unclean".
I'm sure Mountain Man could add more in a more precise medical way. ------------- "Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces". Unknown. |
Posted By: Baal Melqart
Date Posted: 19-Jan-2013 at 13:44
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Pigs are seen as unclean because they don't ruminate according to the Old Testament. But generally speaking, the chances of contracting parasitical diseases are much higher with pork than beef or chicken. ------------- Timidi mater non flet |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 20-Jan-2013 at 17:06
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What about the prohibition of mixing meat and dairy produce? ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 21-Jan-2013 at 16:31
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Modern Jews are still prohibited from drinking wine made by non-Jews out of fear this had been used for pagan rituals http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/making-sense-of-kosher-laws/ - http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/making-sense-of-kosher-laws/ ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Mountain Man
Date Posted: 21-Jan-2013 at 18:40
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RC is correct; the prohibitions make sense if you look at scriptures from the various religions as a guidebook for living, including public health regulations. Easiest way to enforce regulations in ancient times was to make it a part of religious law. The paradox, if you will, is that Pagans like the Romans ate pork and shellfish all of the time without problems, so I my SWAG is that geographical environmental factors came into play. Of course, the Romans used lead drinking vessels and water pipes....  ------------- Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? |
Posted By: Mountain Man
Date Posted: 21-Jan-2013 at 18:44
Jesus drank wine and so did everyone else, since clean drinking water was hard to come by. The Catholics use wine to represent the blood of Christ, but then they also practice ritualistic cannibalism. Go figure. Ritualistic handwashing is another public health religious injunction, since it cut down on transmissions of diseases by Middle Easteners who ate with their right hands and wiped themselves with their left hands. Now, if you can figure out why Hindus worship cattle.... ------------- Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? |
Posted By: Baal Melqart
Date Posted: 21-Jan-2013 at 19:52
There is no such prohibition in the Torah. Jews are only prohibited from eating a goat that has been boiled in its mother's milk. Rabbinical Jews have expounded on this in their exegesis (Talmud) to mean that all meat can't be eaten at the same time as dairy products. ------------- Timidi mater non flet |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 25-Jan-2013 at 11:10
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[TUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiY1LrsDkw8&feature=related[/TUBE] A disturbing new trend in Australia where white louts go into halal shops and restaurants and demand bacon in the hope of provoking a reaction ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Ollios
Date Posted: 26-Jan-2013 at 14:19
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Was this prohibition relevant with Adonis/Tammuz/Dumuzi ? If Baldr was killed by a boar, todays christians would think differently. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another forbidden food  Alevis in Turkey never eat rabbit meat. I am not sure that this rule is valid in other Shiite groups. ------------- Ellerin Kabe'si var, Benim Kabem İnsandır |
Posted By: Baal Melqart
Date Posted: 26-Jan-2013 at 18:25
The guy needs to chill out and take it easy. I wouldn't get fussed if someone asked me if I had bacon even if they were slightly malicious in their demand. @Ollios, some other Shiite groups do hold that rabbit is Haram just as the Jews do. I don't think all of them do. The reason for it and I heard this coming from the mouth of an imam, is that they consider rabbits to be a bug (metaphorically I guess...). ------------- Timidi mater non flet |
Posted By: TheAlaniDragonRising
Date Posted: 26-Jan-2013 at 19:17
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When it comes to rabbits it might be because of the ingesting of caecotrophs.
------------- What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture. |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 06-Mar-2013 at 18:51
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[TUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlJjjhGt0E0[/TUBE]
------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |