For 25 years, I abode without question. I was ingrained with the historical significance of stories that made pork forbidden to me, my family, and the world's entire Muslim population. It became second nature.
As I grew and reached the inevitable point of questioning one's religion, I maintained my unporkitude, holding my discipline as a point of pride. "Does that have pork in it? Oh...No thanks." My friends berated me, asking why this single abstinence had out lasted all others. I drink alcohol, philander with women (albeit only one. I call her 'girlfriend'), gamble within my means, and duck every regulation that doesn't fit with my lifestyle, yet I did not eat pork.
Perhaps you are the same. To the chagrin of your parents, the first generation of their race that they spawned unto this land is a rule breaker, unfit to be called Muslim in any part of the world. Assimilation begins and ends at the convenience of these rigid and irreconcilable cultural laws.
I stepped past it in the year 2009. Shortly after I turned 25, it began. I eat pork. Each part of the animal, each dish is a new adventure to me, and I invite you to see it through my eyes and taste it through my palate, along with the curiosity, guilt, and the dismantling of a quarter century of psychological conditioning. Whether you are maintaining your dietary restriction or have eaten pork throughout life, you will see what it's like for a grown man and lover of all foods to experience this meat first hand, in all its forms.
These are My New Adventures in Pork.
You've sooo blown it with the virgins in the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteI remember talking to your brother about the same thing years ago. He had a good reason for why it was ok to break so many of the other rules (for example, the rule about not drinking was only in place to ensure that you don't harm anyone by being drunk, so if you didn't get aggressive when you drink, who were you hurting?) but he never had an answer for pork. It was just forbidden. So this is an interesting blog. I'll look forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea....Can't wait to hear about North Carolina ribs :)
ReplyDelete@amanda, just to clear a few things up. the rule about alcohol has nothing to do with being aggressive, it has to do with being in an altered state of mind, as in being drunk or tipsy, or buzzed etc. God knows the nature of man and knows that man is unable to control his urge to drink, so He has forbidden alcohol stating that, "the bad far exceeds the good".
ReplyDeleteAs far as pork is concerned, the meet of swine is forbidden because frankly the pig is a very disgusting animal. it lives in filth, and is susceptible to carrying of many bacteria. Actually, all three Abrahamic religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) have verses forbidding the consumption of swine.
i remember seeing babe the confused porklet in a theater in bangkok with your brother ages ago. (he chose the flick i swear) years later he talks about the bits of pork he eats in japanese broth. and now this.
ReplyDeletepoor wilbur.
yo i didn't get a chance to head back to philly before i departed so i'll treat you to some divine porkage when you drop by bkk.
Hey, I like your blog.
ReplyDeleteTo Projectpaki: I'm fairly certain there's nothing in Christian scripture forbidding eating pork. If there is, I'd be curious to read it.
It's just in the Jewish bible-which Christians believe in, but selectively follow-and the Quran.