Should Catholics practice Kosher laws?

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While I firmly believe that animals should be treated respectfully and slaughtered humanely for the meat we consume, I don’t necessarily think that the kosher method has to be the one that is used. I think that all people, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or whatever, can agree that animals should be slaughtered humanely and come to an agreement as to what that would look like. I’m assuming that the FDA/USDA have at least some regulations in place now. The OP should look into working on this issue, since he or she seems so passionate about it.

May God bless you all! 🙂
 
The animal is not stunned though, so it must suffer through all that.
 
it does get hurt, no doubt. I don’t think there is an absolute painless way, but this is scientifically the fastest and most humane way.
 
An animal hit with a dead bolt and then slaughtered is the fastest humane way. It is instantly unconcious.
 
I do think Christians should take in mind that being inhumane towards animals is a sin. You need to research on this stuff, i suggest to look for actual slaughter videos and see how cows, pigs, and all that we eat in the west is very violent and cruel.

It’s not about the dietary laws but the way animals are killed for meat.
 
We don’t have evidence of this, it is unknown whether or not the animal is still suffering because it is unknown if the animal is paralyzed or fully unconscious. I have not found one video of an animal not twitching or moving on the floor after being stunned which makes it look like the animal is just getting brain damaged.

If there is evidence on this, not to mention the certainty that we christians are eating meat that has been treated/slain humanely, then that’s good.
 
VonDerTann said:
No significant number of others agree with you
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VonDerTann said:
Disagree? OK, it’s a free country.
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VonDerTann said:
I’d add that most kosher laws dramatically change the taste of food.
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The number of people who agree has never been a good moral argument. Likewise the law of the land is not an assurance of morality (as we see with abortion, just to take one example). And improving the flavor of meat could never be a moral justification for cruel or callous treatment of animals. Better to treat the animal humanely and adjust the cooking method.
 
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Catholics should follow the catechism - the most moral, humane, sensible and ignored document on the face of this earth.
 
As a Jew, my 2 cents’ worth is that, since from the Jewish perspective, it is not sinful for a Catholic or other Christian to eat meat that has not been slaughtered according to Jewish guidelines, perhaps Catholics should not be concerned about this.

Insofar as stunning is concerned, I’m not sure whether this is necessary based on Jewish ritual. I do know, however, that it is required that the butcher use the sharpest knife possible, one with no nicks, to kill the animal so that the least pain be inflicted.

With regard to the prohibition against the mixing of meat and dairy products, there is one verse in the Hebrew Scriptures that supports this: “A kid shall not be boiled in the milk of its mother,” and this has been debated within the Jewish community itself. The tastelessness and dryness of koshered meat referred to, due to the blood being drained, can easily be remedied, and I have personally not experienced this in my meat-eating days.

There is also the case presented within Judaism for vegetarianism.
 
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My biggest concern about eating meat is how the animal is raised and slaughtered. You can find butchers who sell certified humanely raised and slaughtered meat. Above all, if you’re concerned about the animal you eat, you should definitely make sure it is not a product of factory farming. Popes Benedict and Francis have spoken out about factory farming.

Check out a Greener World to learn more about humane certification.

@meltzerboy2:
Watching a kosher slaughter of a cow put me off meat forever. Watching a big animal bleed out is horrifying. I’ll never forget the look of terror in the animal’s eyes.
 
You are still killing the animal no matter if it is kosher
or halal.
 
delefin said:
We don’t have evidence of this, it is unknown whether or not the animal is still suffering because it is unknown if the animal is paralyzed or fully unconscious. I have not found one video of an animal not twitching or moving on the floor after being stunned which makes it look like the animal is just getting brain damaged.

If there is evidence on this, not to mention the certainty that we christians are eating meat that has been treated/slain humanely, then that’s good.
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Surely you are not proposing a conscious animal goes through less suffering then an unconscious animal when they are being slaughtered.
Let me ask you this, have you ever dealt with livestock?

Twitching will happen due to nerves and it is regardless of manner of kill.
Death is not nice, regardless of how it is done, we can minimise the suffering involved though.
Personally I am not a meat eater. God gave us animals for meat, for food, there is no reason to reject this gift of food from God.
Yes some of the butchering is barbaric, we can only raise awareness and advocate for better conditions at the slaughterhouse.

Old Testament Jews had to observe strict laws for food, and part of that was to keep food poisoning and food spoilage at bay.
 
meltzerboy2 said:
As a Jew, my 2 cents’ worth is that, since from the Jewish perspective, it is not sinful for a Catholic or other Christian to eat meat that has not been slaughtered according to Jewish guidelines, perhaps Catholics should not be concerned about this.
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How though? I can understand if it is not exactly the same as the Jewish guidelines, but how can a Christian eat something that inhumanely butchered with out it being a sin? God’s words in the OT was obviously against inhumane treatment of animals that humans would be forbidden to eat if the animal wasn’t killed with the least amount of pain.
 
OurLadyofSorrows said:
do you know how a stun bolt gun works?
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Yes, i do and it’s unconfirmed if the animal is completely knocked out. If it is fully confirmed that stunning does KO the animal that butchering is almost as painless as possible then I can be supportive of this.

humanefacts.org

Humane Slaughter? - HumaneFacts.org

Humane Slaughter? Although the U.S. technically has “humane slaughter” laws, they provide very little protection to pigs, cows, sheep and goats, and do not provide any protection for chickens, turkeys, or other birds. Pigs being herded toward slaughter. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals...
humanefacts.org humanefacts.org
 
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delefin said:
don’t you think it should be imposed as doctrine?
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No, I don’t think it should be imposed as doctrine. Realistically speaking, this would make it difficult for many people to get meat to eat. Kosher, halal and/or cruelty free meat is not available everywhere, there is a limited supply of it, it is often more expensive due to the special practices involved, and many people do not have any idea about or any say in how their meat is prepared, they just want to get food to eat that they can afford.

A Catholic might consider either going vegan/ vegetarian, or choosing cruelty free meat or kosher meat or halal meat if he thinks this is a moral issue and these choices are available to him.

A Catholic might also choose to take up some kind of activism pushing for more humane processes in the meat industry.
 
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Before Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, he gave an interview in which he deplored the “industrial use of creatures” such as hens living “so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds.” Unfortunately, right now, tens of billions of chickens are being forced to live this way; indeed, mankind’s realm is full of unnecessarily suffering animals.
 
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delefin said:
What I am saying is there is no evidence that the animal is unconscious, it is completely unknown whether the animal is completely unconscious or just paralysed.
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do you know how a stun bolt gun works?
delefin said:
shoot it in the head to blow it’s brains out?
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This doesnt happen, Shooting to put an animal down at practically point blank range, In a specific spot, is never that dramatic.
 
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delefin said:
I was horrified at some documentaries on how animals are butchered for meat, and I just don’t understand how animal cruelty isn’t a heavy sin.
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The wanton infliction of pain on animals is, in fact, a sin in the Catholic Church.

Slaughtering animals is never pretty. I think if you saw a documentary of a temple in first century Jerusalem at Passover you would probably not think Kosher was exactly humane when you see a quarter million lambs slaughtered while the priests are up to their knees in blood.
 
delefin said:
I was horrified at some documentaries on how animals are butchered for meat, and I just don’t understand how animal cruelty isn’t a heavy sin.
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Careful with this. They will film hundreds of slaughterhouses waiting for one to be bad and show that s the norm. Also different countries do it differently. In my country (UK) you couldn’t sneeze near an animal without having the RSPCA come after you. I’ve worked in both slaughterhouse and care homes; believe me the inspectors care more about the animals than the humans.

Also if you see a muslim slaughter an animal it is in a lot more pain than the secular way (in my country at least).
 
China is different, they were in the papers again the other day… explicit —>
they were cooking a dog live on a barbecue.
 
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