How to Not Eat Fried Worms

I love the smell of fresh cooked bacon, especially cooked to a crisp. I would cook it until it was almost burned. I love the way it would break apart between my teeth like a potato chip. I can almost taste it now… I can remember the taste of “extra pepperoni” on my pizza, or the salted Canadian Bacon on my morning biscuit. It has been since August, 2003 that I have last tasted these things, and I will never experience those exact tastes again. Although my taste buds may be sad, my body is gleaming with happiness…

I wanted to clear up any confusion as to why our family does not eat pork. It isn’t because we believe that we are obligated to live by the law of Moses, although, I do believe that God gave those laws for a reason. He didn’t give the law to not eat unclean meat just because He had nothing else to do, or because He needed another law to give His people for them to fall short of. He already knew that they (we) wouldn’t pass the test. He gave them the law for their own protection. God did not create pigs for human consumption. He created pigs to help keep the earth clean. Jesus came and fulfilled a “new covenant.” He came to take on our sins so that we could become clean, not to make pigs clean. Their purpose has not changed, but our way to salvation has.

Upon reading Leviticus 11, my curiosity was penetrated. I wanted to know WHY God would tell Moses such a thing, so I began to do a little research. What I learned in this research was astonishing… I learned that eating pork can be extremely hazardous to your health. Did you know that pigs are known to carry up to 200 diseases and 18 different parasites and worms, including the deadly worm called “Trichinella Spiralis,” also known as the “pork worm?” It is a parasite specific to pork and rodents. It forms cysts in the muscles of the pig, and when the pig is then eaten by people, it causes stomach and intestinal diseases. When pork is cooked at high temperatures, the parasites die; however, this parasite does not. According to the CDC, this parasite requires much higher cooking temperatures, and has still been known to survive. It is estimated that 1 out of 6 people are infected with the pork worm which causes diarrhea and gastrointestinal symptoms as the worms multiply in the digestive tract. The pig is also the carrier of the Taenia Solium Worm, or Tapeworm. This tapeworm takes up residence in the intestine and can sometimes pass through to affect many other organs. Tapeworms can grow to be 20′ long, and are found in human intestines, in much larger numbers, in areas where pigs are eaten.

Pigs lungs contain Influenza (flu). This is where the Swine Flu comes from. Pigs harbor this flu in their lungs during the summer months. Then when the pigs are slaughtered and the lungs are turned into sausage, people consume it, and are now infected with the Swine Flu. That is why the Swine Flu is more popular in the Fall and Winter. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital indicates that if you eat pork, you increase your chances of getting Swine Flu by 20%. Pigs are also known to suffer from arthritis more than any other animal, and studies have shown that arthritis could be a virus or parasite transmitted to humans during pig consumption. This parasite, or virus, then takes up residence in the person’s muscles or joints causing deterioration which can lead to extreme pain and sometimes disability.

In Genesis 7, God told Noah to take with him “seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and it’s mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and it’s mate.” This was before the Law of Moses, and Noah already knew the difference between clean and unclean animals. God knew that the unclean animals would not be a reliable food source, and that their duty would be to clean up the mess made by the other animals and people, so there was not a need for as many of them as the clean animals that were to be used for food.

Mark 5 tells the story of Jesus and a demon-possessed man. Jesus commanded the demons out of the man and into the pigs that were grazing nearby. The pigs then ran down a steep bank into a lake and drowned. Jesus knew that the pigs were not a reliable food source, and this is the only recorded animal that Jesus ever killed.

God tells Peter, in Acts 9, to “kill and eat.” Peter replied, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” God replied, “Do not call anything impure that God has made.” I have heard references to this verse stating that God is now saying that everything is clean to eat; however, God is not referring to meat at all. The story goes on to say that God has shown Peter that he should not call any man impure or unclean, because at that time, it was against their law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or to visit him.

“Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive,” 1 Corinthians 23. It would be crazy for us to sit down to a bowl of gasoline and ask God to “bless this food to our body’s nourishment.” Ok, maybe we wouldn’t really ask God to bless our gasoline for food, yet, in a way, this is what we all tend to do, at some time or another. We pray for God to bless the food that we eat and to make it pure and nourishing. How can we expect God to disregard the truth, in order for us to indulge in our selfish appetites? I don’t believe that eating or not eating any kind of food, including pork, has anything to do with our salvation. I believe that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. I believe that you can eat pork and still go to heaven; however, I also believe that you could get there a little faster if you do…