How unholy is a bacon cheeseburger?
November 19, 2010 9:33 AM Subscribe
How unholy is a bacon cheeseburger? I know that a bacon cheeseburger is treyf in Judaism and forbidden in Hinduism. In what other religions would eating a bacon cheeseburger be frowned upon? [Note: For the sake of clarity, I'm talking about a beef patty with melted American cheese, regular bacon, ketchup, and served on a standard white-bread bun]
Well, depending on your interpretation:
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Could really go either way there, I suppose.
I hope you don't take this as noise. This verse is actually cited by Christians when discussing things like drugs, food, etc.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:36 AM on November 19, 2010
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Could really go either way there, I suppose.
I hope you don't take this as noise. This verse is actually cited by Christians when discussing things like drugs, food, etc.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:36 AM on November 19, 2010
Best answer: Buddhism (meat, not exactly eating in moderation)
Hinduism (cow)
Islam (pig, halal beef)
Judaism (pig, kosher beef, meat and dairy together)
Rastafarianism (meat)
Catholicism (meat on certain days)
Seventh-Day Adventist (meat)
And then, of course, anything else if you're looking to chow down on a fasting day.
[source]
posted by phunniemee at 9:40 AM on November 19, 2010
Hinduism (cow)
Islam (pig, halal beef)
Judaism (pig, kosher beef, meat and dairy together)
Rastafarianism (meat)
Catholicism (meat on certain days)
Seventh-Day Adventist (meat)
And then, of course, anything else if you're looking to chow down on a fasting day.
[source]
posted by phunniemee at 9:40 AM on November 19, 2010
Best answer: Obviously, it also violates the dietary laws of religions that require vegetarianism, such as Jainism, certain sects of Buddhism, Seventh-Day Adventism, etc.
It would also be forbidden in some versions of Rastafarianism, which variously prohibit pork, meat in general, or food anywhere prepared with metal implements.
posted by Electrius at 9:42 AM on November 19, 2010
It would also be forbidden in some versions of Rastafarianism, which variously prohibit pork, meat in general, or food anywhere prepared with metal implements.
posted by Electrius at 9:42 AM on November 19, 2010
Followers of Jainism are strict vegetarians, so I imagine they'd frown upon eating a bacon cheeseburger.
Oh, and most of the Sikhs I know don't eat beef, although I'm not sure it's specifically prohibited by their religion.
posted by Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo at 9:43 AM on November 19, 2010
Oh, and most of the Sikhs I know don't eat beef, although I'm not sure it's specifically prohibited by their religion.
posted by Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo at 9:43 AM on November 19, 2010
Catholics are enjoined from eating meat on the Fridays during Lent.
Fasting for us is also defined as a tiny amount of food in a single day. Some of it could be meat (unless it's Good Friday, see above). The rules might be a bit different outside of the US.
posted by jquinby at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2010
Fasting for us is also defined as a tiny amount of food in a single day. Some of it could be meat (unless it's Good Friday, see above). The rules might be a bit different outside of the US.
posted by jquinby at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2010
The bacon violates the dietary restriction in Islam that is probably most widely obeyed. The beef would also need to meet certain standards, although the precise standard varies from Muslim to Muslim. But the bacon, that's unquestionably not permissible in Islam.
posted by bardophile at 10:06 AM on November 19, 2010
posted by bardophile at 10:06 AM on November 19, 2010
Some interpretations of the Wiccan Rede ('An it harm none, do what ye will') would make the bacon cheeseburger unacceptable, as they count killing animals for meat as harm. It's very much not a universal (I don't know enough Wiccans to judge if it's a minority or a majority interpretation).
posted by Coobeastie at 10:39 AM on November 19, 2010
posted by Coobeastie at 10:39 AM on November 19, 2010
My Orthodox Jewish friends explained it to me like this: treif is treif. A bacon cheeseburger is no worse than a cheeseburger, or a big ol' slab of bacon. You can't make something more, or less, treif.
It is worth noting, however, that if it came down to eating something treif, or dying of hunger—you can eat.
posted by SansPoint at 10:43 AM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
It is worth noting, however, that if it came down to eating something treif, or dying of hunger—you can eat.
posted by SansPoint at 10:43 AM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Mormons' Word of Wisdom states: "Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."
(Modern Mormons pretty much overlook that portion of the Word of Wisdom, and instead focus vehemently on the alcohol/tobacco/drugs bit and less vehemently on the inferred coffee/tea/caffeine-free bit. It's your take on just how unholy that makes a nice, juicy bacon burger for the purpose of your question.)
posted by moira at 10:45 AM on November 19, 2010
(Modern Mormons pretty much overlook that portion of the Word of Wisdom, and instead focus vehemently on the alcohol/tobacco/drugs bit and less vehemently on the inferred coffee/tea/caffeine-free bit. It's your take on just how unholy that makes a nice, juicy bacon burger for the purpose of your question.)
posted by moira at 10:45 AM on November 19, 2010
I'm pretty sure some religions (some readings of Mormonism?) have trouble with refined grains, so even the white bread bun might be problematic.
posted by knapah at 11:01 AM on November 19, 2010
posted by knapah at 11:01 AM on November 19, 2010
To clarify the Seventh-day Adventist issues with this, there are two: one that it is meat (most SDAs keep a vegetarian diet, and their educational system is vegetarian only) but also that one of the meats is unclean (bacon), so even most Adventists who eat some meat would not eat it because of the bacon (see Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 for a definition of clean vs. unclean meats).
I know of other Christians that stick to the clean/unclean division of meats as well, but I'm not sure whether it's a requirement of their particular religion (Mormon and Church of Christ, if anyone can elaborate).
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 11:08 AM on November 19, 2010
I know of other Christians that stick to the clean/unclean division of meats as well, but I'm not sure whether it's a requirement of their particular religion (Mormon and Church of Christ, if anyone can elaborate).
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 11:08 AM on November 19, 2010
Sikhism is supposed to be vegetarian-only but, of course, interpretations exist.
posted by The Whelk at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2010
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
This is tempered by:
Acts 10:13-15 (New International Version)
13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
The controversy over not eating meat pertained to eating meat sacrificed to 'pagan gods' in temples. Clean or unclean had to do with not being able to eat certain things that might make you sick. No refrigeration. Most likely e-coli and other parasites present in improperly handled pork.
posted by AuntieRuth at 11:27 AM on November 19, 2010
This is tempered by:
Acts 10:13-15 (New International Version)
13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
The controversy over not eating meat pertained to eating meat sacrificed to 'pagan gods' in temples. Clean or unclean had to do with not being able to eat certain things that might make you sick. No refrigeration. Most likely e-coli and other parasites present in improperly handled pork.
posted by AuntieRuth at 11:27 AM on November 19, 2010
This is something of an aside, but the biblical prohibition of milk and meat in Judaism does not include non-kosher meat or milk. So unless the meat was slaughtered and salted in accordance with kosher laws, and you're dealing with kosher cheese, the problem will not be the milk+meat mix. This small distinction is enough to set the rabbis off for a lot of arguing, but there is no argument that a cheeseburger is trayf, and thus forbidden to eat.
The minutiae of kosher (actually, all Jewish) law can be like that; lots of opinions prefaced with the fact that nobody is looking to change the outcome, only the reasoning.
posted by mhz at 11:54 AM on November 19, 2010
The minutiae of kosher (actually, all Jewish) law can be like that; lots of opinions prefaced with the fact that nobody is looking to change the outcome, only the reasoning.
posted by mhz at 11:54 AM on November 19, 2010
A lot of Daoist practitioners in China are vegetarian and there's scriptural support for it being a beneficial or even necessary practice (though some argue the nature of what fasting 齋戒 precisely entailed has varied from era to era and place to place), but then again they don't really set hard and fast rules so it's not mandatory either.
posted by Abiezer at 12:38 PM on November 19, 2010
posted by Abiezer at 12:38 PM on November 19, 2010
Russian Old Believers and Orthodox Ethiopian Christians have fasting periods where a burger of any sort that wasn't vegan would be unholy.
posted by vespabelle at 12:54 PM on November 19, 2010
posted by vespabelle at 12:54 PM on November 19, 2010
I know of other Christians that stick to the clean/unclean division of meats as well, but I'm not sure whether it's a requirement of their particular religion (Mormon and Church of Christ, if anyone can elaborate).
I was a Church of Christ preacher for 15 years, born and raised in the Church of Christ, and educated at a Church of Christ school. I've never heard of any Church of Christ that taught a division between clean and unclean meats, nor met any members that held such a distinction.
Well, depending on your interpretation:
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
It's true that some people have pulled that verse wildly out of context to argue against eating unhealthy diets (or smoking), but in context it's obvious that it's part of an injunction against prostitution. I don't know of any mainstream Christian denominations that have rules against eating certain foods, though some of the fringe movements and less Orthodox groups certainly may.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:49 PM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was a Church of Christ preacher for 15 years, born and raised in the Church of Christ, and educated at a Church of Christ school. I've never heard of any Church of Christ that taught a division between clean and unclean meats, nor met any members that held such a distinction.
Well, depending on your interpretation:
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
It's true that some people have pulled that verse wildly out of context to argue against eating unhealthy diets (or smoking), but in context it's obvious that it's part of an injunction against prostitution. I don't know of any mainstream Christian denominations that have rules against eating certain foods, though some of the fringe movements and less Orthodox groups certainly may.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:49 PM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
To the best of my knowledge, the only restriction on Sikhs regarding meat is that they are not supposed to eat kutha meat — meat killed in a ritualistic manner, such as halal or kosher. One explanation I've read is that it's believed that allowing the animal to bleed to death prolongs its suffering unnecessarily. Another explanation is that the prohibition "does not lie in religious tenet but in the view that killing an animal with a prayer is not going to enoble the flesh." Sikhs who eat meat are supposed to eat jhatka meat, meat from an animal that was decapitated with one clean stroke of a blade.
Some Sikhs eat meat and some don't. Both will argue that the Guru Granth Sahib supports their position, but based on what I've read, the ones who say say that neither Sikh history nor the Granth forbid it sound more persuasive and better able to support their arguments with citations than do the others.
posted by Lexica at 9:08 PM on November 19, 2010
Some Sikhs eat meat and some don't. Both will argue that the Guru Granth Sahib supports their position, but based on what I've read, the ones who say say that neither Sikh history nor the Granth forbid it sound more persuasive and better able to support their arguments with citations than do the others.
posted by Lexica at 9:08 PM on November 19, 2010
Best answer: I don't believe anyone's mentioned Hare Krishnas yet--they are also vegetarians.
posted by box at 8:09 AM on November 20, 2010
posted by box at 8:09 AM on November 20, 2010
Buddhism (meat, not exactly eating in moderation)
While I'm both Buddhist and vegetarian, it's not accurate to say Buddhists don't eat meat. The Buddha left the choice of eating meat up to the individual. There is a precept of not killing, but breaking a precept isn't sinning. Eating meat or not eating meat is karma. This is a pretty good summary.
posted by mendel at 10:17 AM on November 20, 2010
While I'm both Buddhist and vegetarian, it's not accurate to say Buddhists don't eat meat. The Buddha left the choice of eating meat up to the individual. There is a precept of not killing, but breaking a precept isn't sinning. Eating meat or not eating meat is karma. This is a pretty good summary.
posted by mendel at 10:17 AM on November 20, 2010
There's also the part in the NT where Jesus says something to effect of "Don't worry so much about defiling yourself by what goes into your mouth, pay a little more attention to what comes out of it, that's the real problem." Which is also cited by Christians as a "no more rules against eating certain foods".
posted by jeb at 12:24 PM on November 20, 2010
posted by jeb at 12:24 PM on November 20, 2010
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:34 AM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]