Discussion Board

It's perfectly clear he's talking about eggs as food. We do not call a toy a delicacy.

Perhaps, but we don't think about eggs as an Easter food. The only connection usually made with eggs and Easter isn't as a food. I believe the connection with eggs dates back to the pagan origins of Easter and the connection with fertility.
f1jim

Really? Are you serious? Kids don't color eggs on Easter, and eat them? You want to propose that Dr McD was talking about ancient fertility symbols? That we should leave eggs to be hunted as ancient fertility symbol toys on Easter Sunday?

Maybe you, but it would be you alone, don't think about eggs as an Easter food. Pretty much everyone else in at least American culture does. The symbolic origin is gone except as a matter of esoteric interest to eggheads. (Sorry. I couldn't resist for just a second.)

On Easter, eggs are hard-boiled and colored, and they are then eaten on Easter morning. (I don't think my family was some out-of-left-field gang of nuts in doing this.) Candy is shaped like eggs--and eaten. All without a thought about their symbolism and its co-optation by Christianity and then subsequent secularization by the Easter Bunny.

Read the article. http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/march/050300pueastereggs.htm It's about eggs as food. Dr McD was writing about eggs as food, and leaving them as a food for Easter (if then--as I said, it is not a recommendation, but it IS about eggs as food on Easter, about which he has written in his books as well). To relieve all doubt, here's Dr McD's lead:

"Eggs are the richest unprocessed food commonly consumed. Rational thinking people might partake of this delicacy on a special occasion, such as after the annual Easter egg hunt. Reasonable behavior is undermined by the efforts of the American Egg Board whose mission is to make every day Easter for everybody, and the Board has a $14 million annual budget to accomplish this job."

Food. "Richest unprocessed food."

I think we are closer in thought than you may think. Dr. McDougall is talking about their consumption, as food, as though eating the hidden eggs were a prize for finding them, not as a part of an Easter meal. This was my experience growing up. After coloring the eggs, then finding them in their hiding places, we would give thought to eating one(only rarely) but most of them were tossed out. They were a part of the ritual, not the Easter meal. In this instance they differ from what is typically meant by "feasting" on the journal pages and elsewhere. Their use as food is secondary to their ritual use, even though that ritual has lost most of it's fertility significance. Even in my youth, when we ate eggs regularly, we didn't consume much of the Easter eggs on Easter. Your bolding of this part of the quote..."Rational thinking people might partake of this delicacy on a special occasion, such as after the annual Easter egg hunt." seems to confirm my point.
f1jim

Except part of that quote is "...eggs are a delicacy..." which would seem to point to their being a rare food treat, saved for very special occasions.
Like Easter.

He is definitely mentioning eggs as a food but is he talking about the kids or adults? And is he talking about them as a part of the meal or as a treat for finding the eggs? Not that it matters much but again, I want to differentiate that from the "feasting" that happens quite a bit on the journal pages. There is a difference.
f1jim

O.K. well hmmm. Thinking about Vegan'ism' and the Bible. Well, here is my five cents worth, only because this post made me think - in that your wife is right - Jesus did eat fish - in fact provided fish and loaves to 5000 people. However, if I go back to the first book of the Bible, before Eve ate that apple after being tempted by Satan, it strikes me that Adam was on earth with all the various animals and do you think after roaming the earth with those animals that he then killed one to have as a meal? I'm only posing the question. To me, God created all these wonderful and various creatures and for some unexplained reason made us the head of the food chain (unexplained because look at how we treat each other, other animals and our earth - you don't see that sort of behaviour in say the dog world) and I think Adam and Eve were basically plant eaters. God provided for them. And, yes, in my confused state, your wife is very right in that Jesus did eat fish - but had they (back 2000 years ago) destroyed the oceans as we have - and further - was it a constant in their meal plan? I do think that even back then fruit, veggies and grains were the stables of the diet. But it is an interesting argument you are having with your wife. I'm not a fan of the Mediterrian Diet - although honestly did not attempt that one. Primarily not a fan because hell there is meat etc involved and the oils - well they tend to use a lot. The other one in the Bible is Moses eating the locus and honey. Interesting but (excuse the pun) food for thought.

hey Jan!

actually, reading the Genesis creation account, God did not give human beings animals as food at the beginning. It wasn't until after the flood.

read Genesis 1:29..."behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food..."

and then in Genesis 9, after the flood, God told Noah

"every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with...its blood..." (Gen 9:3)

so, God created us to be vegetarian and after the flood, put the fear of man into the animals, and gave the animals for food.

Hi there bunsofaluminum,
Why do you think God did this? Because of man's evil nature/ways - resulting in God doing the flood? Interesting though as for me it does seem like we are meant to be vegans not meat eaters.

I think people were already eating animals, but the animals had no fear of mankind before the flood. I think God said "they'll always be wicked, and they're going to eat my animals, so I better put some fear into them so the animals have a chance." (just kidding mostly! LOL)

and i agree. I believe we were created to be vegan. But God also put adaptability into every form of life, so that human beings can live in any environment, even in places where vegs don't grow, such as the arctic.

It's important that we don't get judgmental towards people who choose to eat animal flesh, because God gave permission for it, and even told Peter that all of it could be food, not to call something unclean that God had declared to be clean (He had a vision, in the book of Acts...don't remember what chapter)

IMO, we've gotten completely out of hand, and I REALLY think the way animals are produced for food in our culture is morally repugnant and I believe God does not smile upon it AT ALL. But...to me it is sin. I mustn't judge others, because to them it isn't sin.

I like being healthy, though!

Hey again bunsofaluminum,
I agree with you on the way we produce animals for food - it really upsets me. I'm (apart from one other) am the only Vegan in my little group and local community (those whom I know in the local community). However, meat eaters and vegans alike here in Sydney, actually Australia are up in arms over the live export of animals - which is truly one of the cruelest things I have every watched. We have been protesting and continuing to put up strong arguments to Government to have this stopped. But it is not just this, it is how we treat our animals - like caging hens to produce lots of eggs instead of letting them roam around. But I am pleased to say that the outrage is not just vegans but the meat eaters here.
I did love your entry about God put fear into animals so that they'd have a chance. What I really don't get is why he put us at the top of the food chain when I look around and see so much cruelty not just to animals but to other humans. I sometimes wonder if we are not going backwards (in intelligence) rather than forwards. However, I'm not saying that I'm truly great - I could get off my butt (which is large enough that I should actually more often do this) and actively involve myself in trying to create changes not just in exporting of live animals, but in other issues as well.
thanks for your take on it though. I have to confess I don't read the Bible as much as I should - Cheers - Jan.

Since the Mediterranean diet was mentioned, I thought it would be worth posting the 2011 fasting calendar for the Orthodox Christian Church. There is definite restraint being enacted. I personally find no oil days extremely difficult.

http://www.antiochianladiocese.org/file ... lendar.pdf

Jesus was on a plan, his physical body only needed to last 30 years.
Ill bet he ate more vegetables and bread than meat.....they all ate that way, only the wealthy ate meat as a huge paet of their diet.

A friend told me she read that men were living too long while constantly doing evil - so he gave them meat and shortened their lifespan. Hmmm...

Yaknow... hubby and I were talking about that. It seems that men started living shorter lifespans after they stopped eating vegan. So I believe that!