On Sat, 12 Feb 2000 15:51:29 -0500 (EST), Eric D Nash wrote:
>this list, I fail to see how debate on rabinical rulings effecting the
>pruchasing habits of many hundreds of thousands if not millions of people can be
>considered somehow tangential and/or fruity merely due to
>their religous origin.
[snip]I
> Kosher labeling is POWERFUL, it's
>influence extending far beyond the objervent or even the Jewish, and many
>a goy sees those little symbols and feels somehow comforted in our age of
>increasingly sketchy food and 'food products.'
I agree completely, and would also nod in the direction of 'halal,' the
Islamic equivalent of kosher. None of these folks are particularly
enthusiastic about the insertion of pork genes into non-identified
tomatoes.
The Old Testament, enthusiastically shared by all three 'People of the
Book,' contains 72 clear references to sustainable agriculture
practices and constitutes a formidable faith-based point of beginning
for an agriculture substantially different (and better, IMO) than that
commonly held to be conventional.
Make no mistake about it. Secular Humanism is every bit as much a
religion as any of the Bible-based faiths, and a key strategy of its
proponents is to pass it off as a 'rational' and 'neutral' choice. The
core of the dispute is that of geo-centrism versus theo-centrism. That
said, I would suggest that there exists a substantial common ground
wherein the geo-centrists object to genetic manipulation as dangerous
to the earth, while theo-centrists find it offensive to God's
prerogative to create.
As one who has spent a generation applying the principles of scientic
enquiry in order to strengthen our collective stewardship of Creation,
I consider *anyone* challenging the technolgists and boosters to cease
functioning as if morality and ethics are irrelevant to the advancement
of their personal careers and businesses, as an ally. I don't have to
agree with them on matters of faith to work with them on matters of
lasting import.
Indeed, bring on Part II. I want to hear more.
Bart Hall,
Lawrence, Kansas
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