I have quite a few Christian friends, and I respect their beliefs, which is why I never blogged on the Red Bull ad that got a bunch of Christians hot under the collar. I'll admit, when my husband and I saw the ad on TV, we exchanged knowing looks that it would be pulled the next day in response to Christian outcry.
What I didn't expect from Christians, however, was the claim that Red Bull should have asked Jesus' permission before featuring him in its ad. Really? Really??
Ok, I said I wouldn't comment on this, so I'll change topic to why I'm really writing.
Some Christians have taken issue with the fact that Woolworths had a Halaal symbol on its hot cross bun packaging. Because, apparently, Christians have laid claim to hot cross buns and no one else is allowed to eat them. I wonder how many Christians eat matzos at this time of year? (I highly recommend you read the comments under this story, by the way).
And some are even threatening to boycott Woolworths because of it. Some are even more extreme in their anger: “I hate woolworths... How can you do that to the Christians, I hope that God will have mercy on you. And dnt be surprised if your shops run bankrupt.. I will pray to my living God and you will see what he is capable of! [sic]”. Wow, very Christian-like indeed.
Maybe they should be more like the bishop who said "there are a lot more weighty issues to deal with in SA than a few 'hot cross Christians'". *snigger*
Hot cross buns, believe it or not, pre-dated Christianity. "...it is believed that buns marked with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross is thought to have symbolised the four quarters of the moon); "Eostre" is probably the origin of the name "Easter".
Anyway, whatever.
Now Woolworths is making separate buns for non-Christians. I find this all very petty and pathetic.
Is Christianity not supposed to be about tolerance and acceptance of all? To me, it seems like a very exclusive club. Religion is causing unnecessary tension in a society that has a lot more pressing issues to busy itself with, and fighting over who may or may not eat hot cross buns is reflective of very closed-minded thinking.
I agree with you Tarryn that some Christians are taking this issue about the hot cross buns at Woolworths a bit too far - those buns are not just for Christians they are for all to enjoy. What I do feel irritated about is the fact that just about everything one buys in supermarkets today has the halaal sign. That is supposedly so that muslims will know that the food has been prepared in the "halaal" way - ther "halaal" way is amongst other things, that the food or the manufacturing thereof, is prayed over by a muslim imam and this prayer is offered up to mohammed, who is dead and buried somewhere in arabia, and who is not God according to our Christian beliefs. Our Bible emphatically discourages Christians to eat anything that has been offered to idols, and mohammed to us is an idol. The other end of the stick is that these muslim associations, and there are 3 of them in SA as far as I am aware, apparently make money out of every item that is sold with their sign on it. So, my question is, why should anybody who is not a muslim, pay for muslims to have their sign on food, and why should we enrich these people?
ReplyDeleteA very easy, lucrative way of making money I would say at the cost of non-muslims!
As far as I am aware, and I stand to be corrected as this is something I read online, halal food is approved because the ingredients are considered safe for consumption (i.e. no pork, alcohol, etc) and that the food is not actually prayed over?
DeleteEither way, it is all a bit silly; surely no one religion can claim that a food item belongs exclusively to it, unless the organisation itself manufactures that food?
I take your point though and thanks again for reading! :-)