Things Strangled

God's commandments are perfect and are given that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Obeying his commandments produces serious spiritual and physical benefits. God said of the Old Testament man, named Job, that he was a perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. Job was the center of a debate between God and Satan. Satan's allegation was that Job only served God because God had a hedge of protection around Job. Job belied Satan's accusation for when his blessings had been stolen and destroyed and his wife told him to curse God and die, he countered with the Heavenly famous response, Job Chapter 2, Verse 10:

But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

And again brother Job says in Job Chapter 13, Verse 15:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:

Those of you who know Job's story, know that he was completely exonerated. But God in fact did have a hedge of protection around Job. That hedge was a product of obeying God's commandments...the fruits of submitting to perfect truth.

God spends much time in the scriptures dealing with what we eat and how we prepare it. In a future God Said-Man Said subject (God willing) we will address a concept akin to a spiritual umbilical cord. It is an amazing concept that has a lot to do with eating. The revelations and insights in God's Word are so much greater than marvelous.

GOD SAID many things in His word that directly and indirectly concern eating. One thing in particular is how animals are killed for the purpose of consumption. In the book of Acts Chapter 15, Verses 28-29:

28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

It is God's commandment that Christians should eat nothing that is strangled. When Israel had a temple, which they will have again, daily animal sacrifices for sin were conducted there. One was called a burnt offering and the entire animal was prepared and burnt upon the altar of sacrifice. But a vast number of sacrifices offered before the LORD were eaten by the priests, their families and by the family that brought the offering. All that God required of that sacrifice was those things which would be harmful to us such as the fat, the blood and the kidneys and the caul above the liver and that was totally burned upon the altar of sacrifice. God's instructions in killing the animal and preparing the sacrifice were very specific. On one occasion while discussing food preparation, specifically animals, a Jewish rabbi explained to me some of the regulations that must be observed if the animal is to be classified as Kosher. Kosher is a Jewish term that means something, usually food, conforms to Jewish law. The Jewish people received much of this instruction from God through Moses. In order for the cow, for instance, to be kosher it had to be slaughtered in a very meticulous way. They kill the beast with a knife. The knife must be razor sharp and its cutting edge flawless. A silk cloth is run across the cutting edge and if the knife snags the cloth the knife must be repaired or replaced. Secondly the koshering rabbi approaches the unsuspecting beast from the rear and cuts the throat of the animal. These things are done so that the animal experiences no fear or trauma and the least amount of pain. These instructions were given by God thousands of years ago before man had the foggiest reason why.

MAN SAID, "What does the Bible know? We'll just wring the chicken's neck...strangle it and fearful mooing cows we'll just herd into the slaughterhouse and kill them there."

Now THE RECORD. In an article titled "Animal Stress Results in Meat Causing Disease," written by Irwin H. Putzkoff, Ph.D., MD, professor of nutritional physiology, he made some very alarming assessments based on a mountain of clinical studies and research. The article noted that at the time of slaughter, if animals are exposed to fear, stress or pain, their bodies excrete into its own meat elevated levels of steroid hormones typically associated with andrenocortical secretions. The dominant substances in these secretions are adrenaline, cortisone-like secretions and steroids which stimulate fear pheromone production. All of these ingredients when consumed by humans in animal meat, cause significant human health problems.

Slaughter techniques that cause fear in animals result in animals whose meat has unnaturally high amounts of hormones. These hormones deliver serious implications to the unsuspecting diner. Dr. Putzkoff writes,

This is apparent in the United States, where it was noted that girls were entering puberty at abnormally early ages, and that teenage boys were starting to develop small breasts. It is also thought that approximately 50% of impotence not attributed to other causes (e.g., diabetes or use of antihypertensive drugs) is caused by the high hormone content in meat.

It was originally thought that this was the result of growth hormones being used in meat, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has strict limits on the use of such hormones prior to slaughter. Since these levels are easily tested, farmers are reluctant to run the risk of using hormones prior to slaughter. It would therefore be expected that the impotency effects and abnormal teenage development patterns would decrease instead of increase.

In a recent study 642 teenagers were examined at Utah Freedom Hospital. The study showed the early onset of menses in young girls under the age of 10 increased from the historic rate of 32% to a dramatic 68%; it more than doubled. The young men had problems of another nature. Teenage boys experiencing an increase of breast development spiked 200% upward over the historic norm.

Most folks are aware that people in other cultures have different dietary habits. Some people in other countries actually eat dogs, cats, rats, horses. Those eating dog meat for example are recipients of serious negative factors such as cardiac problems, impotency and general fatigue. The meat of laboratory dogs exposed to fear in slaughter was fed to rats. In a period as short as two weeks the rats became impotent and ceased to reproduce. The male rats were no longer drawn to females in estrus plus they experienced a small reduction in the size of their sexual organ.

America experiences a myriad of medical problems that a like myriad of industries have risen up to attempt to solve. Americans are plagued with chronic fatigue, remedies advertised for male impotency abound and penal enlargement is now big business. Then there are things such as sterility, depression, heart problems and I'm sure much much more. Does any of the above ring a bell? In the conclusion portion of the article I've referred to it states, "Fear in animals during slaughter causes dramatic reduction of vitality and sexual potency in humans who eat the meat."

GOD SAID many things in his word concerning how animals are killed for the purpose of human consumption. In particular Acts Chapter 15, Verse 29:

That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

His instruction was given to creatures He made by His own hand and this wisdom was given thousands of years before the concept became known to modern science. God's Word is the inerrant owner's manual for living.

MAN SAID, "What does the Bible know? We'll just wring the chicken's neck...strangle it and fearful mooing cows we'll just herd into the slaughterhouse and kill them there."

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

References

King James Bible

Josephus, F., Antiquities of the Jews, Kregal Pub., Grand Rapids, MI

Putzkoff, I. H., Ph.D., MD, "Animal Stress Results in Meat Causing Disease," www.scn.org

Apple, J.K., J.E. Minton, K.M. Parsons, and J. A. Unrah (1993) "Influence of repeated restraint and isolation stress and electrolyte administration on pituitary-adrenal secretions, electrolytes and other blood constituents of sheep," Journal Animal Science, 71:71

Binstead, M., (1997) "Handling cattle," Queensland Agricultural Journal, 103:293

Boandle, K.E., J.E. Wohlt, and R.V. Carisa (1989) "Effect of handling, administration of a local anesthetic and electrical dehorning on plasma cortisol in Holstein calves," Journal Dairy Science, 72:2193

Coppinger, T.R., J.E. Minton, P.G. Reddy, and F. Blecha (1991) "Repeated restraint and isolation stress in lambs increases pituitary-adrenal secretions and reduces cell-mediated immunity," Journal Animal Science, 69:2808

Dantzer, R., and P. Mornede (1983), "Stress in farm animals: A need for re-evaluation," Journal Animal Science 57:6

Dunn, C.S. (1990) "Stress reactions of cattle undergoing ritual slaughter using two methods of restraint." Vet. Rec. 126:522

Ewbank, R., M.J. Parker, and C. W. Mason (1992), "Reactions of cattle to head restraint and stunning: A practical dilemma," Animal Welfare 1:55

 

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