The Abominable Pig – Questions to consider and take notes
- What reasons does Harris give that pork aversion is irrational?
- What are ruminants and why are they better adapted to the Middle East than pigs?
- What other Middle Eastern civilizations, besides the Israelites, abhorred the pig?
- What happened in the Middle East that made pigs less adapted for agriculture?
- What rationale does Harris give for the Levite ban of camel meat?
- The Muslim religion bans only the pig. How does this inhibit the spread of a religion that rivals Christianity in its number of followers? And why has Indonesia converted to the Muslim religion whereas China has not?
In your out of class journal, please answer at least three of the six above questions. You pick which questions you would like to answer. Like the last out of class journal, it should be a minimum of 500 words and please provide a word count.
Answer preview
Abominable Pig
In the old testament, an animal that does not chew the cud, does not have parted legs and hoof is considered unholy and not applicable for human consumption. According to Harris (2012), this approach should be reconsidered as some of the animals though not possessing all these qualities may be as beneficial for human consumption as the ruminants. The Levites strongly considered pigs and other three vertebrates as unholy and kept off from them. This paper aims at considering what ruminants are and why many people in the middle east consider rearing them over pigs. The article will also try to give reasons as to why pigs are less adapted for agriculture in the middle east and finally give reasons that made the Levites ban camel meat following Harris point of view. ..
