Why Billions of People Around the World Do Not Eat Pork

A Hadith states; “There are Muslims who fast and get nothing from their fast except hunger, and there are those who pray and get nothing from their prayer but a sleepless night.” Prophet Muhammad.

Millions of people spend billions of dollars on pills, diet books, and gym memberships but still lack the self-discipline to control themselves. Young people are leading the way in increasing self-indulgence.

Yet billions of people around the world don’t eat pork. Their reasons vary. Most of those who avoid pork cite religious beliefs. Others avoid eating pork because of its environmental impact. Still others, are upset by the treatment of both pigs and humans in pork processing plants. And many can’t forget how filthy pigs are inside and out.

The Biblical opposition to eating pork is best known as Kosher; and is actually a whole set of rules that exist behind that label, including many types of divergent meat, that kosher eaters can consume. Pork stands at the forefront is the types of meat that kosher eaters will and won’t eat.

Pork, song birds, along with shellfish, are considered unclean animals. As such, the 22% of American Jews (and countless others around the world) who follow kosher diets don’t eat pork. To be kosher, an animal must chew its cud and have a cloven hoof. While pigs have a cloven hoof, they don’t chew their cud. Cows, goats and sheep fit both criteria, which is why those animals end up on dinner plates in kosher households.

The Quran says that certain foods, called “haram,” are considered impure, with pork being the best know of them. Although the dietary laws in the Quran do not go back as far as Kosher food laws do, modern science has supported the rationale behind the halal designation that labels meats to eat for Muslims around the world.

Although many of India’s religions don’t forbid pork consumption, the influence of the country’s Muslim conquerors continues to guide people’s food choices today.

The PEW Research Center has indicated that 81% of Indians submit to some restrictions in their diets where meat is concerned. But how this plays out varies, meaning that some of them won’t eat cow meat, and or pork. Others restrict the days that they will eat meat, and most Indians claim to be vegetarian. These restrictions vary because of the variety of different religions, which include Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Jains, all of which have their own sets of dietary laws. While it’s true that there are religious reasons for some Indians to refrain from pork consumption, there is also a general feeling amongst Indians that pigs are walking diseases.

God forbade eating pork in the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus 11) primarily to set Israel apart as holy, symbolizing purity, but also for potential health reasons, as pigs were considered unclean scavengers carrying parasites like Trichinella. Some folks feel that pork is a lower quality protein option given it’s high fat content, tendency to be treated with nitrates, and tendency of viral diseases being transmitted to humans.

After Jesus was gone the Council of Jerusalem instructed gentile Christians not to follow all the Torah rules of Kosher; and only not to consume blood, food offered to idols, or the meat of strangled animals, since “the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

The most unhealthy meats are processed meats (bacon, hot dogs, deli slices, sausage) due to high sodium, preservatives, and saturated fats, linked to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, followed closely by highly processed chicken products (nuggets) and conventionally raised red meat, especially if cooked at high temperatures, which increases risk for chronic diseases like colorectal cancer and heart issues.

So several religions, most notably Islam and Judaism, forbid all the consumption of pork, regarding all pigs as unclean. Other religions and sects, including Seventh-day Adventists, Rastafarianism, Hinduism (often), Jainism, and Buddhist traditions, also restrict pork or all the varied types of meat consumption.

Within the next 1-2 generations the majestic prediction of Prophet Isaiah (11:6-9) that most people will eat plant-meat every day and Prophet Isaiah’s vision will. come to fulfillment:: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie with the kid, and a calf with a lion’s cub all together, and a small child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw (that tastes) like cattle.

An infant shall play over the hole of an asp, and the weaned child shall put out his hand over the eyeball of an adder. They will not harm or destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as (long as) the waters cover the sea.”