Are pigs really "dirty" to eat?

[Anthem]

As I understand it - correct me if I'm wrong - the rule that Muslims cannot eat pig's meat did not come from Allah, but Muhammad. He made the rule himself.

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

It just feels to me like Muhammad may have been one of those people who simply didn''t happen to like pigs or their meat and now 1500 years later all these Muslims refrain from eating it.

 

[Altfish]

Bacon Butty

I rest my case

 

[danieldemol]

As I understand it - correct me if I'm wrong - the rule that Muslims cannot eat pig's meat did not come from Allah, but Muhammad. He made the rule himself.

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

It just feels to me like Muhammad may have been one of those people who simply didn''t happen to like pigs or their meat and now 1500 years later all these Muslims refrain from eating it.

Just going off the top of my head I think from memory trichinella parasites were discovered in pork within a couple of decades of 1835, however adequately cooking the meat destroys the parasites.

However no one would have known about microbes until after the invention of the microscope, so there was benefit to banning pork products until these modern scientific discoveries were made.

 

[HonestJoe]

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

I believe there are some practical arguments against keeping pigs for meat but none of them are especially compelling. The fact the structure crosses both Islam and Judaism suggests it comes from an earlier shared source but that could be as simple as the originators of that precursor religion were sheep farmers who didn’t like the pig farmers in the next valley. Maybe but for a small quirk of fate in the prospects of those early people, we could have seen lamb or beef being the non-kosher/haram meat instead.

 

[Jumi]

As I understand it - correct me if I'm wrong - the rule that Muslims cannot eat pig's meat did not come from Allah, but Muhammad. He made the rule himself.

It's passed down from Jewish dietary laws. They also forbade eating pigs. That's why some Muslims feel safe eating kosher foods.

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

Not really, just in a religious sense.

 

[Anthem]

I think jesus had a problem with pork. Didnt he harrass some non religious Israelites, who herded pigs?

when and where?

 

[Jumi]

I think the Apostle Paul said that some of these laws were from a demon. [Arabia, or such, origin. So, difficult to say. Some of these dudes may have been worshipping fallen angel type beings

Are you saying Leviticus 11:7, Deuteronomy 14:8 came from some kind of demons? What would that make the Bible ....

 

[exchemist]

As I understand it - correct me if I'm wrong - the rule that Muslims cannot eat pig's meat did not come from Allah, but Muhammad. He made the rule himself.

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

It just feels to me like Muhammad may have been one of those people who simply didn''t happen to like pigs or their meat and now 1500 years later all these Muslims refrain from eating it.

Pork spoils very fast in the heat, unlike mutton and lamb so this may be one reason why the two desert religions don't like it. But danieldemol raises a good point re transmissible parasites. Pigs, being omnivorous, could well pick up a range of things to infect humans through eating their meat. It is still the practice to cook pork throughly to this day, for that reason.

 

[HonestJoe]

It's passed down from Jewish dietary laws. They also forbade eating pigs. That's why some Muslims feel safe eating kosher foods.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Just going off the top of my head I think from memory trichinella parasites were discovered in pork within a couple of decades of 1835, however adequately cooking the meat destroys the parasites.

However no one would have known about microbes until after the invention of the microscope, so there was benefit to banning pork products until these modern scientific discoveries were made.

If you think that’s the reason for the rule, why do you think they didn’t also ban chicken? It’s generally riskier than pork and has to be cooked to a higher temperature.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As I understand it - correct me if I'm wrong - the rule that Muslims cannot eat pig's meat did not come from Allah, but Muhammad. He made the rule himself.

So ....is pig's meat really dirtier than cow's or bull's or deer's or rabbit's or donkey's or dog's etc.¿

It just feels to me like Muhammad may have been one of those people who simply didn''t happen to like pigs or their meat and now 1500 years later all these Muslims refrain from eating it.

It seems to me that the Jewish prohibition on pork came from the fact that the ancient Jews were nomads and pigs were associated with a rejection of a nomadic lifestyle: if you keep pigs, you keep them in a pen on your farm. Nobody wanders the countryside with a herd of pigs. For Jews who were trying to make themselves separate and distinct from the cultures around them, pigs would have been a major indicator that distinguished “us” from “them.”

For the Muslims, I’m not sure if the prohibition on pork came from the same mindset, or if it came from the idea that if they were going to co-opt the Abrahamic god, then they also ought to adopt some of the teachings that were attributed to that god.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I have the solution:

 

[Subduction Zone]

And on a more serious note the chicken may be responsible partially for pork being non-kosher, that along with water needs for pigs. Pork simply does not work for nomadic peoples. They need a constant source of water. Sheep and chickens not so much. A nice little article on this:

People Ate Pork in the Middle East Until 1,000 B.C.—What Changed? | Smart News | Smithsonian

 

[pearl]

I think they used to be. When you think about like any other animal or fish for that matter, we eat whatever the animal ate. Most pig farms today are clean and their diet better, especially those raised free range. I maybe wrong but I think the Jewish dietary laws concerning meat allows those animals who have a 'cloven hoof and chews its cud'. I don't know if Islam has such a dietary law other than a pork restriction.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I think they used to be. When you think about like any other animal or fish for that matter, we eat whatever the animal ate. Most pig farms today are clean and their diet better, especially those raised free range. I maybe wrong but I think the Jewish dietary laws concerning meat allows those animals who have a 'cloven hoof and chews its cud'. I don't know if Islam has such a dietary law other than a pork restriction.

Why would "free range" pork be any better? Today practically all pork is factory raised and as a result much cleaner than outside pork. "Free range" pork is not all that kind to animals either. Males need to be castrated and their noses are often ringed to keep them from rooting:

What you should know about free-range pigs.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

And on a more serious note the chicken may be responsible partially for pork being non-kosher, that along with water needs for pigs. Pork simply does not work for nomadic peoples. They need a constant source of water. Sheep and chickens not so much. A nice little article on this:

People Ate Pork in the Middle East Until 1,000 B.C.—What Changed? | Smart News | Smithsonian

There's also the issue of food: pretty much anything a pig can eat, people can eat, too, so in lean times, pigs can be a drain on the food supply for people.

This means that pigs are in a lot of ways a luxury good that's only feasible in societies that regularly have abundance and don't go through famine cycles.

This part's just a guess, but I could see this leading to pigs as either being denigrated as something that only "soft" or "decadent" societies have, or as something that oppressive empires (who ensure that they don't deal with famine themselves by feeding off the societies they oppress) have.

 

[Revoltingest]

I have the solution:

And for those who eschew GMO meat....

 

[Thief]

Most pig farms today are clean and their diet better,

I've seen a documentary about hog farming

not good

especially the part about 100injections per animal to keep the meat healthy
you eat a lot of antibiotics when you partake

i have long accepted the problem
so far so good
my chemistry seems to be working in spite of the exposure

 

[suncowiam]

And even the choice of food illustrates how antiquated religion can be...

It's based on nonsense. It's conjecture being spoon fed through religion.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Somebody probably made chitlins.