The humble Bacon Cheeseburger may be the most secular, anti-religious food in the world. It has the potential to violate religious dietary restrictions in every tradition we are covering in the World Religions course I'm teaching this semester.
I needed some kind of tangible, easily relatable example to demonstrate to my students how religion can affect decision-making in ways an uninformed person would not be able to predict. This mainstay of American drive-thru cuisine appears to be just the thing. (More after the jump.)
Anyone can make a health-based argument against bacon cheeseburgers -- while juicy and ostensibly delicious, they will plug up your arteries faster than a bird dog in July, and thus are bad for you. So bad. And anyone could tack on a religious "I-told-you-so" to this argument; something along the lines of "God wants healthy Christians, so don't get fat and/or die of a heart attack."
As I said, though, I want to emphasize the unpredictable arguments that originate in religious reasoning. Luckily for me, it seems like almost every religion in the world has a french fry on their shoulder when it comes to the warm, savoury temptation of a Bacon Cheeseburger grilled to perfection.
Buddhism advocates vegetarianism in sympathy for all living beings. As I learned from Seven Years in Tibet, the Buddha said "All beings tremble and are afraid in the presence of death; therefore the enlightened being does not kill or cause to kill."
Hindus are not universally vegetarian -- my uncle-in-law, for instance, is only vegetarian on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hinduism nevertheless recognizes the piety of vegetarianism. What's really wrong with this dish, of course, is the fact that it is made from the meat of the sacred cow.
Judaism has a wide spectrum of beliefs concerning the Bacon Cheeseburger. A Reform Jew might abstain on Shabbat, but otherwise be fine with a person having something they enjoy. Orthodox Jews, however, will immediately cite 1) the bacon comes from a pig, which is treyf; 2) cheese and meat are combined in one item, also treyf, and 3) the meat itself, if slightly pink in the centre, will drip blood -- very treyf.
Islam, of course, observes halal. Jewish kashrut (kosher) and halal are so similar that they can, in an emergency, be relied upon by members of either religion. So the pork and the bloody meat are also not halal. I don't think the cheese-and-meat combination is against halal, though -- gyros and falafel come to mind.
You might think that Chrisitianity alone affords to its adherents the comfort of this wicked meal without restriction. And as far as it goes, you would be right -- the Bacon Cheeseburger is not eo ipso an obstacle to living a Christlike life. But beware Protestant-centric thinking!
Catholicism, of course, still generally forbids meat on Fridays during Lent. And an obese person whose personal vice consisted mostly of Bacon Cheeseburgers as a species of the deadly sin Gluttony would be given sage advice by nutritionist and priest alike to forsake burgers in the name of God.
It doesn't end there -- Orthodoxy has weeks and weeks of fasting around both Holy Week and Christmas, during which the Bacon Cheeseburger might well break one prohibition or another.
So, you Protestant American living in your modern, secular society -- enjoy it. You're almost the only one who does.
I needed some kind of tangible, easily relatable example to demonstrate to my students how religion can affect decision-making in ways an uninformed person would not be able to predict. This mainstay of American drive-thru cuisine appears to be just the thing. (More after the jump.)
Anyone can make a health-based argument against bacon cheeseburgers -- while juicy and ostensibly delicious, they will plug up your arteries faster than a bird dog in July, and thus are bad for you. So bad. And anyone could tack on a religious "I-told-you-so" to this argument; something along the lines of "God wants healthy Christians, so don't get fat and/or die of a heart attack."
As I said, though, I want to emphasize the unpredictable arguments that originate in religious reasoning. Luckily for me, it seems like almost every religion in the world has a french fry on their shoulder when it comes to the warm, savoury temptation of a Bacon Cheeseburger grilled to perfection.
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| This one is a double, and it comes with onion rings. It was made with love at Carl's Jr. |
Buddhism advocates vegetarianism in sympathy for all living beings. As I learned from Seven Years in Tibet, the Buddha said "All beings tremble and are afraid in the presence of death; therefore the enlightened being does not kill or cause to kill."
Hindus are not universally vegetarian -- my uncle-in-law, for instance, is only vegetarian on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hinduism nevertheless recognizes the piety of vegetarianism. What's really wrong with this dish, of course, is the fact that it is made from the meat of the sacred cow.
Judaism has a wide spectrum of beliefs concerning the Bacon Cheeseburger. A Reform Jew might abstain on Shabbat, but otherwise be fine with a person having something they enjoy. Orthodox Jews, however, will immediately cite 1) the bacon comes from a pig, which is treyf; 2) cheese and meat are combined in one item, also treyf, and 3) the meat itself, if slightly pink in the centre, will drip blood -- very treyf.
Islam, of course, observes halal. Jewish kashrut (kosher) and halal are so similar that they can, in an emergency, be relied upon by members of either religion. So the pork and the bloody meat are also not halal. I don't think the cheese-and-meat combination is against halal, though -- gyros and falafel come to mind.
You might think that Chrisitianity alone affords to its adherents the comfort of this wicked meal without restriction. And as far as it goes, you would be right -- the Bacon Cheeseburger is not eo ipso an obstacle to living a Christlike life. But beware Protestant-centric thinking!
Catholicism, of course, still generally forbids meat on Fridays during Lent. And an obese person whose personal vice consisted mostly of Bacon Cheeseburgers as a species of the deadly sin Gluttony would be given sage advice by nutritionist and priest alike to forsake burgers in the name of God.
It doesn't end there -- Orthodoxy has weeks and weeks of fasting around both Holy Week and Christmas, during which the Bacon Cheeseburger might well break one prohibition or another.
So, you Protestant American living in your modern, secular society -- enjoy it. You're almost the only one who does.
There is a wonderful conversation in a movie called New York, I Love You, between a Jain and a Hassidic Jew. Over diamonds they discuss their food restrictions and agree that you can't trust something like diamonds with someone who can eat anything.
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