What is the relationship between your religion and food habits?
I understand that food and sex figure prominently into any religious doctrine and subsequently into the rules/rituals to the extent that something is certainly taught about which foods to eat and how/when/why to have sex. Let’s limit this discussion, in particular, to religion and food. Whatever your religious beliefs, how does food figure into your rituals having to do with your spiritual life (or atheism). Are you following the rules of your religion when it comes to consumption?
Personally, whether I was a Christian (when I was young) or a witch (in my teens) or an atheist (these days) I never connected what I ate to what I believed in (in terms of a higher power, religion). These days now that I am a vegan and getting more involved with environmentalist and animal rights causes, I began to consider the connection between belief and food. Could it be that there are people out there that explain their omnivorous nature by relying on the ‘original’ relationship of Adam over animals (and therefore explaining many other connections or lack thereof to nature because we’ve ‘been named to rule all’)? Is it possible that because of their religious beliefs some people are more inclined to stay away from meat (I know certain religions mean staying away from certain meats but that doesn’t have all to do with animal rights)? On the other hand, is there a connection between atheism and vegetarianism/veganism based on the more ‘here and now’ philosophy and feeling more equal to animals (this might not be the case for all atheists, obviously..nor is vegetarianism/veganism always about this for those that practice)? What have been the patterns you noticed, in general..for yourself? Did you ever connect your food choices to your religious beliefs or lack thereof?
I also want to mention that this is not a discussion about vegetarianism vs. meat-eating (though the examples I gave were about that) – this is more about what you eat, in general and whether any of what you eat figures into what you believe in terms of god/religion.
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34 Answers
I’d say my food habits are not related to my belief/non-belief/non-caring-about-never-knowing-hence-not-thinking-much-about-it-because-there-are-bigger-problems-for-us-to-work-out.
I’m a vegan because I care about the environment and I am an animal lover.
I eat what I want. I don’t go to Mass, don’t pray.
I eat what I want, I don’t have any ham restrictions or anything because I do not have a religion, although I simply try my best to eat healthy because I like being healthy. So I guess my diet has more of a correlation with my vain-ness because I want to stay looking good lol.
I guess this question probably does not apply to people without a religion? It’s usually the religious that can’t eat certain foods on certain holidays and such. That sucks for them.
I don’t conform to a religion, but I do have a set of beliefs that I follow. One of these beliefs is to not put any synthetic chemicals in my body. So I try my best to eat completely organic. I still eat meat, but only if it fits my standards. It is part of the natural cycle of life & death.
Many people (including on here) seem to have a problem with my beliefs. That on its own does not bother me. It’s when they try to change or simply shoot down by beliefs that it annoys me.
But no matter. The 2 most important people in my life accept & agree with my beliefs.
When I was religious, I still ate what I felt like, even during Lent as an adult practicing Catholic. I was raised a Pentecostal, and we had no strictures on what we could eat, but parishioners over 16 were required to fast at least one day a week. I didn’t do this.
I did try giving up certain foods for Lent after I converted to Catholicism, but I believed deep down that such a thing was silly. I understand the rationale behind it, which isn’t about the food itself, but about being willing to tamp down the “baser” desires for a more spiritually worthwhile end, even if I don’t subscribe to those beliefs.
I’m an agnostic and a vegetarian.
Agnostic because I was just…raised without religion.
But vegetarian completely by choice. And I had made that decision before I could have known of any of society’s expectations of agnostics (I was in the second grade).
So maybe it was a subconscious connection.
I don’t have any special eating habits due to my religion.
I don’t have a religion so there is no connection. I am an on again off again vegetarian but that has do do with ethics, morality and values, not religion. And FYI, I am in an off again period. OMG! There is bacon in my fridge and a can of vegetable beef soup in my pantry. The religion in which I was raised didn’t have any dietary restrictions so it is not something that has ever been part of my consciousness or practice. Though, I live in an area with enough Catholics that most of the company cafeterias and restaurants still serve fish and macaroni and cheese on Fridays for those who still abstain from eating meat on Fridays.
I thank God for food and nutrition.
Eating is my religion. I worship food.
@ratboy Hell yeah! I pay particular attention to the Steak God (the Big Meat).
My diet goes hand in hand with my lack of religious beliefs.
When I was Wiccan, I was not a good example because I ate meat. I still do. Roast beef, steak, bacon, ham, chicken… I love meat. I used to feel slightly guilty about that.
Religious food fetishes are just a way to control the faithful. I am not Jewish but I don’t eat pork for three reasons, I don’t like the taste, it makes me physically sick, and I just plain don’t like pigs. However, I have a Jewish friend that really likes a nice ham sandwich. I think that these prohibitions are useful because when I was a Catholic I was forbidden meat on Fridays. Now, a nice steak tastes especially good on Fridays.
I am a vegetarian. However, my religion forbids the eating of pork as it is considered unclean (this includes geletin made from pig’s hooves.) Also, people of my religion only eat meat that has been killed humanely and blessed. We also do not drink alcohol because our book tells us not to ingest anything that is bad for our bodies.
I can think of two relationships.
1) We believe that when you prepare food your energy goes into it. So you shouldn’t prepare food for others with negativity. So this shapes how one feels about making food and how one feels about getting together to eat. It is a spiritual act.
2) Water. Water is sacred in our belief system. It is important and to be honored.
Oh and I just thought of a third.
Meat. We eat meat as a part of our tradition. Not just for survival but the relationship as being part of an environmental circle doesn’t exclude us from eating meat but instead allows us to simultaneously eat meat and respect nature/animals.
The only ties between food and Christianity that I’m aware of have to do with gluttony. I try not to stuff my face.
I am an atheist, but I still avoid seafood and pig products as a habit from my days as a Christian. The Bible speaks against seafood (shellfish, crab, lobster etc, not fish) and meat from animals with a ‘cloven hoof’. I don’t give the Bible any value any more, but I just eat the foods I’ve always eaten.
I’m agnostic. My only food concern is cholesterol, based on past heart trouble. I usually eat organically grown food, for health reasons and also because I grow it as a business. I prefer to eat meat that I know where it came from; my neighbors don’t use hormones, etc on their stock, they also raise and slaughter their stock humanely.
I’m atheist, and for a few years I was vegetarian due to environmental concerns. Since then I’ve ceased being a strict vegetarian but I still favour humane farming wherever possible, and I eat a lot less meat than the average person.
When I was in Korea, they asked if I had any food restrictions. I told them pork because it doesn’t agree with me and dog because it is just wrong. They tried to tell me that there were two types of dogs, ones for eating and ones for pets. I didn’t buy that argument.
@Ron_C Yeah, but that just shows that meat consumption is purely cultural – no reason to consider cows okay to eat and dogs not okay to eat.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir Its an emotional thing. Cows aren’t generally thought to be able to show the affection that a cat or a dog does, and so people do not develop relationships with cows in the way they might with a cat or a dog.
@FireMadeFlesh I know plenty of people who develop relationships on an emotional level with their cows. I grew up in a Russian village.
@Simone_De_Beauvoir Now I think of it, my cousin had such a relationship with a bottle-fed lamb on my grandfather’s farm. Maybe we don’t develop such relationships with them because we intend on eating them.
I believe a chocolate filled, powder sugar dusted Dunkin doughnut is about as close to heaven as I’ll ever get.
I’m Wiccan and as far as I know, there are no specific rules regarding food or eating. Personally, I feel like how I eat is in conflict with my religion simply due to the fact that I can’t afford to eat organic foods, humanely raised animals, that sort of thing. Wicca doesn’t have many rules, but one big one is to make it a personal responsibility to avoid harming other living beings. As a biologist, I’m okay with eating meat, but as an empathetic Wiccan, I feel guilty knowing that my dollars are going into the pockets of greedy corporations that don’t seem to give the slightest shit about the horrible conditions they inflict on animals. It makes me cry just thinking about it, the unbelievably cruel and awful things these companies get away with… and no one asks questions or seems to care.
I hope to have a real job in the next few years, which will enable me to put my money where my beliefs are. For now, I try to avoid certain products and companies, and I recently made a promise to myself that I will try to eat locally, try to buy meat and eggs that are humanely procured, at least when I can afford to.
In a way, I wish I could process my own meat. At least then, I would know that the animal was treated well and with love and care, and I would approach its death much like the Native Americans, in a ritual manner showing my gratitude for the animal’s sacrifice.
Well, i’m not religious anymore, and even when i was there was no connection for me either between that and food.
But now i hold the belief that animals and humans have the same right to life etc, and it just feels wrong to eat an animal – firstly because we don’t need to, and secondly, who am i to take away an innocent life for the sake of a few minutes of taste satisfaction? It doesn’t work that way in my books. So, i suppose one could say that now my beliefs and food choices are connected.
None at all. I believe in God, but (as most people here have probably guessed) I’m far from a religious zealot. I eat what suits me, which has nothing to do with religious edict.
I also don’t eat meat very often. But that’s mainly for health reasons, not for any animal rights or spiritual reasons.
The only thing our family did in religious relation to food was not eat meat on Friday. It was a good day for fish fry’s and beer.
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