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Tuesday 28 September 2010

Why are the requirements of Islam of more importance than the requirements of another religion?

Archbishop Cranmer writes about the revelations that Halal meat is being sold at Wembley Stadium and in many UK supermarkets, without being marked as from such a source.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of killing an animal without it being stunned first it is important to realise that
'when it comes to halal, we are all being sold meat without being made aware of the fact that what we are eating has been ritually blessed and dedicated to Allah.'
As a Jew do I want to eat meat that has been dedicated by a religion many of whose members, if they follow the instructions of the Koran, presumably would like to see me and family dead? But Archbishop Cranmer makes a very good point regarding another religious minority in the UK, one that rarely makes the headlines but one that will fight its corner if need be:
'Unlike Hindus, some Sikhs eat meat, not least because one of their gurus is recorded as being a hunter. Yet within the Sikh faith are the ‘kurahit’, or prohibitions, one of which is to not eat meat ‘killed in the Muslim way’. The origins, as ever, have more to do with the politics of identity, but it is a sustained article of belief for Sikhs all over the world – they are simply not permitted to eat halal meat at all. '


maybe the only way to be sure that your meat has not been slaughtered ‘Bismillah Allah-hu-Akbar!’ (‘In the name of Allah, who is the greatest’) is to buy pork or other meat from a pig. However this does not really help an observant Jew...

Part of one comment from Archbishop Cranmer's site caught my attention:
'Preacher said...
If we have visited a Muslim country we have almost certainly eaten halal meat, or in Israel Kosher meat. As Dr Cranmer so rightly points out, it's the deceit that is wrong. I've heard of Muslim cab & bus drivers who have refused to accept dogs, even guide dogs in their vehicles on religous grounds & I'm sure that if a strict Muslim were in some way to be sold pork in say a meatball there would be riots. The only answer is to boycott the stores that are using this subterfuge, go veggie as in the book of Daniel 1 vs 8-21 (might be beneficial) or exist on the good old British breakfast with loads of sausage & Bacon. '

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