diet and religion

Religious regulations about what people may eat and drink. Most religions order and regulate what people eat and drink. Sometimes they make eating and drinking into RITUALS. Examples include the Japanese tea ceremony and the Christian EUCHARIST. Sometimes they teach their adherents to slaughter animals in special ways or dedicate food to religious beings or for religious purposes. That is, they SACRIFICE and make offerings. Sometimes they ask followers to give up eating, drinking, or both, either partially or entirely, for a limited period of time. This is FASTING, which Muslims, for example, do during the month of Ramadan. Religions also make rules about ordinary eating and drinking. That is, they have dietary laws. Dietary laws answer such questions as what foods people should and should not eat, who may prepare and serve food, and when and how much people may eat. There is probably no item on which all religions agree. REGULATIONS CONCERNING MEAT One of the most common topics for dietary laws concerns the eating of meat. Some religions do not allow the eating of meat at all. Traditionally, most Hindus of the highest religious status have not eaten meat. Other Hindus consider some meat and animal products, such as milk, more acceptable than others, such as beef. Many Buddhists have practiced vegetarianism. So have Jains, the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece, Manichaeans, and some Taoists. In the last decades of the 20th century a number of North Americans adopted vegetarianism. They often did so because they wanted a healthy diet, a diet that was responsible to the environment, or both. Other religions allow the eating of meat but strictly regulate which meats may be eaten. The Jewish laws of kashrut—more colloquially, kosher foods—are a good example. Traditional Muslims observe many of the same restrictions on meat products as Jews. Christians do not. Observant Jews eat water animals as long as they have scales and fi ns. Therefore, sole and trout are kosher or acceptable; lobster, shrimp, eels, and catfi sh are not. Observant Jews also eat birds that meet certain requirements. But the best known kosher law concerns land animals. These animals must chew the cud and have cloven hoofs. Pigs do not chew the cud; therefore, observant Jews do not eat pork—and many other meats as well. Observant Jews also do not eat blood. This regulation requires special preparation of meat before cooking. The BIBLE forbids boiling a kid in its mother's milk. The RABBIS extended this rule: It is not proper to eat meat and dairy products in the same meal. Thus, cheeseburgers and pepperoni pizzas are not kosher. Observant households often have two sets of kitchen ware—one for meat meals, the other for dairy meals. After eating a meat or dairy dish, observant Jews also let an appropriate interval—say, six hours—pass before eating foods of the other variety. REGULATIONS CONCERNING OTHER FOODS Religions have had less to say about plant food and dairy products, but they have not ignored them. The followers of Pythagoras were forbidden to eat beans. Members of the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF) are supposed to avoid certain vegetables that recall the experiences of slavery. Technically, Jains may eat only living beings that have a single sense. This principle prohibits them from eating some plants as well as meat. (Most North Americans limit senses to animals, but Jains do not.) Traditional HINDUISM distinguishes between two types of food, pakka and kacca. Hindus who are most concerned about the purity of their diet eat only food that is pakka. They avoid onions and garlic as well as animal foods. They also eat food that is prepared with clarifi ed butter, known as "ghee," rather than with oils from plants or animals. Many religions also regulate the consumption of alcohol. One of the fi ve precepts of BUDDHISM rejects alcohol altogether. Some Buddhists, however, ignore this precept, especially in Japan. JUDAISM permits alcohol in moderation, but ISLAM strictly forbids it. Christian attitudes vary. Some Christians drink to excess when they celebrate certain rituals, such as CARNIVAL. Some Protestants, however, avoid alcohol altogether. They even celebrate the EUCHARIST with unfermented grape juice. After World War I this Protestant attitude, represented by groups like the Women's Christian Temperance Union, helped to pass a constitutional amendment that made alcohol illegal in the United States. This started the era of Prohibition (1920–33). OTHER DIETARY LAWS Many dietary laws detail what foods may be eaten. But religions also tell their followers who may prepare, serve, and clean up food, as well as when and how much a person may eat. In traditional Hinduism dietary rules help defi ne ritual classes (varnas) and castes (jatis) (see CASTE IN HINDUISM). According to these rules, a person should eat only cooked food that is prepared by someone of equal or higher status. Similarly, people should clean up only food that has been eaten by someone of equal or higher status. Buddhism teaches that MONKS AND NUNS should not eat after noon. MANICHAEISM taught that its elite, called "the elect," must eat all the food that laypersons brought to them. WHY REGULATE DIET? People often wonder why others observe dietary laws that they do not. Some people attribute these laws to medical concerns. For example, some people think that observant Jews do not eat pork because pigs carry trichinosis. However, when the Jewish dietary laws of kashrut were established, no one knew that pigs carried trichinosis. Many modern scholars trace dietary laws to a different cause. They say that these laws help create group identity. For example, the laws of kashrut help distinguish Jews from non-Jews. There is something to this claim. During the 20th century people all over the world moved into modern, pluralistic cities. When they left their traditional communities behind, many of them gave up their traditional dietary practices. But group identity explains only when people observe dietary laws. It does not explain the particular laws that they observe. It is important to note what the religions themselves say about these laws. Buddhists say that it takes a clear, crisp mind to pursue enlightenment, or understanding. Someone who is intoxicated does not have such a mind. Therefore, they refrain from alcohol. Jains do not eat meat because of their devotion to the principle of AHIMSA. Many observant Jews say that there is only one good reason for practicing the dietary laws. GOD instructed them to do so. Who are human beings, that they should second-guess God?