Pork and Religion: To Pig Out or Not?

Pork, that other white meat, has a bad biblical reputation. So are all of us pork-eating heathens on the express elevator to Hades or what?

Pork in the Bible/Torah/Koran has been condemned as unclean. Believers should not eat or even touch the carcass of a pig. Hence, the Target stores employees from Somalia requesting not to have to touch pork at the check out line. I am not going to berate anyone for his or her beliefs. This is a free country. Their qualms, caused me to think, why pork?

Pigs are omnivores meaning that they eat anything! They eat things many find disgusting and others find inconvenient. They eat, they survive and they live like pigs. Why do they live like pigs? Because they are treated as pigs. Pigs are actually clean and intelligent animals. A pig in a pigpen or sty chooses one corner of the pen for potty duties and the rest for the everyday things of pig life. It is up to the pig owner to clean out the poop if the sty is to be less sty-ish.

Pigs don't sweat, so they are into getting wet or hanging in the shade to cool down. Since few pigs can afford a swimming pool, they often have to opt for a mud bath. Elephants enjoy their mud baths if the pool is closed. So why are pigs picked on in religions?

Illness is the reason. Omnivores, especially outcast omnivores, eat things that can cause them to have parasites and other microscopic bugs that cause disease. Bears, horses, cats, dogs, and walruses can all contain parasites in their meat that can cause illness in the consumer that are in the same parasite groups as the pig. Okay cats, dogs and walruses are not omnivores, but they eat their entire prey. Think about it. Horses? That will have to be another discussion. Just about everything all critters that walk, fly or swim can have parasites harmful to humans.

So the porker has a bad rep religiously because people that eat pork then to get stupid, fat and die younger, according to the anti-pork religious groups. Some of these groups have gone into great detail listing every possible illness that can be caused by pork products and how unhealthy pork is for you. They make a great argument, but they are wrong. Not picking on anyone just stating the facts.

Pork meat causes disease: No, little microscopic parasites, bacteria, and viruses cause disease, not pigs.

Pork makes you stupid: Nope, parasites and other microorganisms that affect the brain, along with environment influences tend to make people stupid.

Pork meat in difficult to digest: Yep, just as difficult to digest as lamb, goat, beef, poultry and bran.

Pork meat is very fatty: Sorry, pork tenderloin is one of the least fatty meats there is. Ham, once trimmed, is over 96 percent fat free.

Pork is full of saturated fat: As is the fat of most animals. Face it beef tallow in pretty saturated and have you noticed how chicken fat congeals at room temperature?

Eating pork shortens your life span: This I found extremely entertaining! Follow this simple logic: If pork shortens the consumer's life span, then countries consuming the most pork meat per capita would have the shortest per capita life span. Does that make sense? What country consumes the most pork per capita? Denmark, love those Danish baby back ribs! So Danes are dieing in their early years because these heathens eat unclean meat! Those sorry pork fat-swilling Danes! Nope, they live well above average life spans!

So how did the whole anti-pork religious movement start? I guess in the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of the modern religions (Hindus give me a moment to deal with the big three. I know you were the first monotheistic religion that happened to involve a trinity. Chill out and relax!) Two millennia ago for the Christian and 1.4 millennia ago to the followers of Islam, and 4000 plus years ago for Judaism, the prophets delivered the word of God to their followers. Their words were divinely inspired and above reproach! So I won't mess with them.

The words of the followers that try to explain the words of the prophets? Ha, open season Bubba! The
Word of God is beyond reproach, but mortal interpretations of the intent of the Word can be reproachable! I have to imagine that God and his prophets were more concerned with getting people to understand the thou shalt nots and don't plow your neighbor's heifer! Simple stuff that the average follower can't seem to get a handle on. If the followers might have clued in on the basics, maybe God would have gotten into more advanced stuff like environmental protection, microbiology and refrigeration.

So back to the olden days before Christianity and Islam. In the Northern lands of the soon to be called heathens or infidels, pork was not as much of a problem. These Northern heathens found that fully cooked pork was tasty and the pork eaters were no more loopy or unhealthy that the average mead drinker. The Romans were pork eaters, but they also liked to cook wine in lead pots. So wealthy lead pot owning Romans were nuts anyway. That would make it hard for Romans to associate stupidity with pork eating.

It took a couple of millennia for scientists to find out about the little parasites, bacteria etc. and how to kill 'em. Freezing the meat wipes out the little buggers and cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 140 degrees or over, finishes the job. So if pork is not a bad thing, why didn't God say, "Freeze and the fully cook the meat of the swine, my children, if you wish to enjoy great barbeque?" Because the chosen were still plowing the wrong heifers? Because the thou shalt not kill thing never really caught on?

Don't know. I talk to Him a lot, but he hasn't helped me out on the pork thing yet. So pork may be one of those, figure it out on your own things. Being created in the image of God should mean more than being furless bipeds with opposable thumbs. Maybe thinking for yourself was a part of that?

Anyhow, I think that religion is more that just understanding the past, but understanding the present and looking to the future with morality. Science does not need to replace religion, it needs to compliment religion. While science and religion battle on many fronts, I choose my battles. Pork is my choice, so let the battle begin.

This article was submitted for non-payment. Associated Content does not endourse this author's views or own and barbeque restaurants.