Thursday, August 21, 2008

Chao Zeh Bai!

This morning, while I was having my lunch at the vegetarian eating place, a thought other than the constant reminder that the handmade noodles taste great came to me - What is the point of having faux meat when you are abstaining from meat?

As explained by Hong You : "The intent is not to harm lives for consumption lor i suppose"
"eating faux meat is to so-called recreate the enjoyment of eating meat without the "harming lives" part"
they ban it altoghter
Would I be wrong to say that by eating faux meat, one is expressing an intent to have a taste of what real meat taste like? And in that, also express an intent to actually eat meat? Wouldn't that mean an intent to harm lives for consumption then?

If one says that he/she ate the faux meat because he chose to, and not because he/she couldn't, why call it faux MEAT then? Let's rename it (following footsteps of Matsumoto, who suggested renaming sweet curry to FLINFON) as er.... Zeh Bai! Zeh is the hokkien word for 斋, or vegetarian. At least that would be better than calling them faux fish, beef, chicken, mutton or pork!

Speaking of pork, I came across an interesting question - Would a muslim, who abstains from pork, eat faux pork?

Of course, this would apply to the Jews as well. I dunno why christians are entitled to babi (malay word for pork) though... Let me point you to Deuteronomy 14:8 of the Bible - "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. 

And for the islamic stand, Ahmad Saleh says: when pork is not being cooked properly, tapeworm is present in the meat. this tapeworm could cause tapeworm infection whr the larvae actually travels from the intestinal tract and sips to the bloodstream. when this larvae situate themelves in the brain. they evolve and cause faulty neuro signals. this will actually trigger "fits". this infection was very common last time when inproper cooking methods was used. that is y to eliminate such incident, the Arabs( who was mainly Nomads and were greatly affected by it), they ban it altoghter. until now it has not be questioned so its still as its status quo.

If this is the case, modern man know how to cook all meat properly now, does that mean they can eat what they want? Similarly, would you eat something that you know is a representation of something unclean? For non-muslims, lets think of eating er... Chocolate ice cream that bears an uncanny resemblance to this morning's poop.

I shall leave it here, please leave a comment or tag about what your views are. I think it would be an interesting read for all. Personally, if I were to get myself a vegetarian meal, I'd be happy to just get vegetables, mushrooms and rice/noodles.

6 comments:

sweet propaganda said...

The difference between halal and non halal meat is in the way the animal is being slaughtered. Technically, there is no way in slaughtering pigs such that it'll be halal. Thus, another reason why Muslims cannot eat pork.

Also, faux pork is just that. So I guess Muslims can eat faux pork (?). I mean, the char siew rice at 7-11 is halal and I've eaten that like, a billion times. As long as it's not pork, I guess it's alright? Moreover, it's all soy products at the end of it anyway. And an alternative to not being able to eat the real thing.

Anonymous said...

the original intent between rules of cleanliness in the bible (and koran and talmud. its the same damn thing originally.)
were all meant for hygiene (or so its theorised).
so in this day and age, yes it doesnt make sense in the original manner.
maybe its because pork is associated with decadence and/or spiritual "uncleanliness"?

ブルース様 said...

in this case, is this right to say that the pork is spiritually unclean rather than physically? in that case i wouldn't eat faux pork if i were a muslim as it resembles an unclean entity.

sweet propaganda said...

it's physically unclean.
animals' blood retains impurities, and in a pig's case - uric acid; which is the same things in our pee. in fact, it retains 98% percent of its uric acid and thus, by not being able to slaughter it in a "halal manner", it's still not "clean" enough for us to eat.

D. Munky said...

oh... i kinda get it i suppose...

wan said...

the qn about eating faux pork for muslims should first pertain to what material faux pork is made of, in this case, vege/soy products. buy nature soy prods are halal so it follows that faux pork is halal. it is pork only in name and in the way it is shaped, not pork by material. a muslim can mould bread into a shape of a cute pig can still eat it, no problem.

there is a misconception amongst muslims themselves with regards to babi and dogs, yes, they are unclean, but never are they associated with sin, unlike alcohol and intoxication. it is therefore not sinful for muslims to touch dogs/pigs. any hatred of those creatures of god based on uncleanliness is unfounded in the religion. the Prophet upon whom be peace said that a whore was sent to paradise on account of her quenching the thrist of a stray dog.