“‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat. – Leviticus 11: 14-19

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 30, 2018): Leviticus 11

Author Anthony Hincks offers this bit of proverbial wisdom; “Eat from a carcass that has been left out, and thou shall feast on maggots, and worms.” I am not sure how hungry I would have to be to enjoy some roadkill stew, but I can’t imagine partaking of the food in anything less than the last-gasp situation to stay alive. The reality is that animal flesh begins to decay immediately upon death. Our meat is slaughtered and then treated and cared for from the time of death until the meat is sold and we prepare it to eat. Any break in that chain presents us with serious health risks.

Leviticus, at times, tends to present the reader with lists. And part of the problem with lists is that it is hard to extrapolate from a list to some sort of general rule. With lists, we sometimes do not understand the underlying reasons for the prohibition, or the command. We don’t know why something is wrong, but just that it is. And for some, that knowledge is enough.  But the reality is that we struggle in our attempts to understand whether the immorality of the action is something that is limited to geography and time or something that continues to be a danger to our contemporary lives.

So in Leviticus, we have general rules that can be followed for both animals and fish, but when it comes to birds, we are just presented with a list. And the list leaves the reader with the task of deciding whether birds prohibited for consumption is just the twenty included in the list, other Rabbis have increased the list of prohibited birds to thirty, or whether there is a more general rule that might be applied. In an attempt to find a more general rule, it has been noted the birds listed are indiscriminate eaters and that many of them are partakers of their form of roadkill stew, or at the very least, they are predators and eaters of meat.

In our modern world, maybe we are beginning to realize that while we humans are omnivores, meaning that we often eat both plants and animals, if we are going to eat meat, the best sources of meat for our consumption are herbivores, or animals that eat only plants. While, from a producer’s standpoint, mixing animal proteins in with the grain that feeds the animals we eat can help with growth and fattening up of our meals, what is best for our health is a food source that consists of plants and animals who eat plants

If it is the presence of animal flesh in the diets of these birds is the common factor, then it is possible that grain fed poultry is not just a modern preference, but that it is a biblical priority. And how we feed the animals we intend to consume may be seen as a moral issue. But then again, this whole argument is developed from a list, and that must also be taken into account.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 12