Don’t Eat the Cleanup Crew

Why did God prohibit eating certain foods?

Was the Creator being capricious? Why should He be concerned? Is there a rational, logical basis for the Scriptures dealing with which foods are fit for human consumption?

After dealing with edible land animals, the second major set of divine dietary instructions concerned aquatic creatures. In Leviticus we are instructed:
‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat.... Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you" (11:9,
12).

Numerous and sometimes fanciful reasons have been proposed for these guidelines. While some Bible scholars recognize that the consumption of unclean organisms can be harmful (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1990), others suggest that organisms without fins and scales resembled snakes and thus are abhorrent to eat (Interpreter’s Bible, 1953).
One source stated that scripturally "unclean," bottom-dwelling organisms were symbolic of living in sin and pollution, and that fins were symbolic of prayers that could lift us out of such situations (The Bible Commentary, Scribner, 1871).

The discoveries of science, however, reveal in greater detail the wisdom and benefits of God’s plain instructions about appropriate food.
Biblically "clean fish" are generally free swimming in bodies of water. Most "unclean" fish are either bottom dwellers or predatory scavengers. The prohibition against eating scaleless fish protects against the consumption of fish that produce poisonous substances in their bodies. A U.S. Navy manual comments, "All the important fish with poisonous flesh... lack ordinary scales.... Instead, these poisonous fish are covered with bristles or spiny scales, strong sharp thorns, or spines, or are encased in a bony box-like covering. Some have naked skin, that is, no spines or scales" (Survival on land and Sea, 1944).

Many sea creatures listed as venomous (four sharks, 58 stingrays, 47 catfish, 57 scorpion fish, 15 toadfish, etc.) do not have true scales (Caras, Venomous Animals of the World , 1974). Eels— nocturnal predatory scavengers that eat "almost any kind of food, dead or alive"—would also be considered unclean (International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 1990). Eel blood contains a toxic substance "which can be dangerous if it comes "into contact with eyes or another mucous membrane" (Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life, 1988).

The biblical guidelines were designed to point people to the safest kinds of fish to eat. However, care must be taken—even clean fish should be adequately cooked before eaten. Raw fish (such as sushi or sashimi) or poorly cooked fish can transmit several kinds of parasitic tapeworms and flukes (Black, Microbiology, 1993).

Shey I done tell you to leave that white garment church your mama introduce you to?

A Different Purpose

Shellfish, lacking both fins and scales, are clearly excluded by the biblical dietary laws. But why would lobsters, crabs, crayfish and shrimp, which are considered delicacies in many parts of the world, be prohibited? The answer lies in understanding the role they were designed to play in nature.

Lobsters are "nocturnal" foragers (Encyclopedia Americana, 1993). They are "bottom walkers" and "predatory scavengers" Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life) that "scavenge for dead animals" and other bottom-dwelling organisms and debris (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1995). They are usually caught in lobster pots "baited with dead fish." Lobsters have long antennae and tiny hair-like sensors all over their bodies "that can detect specific chemical molecules in the environment (released by decaying organisms), which can help the lobster identify and locate food"—even in the dark (New Standard Encyclopedia, 1993)! Lobsters have been observed to bury a dead fish and then dig it up later, at intervals, to eat a bit more of it (International Wildlife Encyclopedia).


Crabs are referred to as "professional garbage hunters" and as "scavengers" that eat almost anything. The edible crab prefers dead fish, but will eat any carrion [dead, putrefying flesh" (International Wildlife Encyclopedia).

Common shrimp, a small, delicate relative of crabs and lobsters, live by day in the mud or sandy bottoms of bays and estuaries all over the world. However, they become active at night as predatory scavengers and are "bottom dwelling detritus feeders [eating dead and decaying matter" (Encyclopedia of Aquatic Life).
These organisms were all created for a very important ecological purpose. They are, in essence, the "garbage collectors" or the "cleanup crew" for the bottoms of lakes, rivers, beaches, bays and oceans. They were not intended to be food for human beings. That is also why the consumption of raw, pickled or undercooked crabs, crayfish, snails and shrimp carries a significant risk of parasitic infections like liver flukes, which infect up to 80 percent of some rural populations in Southeast Asia (Black).

Danger On the Half Shell

There are also important and logical reasons why
God created and then clearly labeled clams, oysters, mussels and scallops as unclean and inappropriate for human consumption. These creatures are found in lakes, streams and coastal areas around the world where they perform specialized roles. As stationary filter-feeding mollusks, they pump large amounts of water over their mucus-covered gills, trapping tiny pieces of food (silt, plant debris, bacteria, viruses) which they then eat (Encyclopedia Americana, "Mollusks". As a result, "mussels and other animals feeding on microscopic particles are the ultimate scavengers of the sea" (International Wildlife Encyclopedia). Filter-feeding organisms are the "vacuum cleaners" for aquatic environments. Their role is to purify the water.

Once you understand the purpose for which God created shellfish, the reason they are unclean should become obvious. Just as you would be reluctant to make a meal out of the contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or the material that collects on your furnace filter or in your septic tank, the decision to eat shellfish should also be considered carefully! Because their method of feeding is “ideal for concentrating bacteria in sewage," in addition to collecting and concentrating pathogenic viruses, heavy metals and nerve toxins produced by plankton, these shellfish present a serious health hazard to consumers (International Wildlife Encyclopedia , Black).

How serious is the threat of disease?

The American Food and Drug Administration has stated that "raw oysters, clams and mussels—so savored by gourmets—account for 85 percent of all the illnesses caused by eating seafood" (FDA Consumer, June 1991). Outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, hepatitis.
A, Norwalk virus, salmonella and paralytic shellfish poisoning are just some of the health problems frequently linked to the consumption of these mollusks (U. C. Berkeley Wellness Letter Feb. 1994).
Notices have been published that pregnant women, the elderly and "individuals with immune systems weakened by certain diseases (cancer, diabetes and AIDS) should... avoid eating or handling uncooked shellfish" (Consumer Research, July 1993). These dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations can be avoided by understanding and following the biblical dietary laws that prohibit eating marine organisms that lack fins and scales.


[size=14pt]By: Douglas S. Wannail[/size]

Culled from: www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/lcg/studytopics/lcg-st.cgi?category=Christianity1&item=1116549049#.UqCoaDbn038.gmail

Tkayhandsome:
Shey I done tell you to leave that white garment church your mama introduce you to?

What is this one saying?

This is what I was talking about:

Pulling up a ludicrous explanation to cover for a really lame commandment for middle eastern people some thousand years ago.


*sighs*

The things we do for religion.....

SirWere:
This is what I was talking about:

Pulling up a ludicrous explanation to cover for a really lame commandment for middle eastern people some thousand years ago.


*sighs*

The things we do for religion.....

The best you can do is to counter the writer's argument by simply refuting those scientific claims.

Anyways, your name reminds me of one of my seniors in secondary school SirWere.
Did you attend Loyola college?

lanrexlan:
The best you can do is to counter the writer's argument by simply refuting those scientific claims.

Anyways, your name reminds me of one of my seniors in secondary school SirWere.
Did you attend Loyola college?

Another common trend is that you like to say "scientific claims"
It's theists like you that further excerberate the gap between religion and science.


And no, I didn't attend Loyola

Tho my friends call me Sirwere.

After all that was written about what one should and should not eat.... the Bible stated that all are good to eat if we believe they are....bit we must eat in moderation.

Originalsly:
After all that was written about what one should and should not eat.... the Bible stated that all are good to eat if we believe they are....bit we must eat in moderation.

You really love your shrimp don't you

AnonyNymous:

You really love your shrimp don't you

Lol..... lovvvvvved shrimps.... used to be munching dried shrimps like groundnuts...... until the river near my school released the body of a bloated drowned guy .... covered with shrimps having a feastfest.

Most Nigerians are part the true Israelites of the bible, you should not eat unclean food