Sep 7 2022 - the Garden of Eden leads to pork

 

I listened to a CBC interview on Sunday and its topic was whether Muslims and Jews would eat Impossible Pork  due to religious reasons.   When Impossible Pork was unveiled, the company said it was designed for halal and kosher certification. But Impossible Foods now says it's not moving forward with those certifications "as we wish to continue to use the term 'pork' in our product name," and "the authorizing bodies will not certify a product called 'pork.'"  Even though the product is called "Not Possibly Pork"  as in "Impossible Pork".   This is fascinating.  Here we have a question at the individual level that relates to personal faith and belief. These are questions that can't get much better.  Why is that?  This is in the realm of "speaking makes it so."   To cause something to come into existence by the speaking of it. My comparison is this.  When God said "Let there be light,  there was light".   And so if we speak this is "pork", then it is pork.  Whether it is impossible, plant-based pork, it is our speaking makes it pork.  Having pork in the name -  that's the argument of the Islamic Services of America and Orthodox Union Kosher organizations for not certifying it. To me this is an amazing existential situation.  I think of this as  Adam in the Garden of Eden  Syndrome. The articles by Muslims/Jews say they don't eat pork.  They don't need to eat pork.  They don't want to eat pork.  There are so many relationships to not eating pork that it makes it sound like a fascination with pork.    Like the temptation in the Garden of Eden, this  fascination can become the transgression itself - a wanting to know, a longing, a wishing. What if the product had been named really yummy food?  with no intention of marketing it as a pork comparison. Then there would be no existential question at all.  A comparison to pork must be present.  And how would a non-pork-eating Muslim make the comparison without any experience of it?  What if the product has been around for a thousand years through one country's cuisine, and there was no comparison to be made with pork?  There is no existential question. There would be no comparison to be made for the  Jew or Muslim to judge.  We'd all just be eating these dishes.   What if these ingredients can be gathered together and one can make the product oneself?   This is an interesting scenario.  Only if  I compare it to pork,  then it has a the potential to  become a challenge of faith and discipline.  One  Muslim writer of an article concluded with this:  "Given the plethora of other food options that aren't accompanied by a twinge of guilt, something tells me I won't be walking into a restaurant and ordering an Impossible Pork sandwich anytime soon.  At least not until my brain -- and stomach -- catch on." That  mention of guilt.   There it is.  Isn't this so remarkable a dilemma we could never have predicted.

These little piglets were at Our Gate to Your Plate Farm in Grimsby about 10 years ago.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Aug 21 2021 - The Least Religious Countries

 

Cartoons came to my mind and  I wondered what the most popular cartoon might be.  But I find I am far out of date on this topic. Perhaps I was distracting myself from the events in Afghanistan. I also wonder about religious nations compared to non-religious nations.  Clearly Afghanistan is turning a big corner towards a "religious" nation, a religious rule nation.  My sense is that this is very worrisome for Canadians, so I went looking to find out about our sense of religion and religious rule.  Who would you guess to be the least religious country in the world? The answer is China, but look who is second, Japan.  Here are the numbers in the article covering this topic in worldpopulationreview.com when they asked residents whether they "feel" religious.    China (7% feel religious) Japan (13% feel religious) Estonia (16% feel religious) Sweden (19% feel religious) Norway (21% feel religious) Czech Republic (23% feel religious) Hong Kong (26% feel religious) Netherlands (26% feel religious) Israel (30% feel religious) United Kingdom (30% feel religious) Can you imagine only 30% of Israelis feel religious.  The article then distinguishes public perception on which country is the least religious.  We Canadians find ourselves in the top 10:  Australia Sweden Germany the Netherlands New Zealand Luxembourg Denmark Canada France Austria But alas, just as we see some interesting data, the article ends there.  There's no follow-on article or analysis on how this plays out in governments and societies.  There's likely a book coming out soon... A nice image from the past - pretty Echinacea, a great summer bloomer.

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May 5 2020 - There's a Force for Everyone in being a Jedi

It's a long time since the Force came among us. It's over 40 years.  Since that time, the philosophy of Jediism has developed.  It is based on the depiction of the Jedi characters in Star Wars media.  This got attention in 2001 when a number of people recorded their religion as Jedi on their country's national census - it was meant to be a joke.  I assumed this is mostly Americans. But it turns out that 400,000 people in the U.K. and 70,000 in Australia did this. In 2005, the Temple of the Jedi Order was registered in Texas (of course).  There is also a substantial membership in Britain.  Here's how many people have self-identified as Jedi as of 2011: Australia - 65,000 Canada - 9,000  Czech Republic - 15,070 England and Wales - 176,632 To find out about this philosophy/religion the place to go is the Temple of the Jedi Order.  It is HERE.   The introduction: We are a Jedi church and international ministry of the religion Jediism and the Jedi way of life. Jedi at this site are not the same as those portrayed within the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars Jedi are fictional characters that exist within a literary and cinematic universe.  We are a recognized International Ministry and Public Charity; a tax exempt (donations are US income tax deductible) 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2005. George Lucas says that Joseph Campbell's book The Hero With a Thousand Faces was a major influence behind the Force's creation. In it Campbell draws parallels between the world's myths, arguing that they are all part of one "monomyth". In an interview with Bill Moyers, in 1999, published in Time magazine, Lucas said he created the Force as a device to awaken spirituality in young people. "Not having enough interest in the mysteries of life to ask the question, 'Is there a God or is there not a God?' – that is for me the worst thing that can happen." However, he said he never intended Star Wars to have a religious following. "I hope that doesn't end up being the course this whole thing takes," he told Moyers, adding that he would hate living in a secular world where entertainment passed for people's religious experience. He seems to have accomplished his task of awakening spirituality and needn't worry as the Jedi religion is not following Star Wars.. I found this abandoned farm house last year when I was on the greenhouse tour - the new greenhouses are in the background.  I drove by it last week.  It still stands, with more greenhouses around it. It still stands starkly alone on a bare field.

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