Would you like a side of POOP with your pee?!

I won't lie. I'm a little nervous about the topic of today's blog, especially because if my readers are ANYTHING like my dad, they will go to their death defending the food they love to eat.

Since the beginning of my studies of the Hebraic roots of scripture, one of the first things I changed about my lifestyle was going Kosher. Again, typically associated with the Jewish culture, a Kosher diet, or 'Kashrut' is defined as the set of "Jewish dietary laws" that exclude foods like pork and shellfish.

This change was, at first, a tough sacrifice. I loved bacon and crab and shrimp and so on, but I couldn't keep eating it in good conscience after extensive research into WHY the Jews adhere to these dietary practices.

Let's just begin with America's favorite little mammal: the pig.

Pigs are useful little creatures if only for the fact that they are little trash cans with legs. They will literally eat ANYTHING: poop, pee, dead animals, rotten meat or vegetables, etc. In fact, farmers typically utilize this characteristic of the pig to save money. Farmers will buy barrels of rotten meat, vegetables and eggs to feed their pigs. And if another animal dies on the farm? Even better. Farmers will often feed the carcass to their pigs!

Now, don't feel sorry for the pigs. They were made to eat disgusting things, so their bodies are designed to handle exceptional amounts of poison and toxins. However, unlike cows or chickens, pigs don't have anything in their system that filters these poisons from its flesh. So when we eat pigs, we are really just eating a whole lot of NASTY. In fact, while cows and chickens and the like take about 12 hours to digest their food, pigs only take about four hours until whatever they've been eating is on their bones.

Pigs literally ARE what they eat. So when you eat pork, you could be eating any number of things and most likely, those things are NOT pretty.

Pork is by far the most common unclean meat that Americans consume, but it is far from the only. Pretty much any animal that is a "bottom-dweller" or as I like to call them, "nature's clean-up crew," were never intended for human consumption. Crabs, lobster, shrimp, catfish, clams etc. are all creatures that are not meant for food. They are meant to clean up after the mess we make in our environment!

Coincidentally, when you eat things like lobster and shrimp, you are eating animals cooked in their entirety. You consume their poop, pee, intestines, etc. as well as the toxic meat! You probably have even SEEN poop in shrimp before. I know I have.

(There are many other unclean meats, however, most of those aren't consumed in this country. Things like dogs, cats, horses, octopus, and armadillos are other examples of meats we should avoid. You can find several listings on the internet of foods that are okay and foods that aren't.)

Now there are two things to consider: The first is the fact that ALL of the meat we should avoid is listed in the bible as 'unclean' and we (ALL of us, NOT just Jews!) are instructed not to eat it. Why? John Hopkins University School of Medicine did a study in which all of the meats listed as clean and unclean in the Old Testament were tested using a standard toxicological test. What were the findings? EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL CALLED 'UNCLEAN' BY THE BIBLE WAS FOUND TO BE TOXIC! Also, every 'clean' animal tested out non-toxic.

Imagine that.

No WONDER Israel, a Kosher nation, has the lowest death rate in the world!

The second thing to consider is what we're doing to the earth's ecosystem as a whole. We kill and eat all of those animals that help our planet by consuming our waste on land and in the ocean.

I tried to tell my dad just some of the things I've learned about how disgusting these meats are. I told him that the bible actually says NOT to eat those things. You know what he said?

"We're living under a new covenant. It's ok now." This is a painfully common response given by the modern day Christian that, like so many other things they say, are completely unsupportable by scripture.

The "new covenant" he's referring to is one that many modern Christians believe in: that since Christ died, we no longer have to mind the Old Testament and what it tells us. (You may remember the term 'dispensationalism' from my other post? Here's a perfect example!)

This idea, of course, couldn't be further from the truth. NOWHERE in the bible supports it; it is a man-made doctrine. This blatant disregard for Old Testament scripture was and is the catalyst for the misconstrued pseudo-faith that the modern church currently adheres to. YHWH didn't tell us not to eat these things because of any covenant, but because they are TERRIBLE for us! My friend Kelly always says, "you wouldn't give your child the option of eating poop, would you?!" Yeshua (Jesus) did not die so that we could have bacon with our eggs! (Though I have found that certain brands of turkey bacon are really good!) Scripture never declared these foods okay for consumption and neither does modern science.

One awesome thing I have discovered since beginning this journey, is that YHWH's laws are win/wins. They aren't mindless rules that he gives us to be miserable, they are for our GOOD. Sadly, the modern church ignores many of them and emphasizes many that don't even exist in scripture. THAT, however, is yet another topic for another day.

Until then, my advice is to start looking for yummy substitutes for your porky cravings! You'll find that many companies make really good turkey or beef versions of things like sausage and salami, bologna and hot dogs and so on. I would encourage some of my Kosher friends to leave comments suggesting their favorite alternatives!

Also, if you don't believe what I'm saying, or even if you do, I strongly encourage you to research this stuff on your own! It can only benefit you.

I would also like to thank you all for the support I have received since starting this blog. I am truly grateful for all of your love and encouragement and the feedback has been amazing and rewarding.

Love,

Ashley