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
The middle east is considered as a semi-arid area where water scarcity is experienced in most of its territory. Harris has given facts on the need for reforestation and avoidance of human pollution as its one of the factors that have contributed to this area being semi-arid and not so fit for agricultural practices especially pig rearing. Pig is considered dirty and unfit for human consumption by many people even in the current days, but the question should be why only pig whereas other domestic animals also though dirty are still considered fit. It is therefore vital for people to be given chances to make an individual decision on whether to consider pigs, camels, and hares fit for consumption or not without being forced to follow traditions and religion.
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