Why Does God Hate Pigs?

128993549193708521More to the point, why do Jews and Muslims hate pigs, since god doesn't exist. But for the sake of argument, let's look at the bible and quran to see what they say about the other white meat.

Question: Are pigs native to the Middle East, then? If no decent jew or muslim could eat them, why were they raised and by whom?

God seems quite fickle about what were were to eat:

  • Adam and Eve are supposed to eat a vegan diet: Genesis 1:29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

  • Noah and his sons can eat any living thing, but they have to drain the blood first: Genesis 9:2-4: And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.


That didn't last long because in Deuteronomy and Leviticus he gets into all the things that are forbidden. Here I'll highlight the references to swine.

  • Leviticus 11:7: And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

  • Deuteronomy 14:8: And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.


In Proverbs, we see more insults to the pig and loose women:

  • Proverbs 11:22: As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.


funny-pictures-kitten-tastes-uncooked-bacon1In Isaiah, eating swineflesh or mice means god will have to kill you:

  • Isaiah 66:16-17: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. God will "plead with all flesh" with fire and sword, "and the slain of the Lord shall be many." They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.


What does the new testament say about the pig?

Jesus obviously hated pigs. He killed a whole herd of them in the gospels:

  • Matthew 8:32: And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. (Same story Mark 5:7-17, Luke 8:26-37)


In all three accounts Jesus and his posse are asked to leave. Maybe because they were valuable pigs.

Why drive demons into a herd of swine? Isn't that wasteful? Who's herd was it? Why would anyone be raising pigs if Jews couldn't eat them? Why not just zap the demons with laser eyes or something? Jesus was so unimaginative, if you ask me. (Don't even get me started about his hatred of a fig tree)

Jesus also insults pigs (as well as dogs):

  • Matthew 7:6: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.


funny-pictures-bacon-not-doneBut then, to confuse matters (we know how consistent and On Message the bible is), Some heavenly voice talks to Peter. It's apparently the lord.

  • Acts 10:10-16: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.


So if god cleans it, then it's not common and OK to eat? Oh, these weird visions. Even Peter didn't know what the hell it meant.

Now in Romans, we have more conflicting messages:

  • Romans 14:2: For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.


So if you are a believer you can eat anything, but you're weak if you're a vegetarian? But wait! There's more!

  • Romans 14:14-15: I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.


Ok, now nothing is unclean (yay, bacon!) of itself, but if you think it's icky, then it's icky. Is that like The Secret or something? Your thoughts make things dirty? What is the second verse? Christ died for bacon? No? Well it doesn't make much sense to me. (Then again I'm a lowly woman and I can't teach or ask questions about the bible, so this is all circumspect anyway.)

One more:

  • Romans 14:21: It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.


Srsly, WTF? That's the same chapter! Am I the only one who finds it confusing?

Speaking of Timothy:

1 Timothy 4:1-4: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

swine-flu-originsSo some will leave the faith and become vegetarians. I guess that's bad? But it clarifies the issue, that now every creature of god is good and not to be refused. Just be thankful about it. I guess they got tired of not eating pork and rabbits and other creatures. Probably because they were low on goats, having sacrificed so many to their god (who loves the smell of burning flesh.. NOM!)

Now, just to be fair, allah in the quran also hates pigs but only has to mention it twice:

  • The Cow 2:173: He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.


So, as a side note, islam talks of other gods, then too. But like christianity and judaism, you have to only worship the one hateful god of your people, I guess.

  • The Table Spread 5:3: Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swineflesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the goring of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful (by the death-stroke), and that which hath been immolated unto idols. And (forbidden is it) that ye swear by the divining arrows. This is an abomination. This day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear Me! This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion al-Islam. Whoso is forced by hunger, not by will, to sin: (for him) lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.


Oh, and saying allah is merciful and forgiving in between mentioning all the doom he's going to heap on you for any little thing doesn't lessen the cognitive dissonance (aka, the CRAZY).

17 comments:

  1. "Jesus died for bacon"

    I'm willing to go with that.

    As a note about the Secret comment: Isn't all of religion wishing thinking? Why bother only pointing out a specific part?

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  2. Why would anyone be raising pigs if Jews couldn’t eat them?

    There were Greeks and Romans living in the area, as well.

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  3. Cuz they're slothful greedy glutonous little porkers. Or at least that's the image you conjure when you see a *caged* farm pig right?

    And you are what you eat right?

    ...

    It was probably more to do with society of course. Only the rich could really afford a lot of meat, so have the masses think they shouldn't eat it anyways and they won't revolt.

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  4. If you're really athiest, why do you go about even quoting (I should say, "proof-texting") scripture? You don't believe in god, so why do you give a rat's ass?
    I'm no big believer, but if we all got here due to a 'big bang',I want to know what made it happen, and most likely never shall know.I want to believe there's a caring, beneficent force, but if there is, it only lives in the hearts of some humans.
    I say with certitude that you already KNOW that the Bible and Koran were written by wealty, literate,educated, and privileged males, some years after the man Jesus made an exit of some sort. That's called oral tradition, and it can really get fucked up, just like a game of gossip-so people believe what they want or what an impressionable preacher tells them (yes, that means they're gullible).
    Fix on your own arguments. Those who ardently believe will only offer to pray for you. They are INVESTED IN THEIR BELIEFS.They don't want to listen to you or care what you think!

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  5. Seriously?

    We quote the Bible because that is what they use. It's hard to get through to people when all they care about ultimately is what the Bible says, so we quote it to give our argument strength to them.

    And miscellaneous other reasons. The questions is, why the hell can't we? This whole article is after all, about what the Bible says.

    Why do atheists "give a rat's ass"? Why not? Here's why anyways.
    http://www.alternet.org/story/140914/why_do_atheists_have_to_talk_about_atheism_because_we%27re_right./

    .

    Big bang... nothing "made" it happen, it happened. The exact reasons why it happened can easily be found out through actually researching what the Big Bang is. Pointless to "want", that doesn't add anything to what you are saying.

    "but if there is, it only lives in the hearts of some humans"
    What a very ugly and insensitive thing to say. So only some humans? Wait, let me guess, only ones like you right? Why not them all? Furthermore, why only in the "hearts"? A heart, for that matter, is nothing but to pump blood, it doesn't feel emotion, that's your brain. Funny how people get so caught up in silly symbolism that it sneaks into how they view the world. And why only humans? You think humans are so superior to all other life?

    "some years after the man Jesus made an exit of some sort"
    Ahem, everybody knows that the Bible and Koran were written after the fact by other men. But did Jesus ever really exist anyways? What does your whole passage about this really amount to? What are you trying to say?

    I think the truth is, you need to fix your own arguments. This article, has absolutely nothing to fix about it. It's only quoting some paradoxical passages from the Bible with a little commentary. She doesn't even really need to add too much commentary, the passages speak for themselves at the craziness.

    Your whole rant, was rather pointless and off the mark in my mind.

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  6. All of religion is about brainwashing, control and wishful thinking. Sometimes it's good to look at specific examples of its insanity.

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  7. Interesting perspective, GMN. Yeah, I think when you cage an intelligent animal it kind of goes a bit crazy and acts up. But uncaged pigs are clean, very smart and quite social.

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  8. Thanks GMN. I agree with you. :D

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  9. Key statement: You WANT to believe. So you've formed your belief, then you fit whatever facts you need to get you to rationalize that belief as true.
    I don't want to believe. I want to KNOW.
    This article and this blog are not for believers or people invested in their faith. This blog and this article are for people who are either on the fence and might want ideas and concepts to contemplate to help them with logic and reasoning, or for people who are nonbelievers who are faced with explaining their lack of belief to others.

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  10. So let me get this straight. So 'god' makes an agreement with a certain group of people that if they would follow him closely and do whatever he says, they will be richly rewarded and all the nations of the earth would be prosper because of them. They make a deal and sign it in blood. He tells them lots of practical things like not to lie or kill and to love each other and he also tells them some hard to swallow (pun intended) things like don't eat pigs and cook your food a certain way. They struggle and struggle and of course fail over and over to adhere to all this then later he says "okay, end of agreement, and by the way, that pig thing wasn't really about pigs so just forget about except that in your new freedom be mindful that some people out there may not feel free yet so do try not to offend them in your new freedoms...Oh one more thing, I'm still going to give you all the richness from the 1st agreement, I'm just calling off the 1st agreement, it really was just a lesson anyway. Now instead of you relying on your own efforts to be a good people, I'll just come and live inside you. Oh and BTW, that first agreement had the 'appearance' of a good plan because I know you are a shallow and religious lot and I wanted you to understand that religion would get you no where and I only wanted to have to prove this once so I put a lot of effort into making that religion quite special to prove my point that religion does not work!"

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  11. It got a bit convoluted in there, David, but yeah, it kinda worked like that. Except, of course, there really wasn't any god at all! Oops! :P

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  12. Life is full of ironies isn't it? Have you noticed that atheists seem to have exceptional morals / standards of behavior without the 'benefit' of religious beliefs? It seems to me the judeo/christian story that has somehow super charged so many religious fanatics, has within it it, many anti-religious tenets, so many so that it seems to have as much or more in common with atheists than the folks that claim to be the 'keepers of the faith'. A couple of quick examples: Jesus was asked where men should worship and he is quoted as saying his followers won't go to Jerusalem or any place else to worship but will worship him by being good and truthful (my rough paraphrase). Contrast that to the fact that most christians 'worship' by going to a special place on a special day and listen to a special guy with a special message. Here is another one. The brother of Jesus (James) is quoted as saying 'pure religion is this, stay uncorrupted by the world and take care of widows and orphans'. From my outsider's perspective, christian 'worship' looks more like a beverage one opens and consumes and less like what Jesus (the assumed 'head' christian) said his followers would do. Frankly I'm not certain Jesus was a christian :-) and I'm also not so certain that all the anti-religious sentiment out there today is as much anti-god (or anti-Jesus) as it is simply 1) anti-religion (e.g. a justifiable reaction to negative experiences with religious people) coupled with 2) an assumption that god is *just* a religious notion.

    $.02
    David

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  13. Ever hear the comment 'never eat pork when there is an "r" in the month ( like april).Where's that from?
    What about only fish on Friday?
    Jews dont eat sea food.(maybe muslims as well).

    Get HUNGRY some time you will eat shit.

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  14. I can't say I've ever heard the first expression. That's a new one on me.
    I'm not catholic so I am not sure about why they only eat fish on Friday. Another ridiculously arbitrary rule.
    Jews don't eat seafood? I don't think that's accurate. They shouldn't eat shellfish, because of Leviticus, but I'm pretty sure they can and do eat fish. I'm not sure what strange dietary restrictions muslims have.

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  15. Muslims do that blood letting thing,facing east when they slaughter a beast.
    Do Jews is that what 'Kosher" is?
    Catholics eat their young,a well known practice,except for Fridays of course.

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  16. You're just making up insults, Bill, We all know atheists eat babies, not catholics. They don't eat ANY meat on Fridays except fish! :P

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