religions and food

[mollykins]

Two random questions about religion and food but i thought that this was the best place to post.

1) Jews can't eat pigs and shellfish etc, but can they been cannibals? if they can, is it (il)legal to be a cannibal in a jewish country? i know sthat in some african and probably asian countries you can eat human meat.

2) Also, with religions that say you can't drink alcohol such as islam, is it because it can intoxicate you and make you do stuff you shouldn't, or allow you to be taken advantage of? And if so, can you put alcohol in a cream sauce for example, then burning it off, so you have the flavour, but not the intoxicating affects, even if it is only a small amount?

[bigfoot3000]

Which countries can you eat human meat in?

[mollykins]

well maybe its not legal, but it happens.

[bigfoot3000]

I remember seeing a program a little while ago about the tribes in Papua New Guinea and I can recall the reporter saying that in the past if you killed someone that the victims family were allowed to kill and eat you in revenge!

[boxtops]

1. None of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) condone cannibalism. The prohibitions are in Leviticus in the Bible, this contains all the prohibited animals and fsh which Jews and Muslims are not allowed to eat - although the Bible is a Christian book, all three faiths come from the same root and you will find the same (or very similar) prohibitions in the Koran and the Torah.
2. No. Islam forbids alcohol in all forms, you are not supposed to take medication with alcohol content or anything where alcohol is or has been present. The reasoning goes back to the formation of the religion in 600 AD - the people in those days often used to turn up to prayers intoxicated, so firstly Mohammed suggested that they should drink less and then less and eventually the ruling was brought in that alcohol is banned, because if affects your reasoning and in the Islamic mind it makes you think less clearly and therefore less able to devote your time to prayers. Islam (in its true simple form, not allowing for extremists etc) is a peaceful religion and I have bene to some very enthusiastic Muslim weddings, where everyone has had a very good time but there has been no alcohol involved.

[mollykins]

and i think there was a thread on here a while ago, about some tribe eating the brain of their dead relative, and then they all got some disease from it.

[cls14]

Humans do not chew cud normally so they are not kosher. So no, Jews cannot be cannibals. I also doubt that any country's law states you are allowed to eat human flesh, although if someone can provide evidence to the contrary i'd believe it.

I'm pretty sure that is why you cannot drink alcohol if you are Muslim. In Christianity excess drinking is warned against for that reason. In Islam you are not allowed to put alcohol in food full stop, burnt off or not.

[TCL-MUMPING]

Alcohol is not halal so it can't be in cooking even for the flavour or in cosmetics as one of the ingredients.

[mollykins]

Boxtops, what about what i said, if you burn the alcohol off, and there is only the flavour, and no intoxicating affects left?

[boxtops]

Absolutely not, mollykins - the alcohol has been there and that's enough to make it haram (forbidden). (The opposite - halal - refers to food and drink which IS acceptable to Muslims).

[mollykins]

sorry cl and tcl, i didn't see your posts.

[Androcles]

Interesting question and answers, Mollykins. Here is a slightly different view:

http://www.hiddenmyst...haryaS/cannibal.shtml

[boxtops]

Indeed interesting, Androcles, I'm going to have a good read of that, thanks for posting!

[jno]

when taking communion, Christians believe the consecrated bread and wine they consume are the body and blood of Christ. So, um, yes, they're cannibals, at least by their own lights.

[mollykins]

hypothetically, or is it metaphorically, that means that christians are cannibals, intresting. . .

[Mamyalynne]

The consecrated bread and wine `symbolises` !!

[mollykins]

symbolically, they are cannibals, and symbolically practically means the same as metaphorically and hypothetically.

[boxtops]

It's not the same mollykins, you will not find many agreeing with your perception. The wine and wafers taken at Holy Communicion are blessed and are said to represent the blood and body of Christ - it's not the same as cooking someone and eating them.

[mollykins]

its metaphorical cannibalism!

[boxtops]

No, it's symbolism, very different.

[jno]

doctrine in some Christian churches, including Catholics, is that they are in fact the body and blood of Christ, not metaphors and not symbols.

http://en.wikipedia.o...#Eucharistic_theology