[Zelda]

What are your thoughts on this? It was in the Letters Section (if my memory serves me well) of yesterday's Standard.

http://eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=11423

Maasai, Somali and the matter that threatens to divide them
---------------------------------

MEAT
REV ZEPHANIA S KORESS

A new controversy between Maasai, who are mainly Christians, and Somali, who are mainly Muslims, concerning the meat sold in butcheries, has erupted in Kajiado.
And while this might appear a minor matter to many Kenyans, it could be the reason for a major conflict between the Maasai and Somali in the district if it is not addressed early enough.

This regards the slaughter of animals which is strictly carried out by Muslims in all of Kajiado District’s slaughterhouses. It is taken for granted by most Kenyans that the meat they eat will have been
slaughtered by a Muslim. Indeed, some people will demand to know if indeed a Muslim slaughtered the meat they are about to it.

There are others who do care to know about such matters; all they want is meat for their meals. But now there is a new twist to this matter in Kajiado District. The attack on a group of local people last November, for example, should be treated as having given rise to a new case which had previously not been addressed for lack
of an appropriate forum.

Usually, a special prayer is quickly said over the animal that has been made to face Mecca before its windpipe is severed. The point of controversy is that the Muslims dedicate the meat to Allah before
consumption. But not all consumers of the meat are Muslims.

Now the Holy Scriptures forbid Christians from eating such meats. But I Corinthians 10:25 allows Christians to eat the meat if they are not aware of its intended sacrificial purpose.
They are to desist from eating it after this purpose is revealed.

"But if anyone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake." (1 Corinthians 10:25-Holy Bible NIV).

Why does eating such meat bother a Christian? Again I Corinthians 10:20-21 and Deuteronomy 32:17-18 explain it. Christians are excused for their past ignorance in such deeds according to Acts 17:30-31. At the same time, each one of them everywhere is commanded to repent once the truth has been revealed or face divine judgement.

The Kajiado non-Muslims have boycotted this meat since last December 21 and are demanding to be allowed to slaughter their own animals to provide "kosher" meat.

A group of pastors from "Bissel Christian Church" (union of all the Churches) met with the Kajiado District Commissioner, Mr Ken Lusaka, who himself worships at the Anglican Church in Kajiado, on January 11 and asked him to let the Christians eat meat!

He promised to summon together bishops, church and mosque leaders to his office tomorrow. (The writer confirmed yesterday that the meeting is still on and extended an invitation to the Standard.)

Ironically, all the slaughterhouses and meat shops in Kajiado are owned and run by Christians!

But Kajiado’s Muslims seem to control the state of affairs at the district headquarters because they own wholesale stores, hotels, petrol stations, residential houses and business premises in Kajiado town centre.

Several Somalis are members of Osilalei and Lorng’osua group-ranches in Matapato; Torosei group-ranch in Loodo-Kilani; IlDalal-le-Kutuk.
They have their own schools and in recent years, 90’s, they have been trying to recruit Maasai children to Islam through schools.
They provide free education in Islamic schools at Kajiado town, Mile-Tisa and Namanga.

But this enterprise has not succeed as anticipated because the Maasai culture has many points of conflict with many Islamic practices. Therefore, about 90 per cent of the children withdrew, leaving only a handful from very poor families.

However, the Somali people in Kajiado and the Muslim fraternity are keen to contribute to the education of their district. Their current efforts revolve around a proposed Islamic university, which, it is
claimed, will target Maasai students.

A local resident has donated a 12-acre plot at Esukuta in the proximity of Kajiado town for that purpose. Such collaborative development efforts may be thrown into jeopardy if protest
rallies such as the one done in Kajiado, became a common feature of the district and may have negative results if the issue is not speedilyresolved.

Some radical elements within the Christian or Muslim ranks may not restrain or contain themselves if slightly provoked and thugs may seize the opportunity to loot. Meanwhile all of Kajiado District, to the remotest parts, while supporting the meat boycott, wants to see this matter resolved speedily.

Maasai people who in the last couple of years or so in communities along the Kenya/Tanzania border, have felt hard done by because of the increasing influence of the Somali and their aggressive search for new converts to Islam. All Kenyans, be they Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus or animists, are entitled to exercise their faith, whatsoever, as stipulated in the Kenya Bill of Rights in the
Constitution.

No individual, roup or ruling power is mandated to stop them! Let the government and concerned authorities address and redress this potentially explosive issue before it hatches hatred and even skirmishes.

The writer works with the New Life Revival Centre, Church of the Rock, Kajiado

[Coach]

Zelda,
I don't see what the fuss is about. Muslims say "In the name of Allah The Most Beneficient The Most Merciful" before commencing anything, including slaughter. This doesn't mean make the meat a "sacrifice" per se. Muslims are also allowed to eat meat slaughtered "by people of the Book", Christians and Jews.

Muslims in the west abstain from eating meat from non-halaal butchers because the westerners are mostly agnostics and very few consider themselves Christians. Surveys done in France (and many other European nations) show that more than a half of the population don't believe there is a God.

[Zelda]

heheh. i found myself thinking the same thing: what does the saga have to do with sacrifice? i think this is one of the ways that a misunderstanding of religious actions can increase tensions between groups. maybe the 'sacrifice' issue is not the main one, though. seems like the issue is that two groups (muslim and christian) are trying to win converts to their religions from among the maasai, even though that's not exactly how the writer of the article presents it. and maybe there are also cultural tensions between the maasai and the somali for wtva historical reasons.

hopefully, they will address wtva differences and misundestandings they have before the situation deteriorates.

[OR]

There is actionable job discrimination here.

You mean a christian cannot get a job cutting animal necks at the slaughter house?

[Zelda]

>There is actionable job discrimination here. You mean a christian cannot get a job cutting animal necks at the slaughter house?

I dunno about that OR.
Let's keep our eyes on the ball: A practising Muslim or Jew cannot willfully eat haram or non-kosher meat. A Christian CAN eat haram or halal/ non-kosher or kosher because within the Christian faith, it usually does not matter (last I checked) how the animal was slaughtered. So if there's going to be a default butcher, it makes sense that the butcher slaughter the animals in such a way that EVERYONE in a multi-cultural/ multi-religious town can eat the meeat, right?

What follows is not the same, but might help illlustrate my point better: You're throwing a bash to which vegetarians and non-vegetarians will be coming. You can only serve one main dish. Seems likely that you'd serve a vegetarian dish, right?

I dunno the state of affairs in Kajiado. I do know that the writer of the letter favors a specific point of view, and his representation of the situation might not be completely accurate. Don't rush to the conclusion that a Christian cannot get a job in a Kajiado slaughterhouse.

[satjas]

Hey Zelda

>Let's keep our eyes on the ball: A practising Muslim or Jew
>cannot willfully eat haram or non-kosher meat. A Christian CAN
>eat haram or halal/ non-kosher or kosher because within the
>Christian faith, it usually does not matter (last I checked)
>how the animal was slaughtered. So if there's going to be a
>default butcher, it makes sense that the butcher slaughter the
>animals in such a way that EVERYONE in a multi-cultural/
>multi-religious town can eat the meeat, right?

At this juncture may i add that all parties are breaking their very own law that says ' thou shalt not kill' ......please don't add -it meant people....it is clear one should not kill, animals, people, High energy forms, the like.


>What follows is not the same, but might help illlustrate my
>point better: You're throwing a bash to which vegetarians and
>non-vegetarians will be coming. You can only serve one main
>dish. Seems likely that you'd serve a vegetarian dish, right?

wow wow wow.....lemme try comparing the two.....one is about how the meat is killed whereas the other is about what to eat. Zelda, it is not the same comparison.....they have no problem eating meat, its about the way it is killed.

And it does not matter how the animal is killed, there is no 'humane' way since killing is killing whether done by a bullet, knife or a hammer. Whether facing mecca or south pole. Whilst a prayer is being said or not.....imagine yourself being killed and someone is praying whilst slitting your throat, its sickening!!! And it doesn't matter if its beef, veal or ham, it is all meat- one eats it all or one doesn't. Its the draconian religious laws that prevent people from enjoying their freedom. I know some muslims and jews like ham and have no problem whether it is halal, kosher or not, they say it has not killed them eating whatever they like and yes it hasn't. They have their freedom to ingest what they want don't they???

-the paradigm shifter.....God's friend.

[Zelda]

>Hey Zelda
>At this juncture may i add that all parties are breaking their
>very own law that says ' thou shalt not kill' ......please
>don't add -it meant people....it is clear one should not kill,
>animals, people, High energy forms, the like.

so what exactly r high-energy forms, satjas? and was the command not to kill given to humans alone or to all life forms? if yes, then does that imply that a venus fly-trap should not trap and digest flies, and the lion with its carnivorous teeth should not kill the antelope and eat its flesh, and the white blood cells inside you should not devour the disease causing bacteria...?

by the way, the method of killing animals employed by orthodox jews and by muslims is said to be more humane than the so-called modern one of putting a bolt through the poor animal's head. and the issue of the humane-ness (sic) or otherwise of killing is culturally relative. did you know that some ppl believe(d) that it is more humane and honorable to kill a prisoner of war than it is to keep him or her captive and locked up in a cell for decades?

tell me something: why are we so scared of death that we act as if it is a perversion in the cycle of life, when it seems that it is a very natural part of the cycle? what scares us about death? is it the pain, or is it the part of dying? why is death frightening? is it because deep-down, despite what we claim to believe, we feel that upon death, we vanish into oblivion?

>Its the draconian religious laws that prevent people from
>enjoying their freedom.

sometimes 'freedom' is nothing but an illusion.

[satjas]

Hey Zelda


>so what exactly r high-energy forms, satjas? and was the
>command not to kill given to humans alone or to all life
>forms? if yes, then does that imply that a venus fly-trap
>should not trap and digest flies, and the lion with its
>carnivorous teeth should not kill the antelope and eat its
>flesh, and the white blood cells inside you should not devour
>the disease causing bacteria...?

exactly what you mention here are different energy forms. One high energy form is human. A higher energy form is a human who is aware that s/he is aware about awareness. An even higher energy form is one who lives in this state of awareness constantly....like Jesus, Buddha, Mother Teresa.

there was no command...instead God gave Her commitment not to kill humans which is what we humans should strive to emulate. These animals and plants do not realize any different than what they already do, however you as a human being know that you can survive without eating meat.....That is a major difference, it distinguishes higher energy forms.


>tell me something: why are we so scared of death that we act
>as if it is a perversion in the cycle of life, when it seems
>that it is a very natural part of the cycle? what scares us
>about death? is it the pain, or is it the part of dying? why
>is death frightening? is it because deep-down, despite what we
>claim to believe, we feel that upon death, we vanish into
>oblivion?

my point exactly, death is only a physical aspect, life always goes on, the soul will always merge with where it came from. Thanks for reminding me though.

>sometimes 'freedom' is nothing but an illusion.

only for a mind that does not believe in freedom.....try telling that ( what you said) to the millions of slaves who left africa hurdled like animals, or to the south africans 15 years ago, or to the palestinians at this very moment and you'll regret you ever mentioned it.

-the paradigm shifter.......God's friend

The soul is that which beholds beauty even when the mind denies it.

[Zelda]

>there was no command...instead God gave Her commitment not to
>kill humans which is what we humans should strive to emulate.
>These animals and plants do not realize any different than
>what they already do, however you as a human being know that
>you can survive without eating meat.....That is a major
>difference, it distinguishes higher energy forms.

it continues to interest me that we talk about other life forms as being lower than us. how exactly do we know that animals and plants are 'not aware'? if they are part of the eternal consciousness, as you sometimes describe it, then doesn't that seem contradictory?


>>sometimes 'freedom' is nothing but an illusion.

>only for a mind that does not believe in freedom.....try
>telling that ( what you said) to the millions of slaves who
>left africa hurdled like animals, or to the south africans 15
>years ago, or to the palestinians at this very moment and
>you'll regret you ever mentioned it.

and that's exactly why i said 'sometimes'. maybe i should be more specific: sometimes, ppl think freedom is the ability to do/ say wtva you choose. but many times, even when we have the options/ choices, we're not free in our hearts. that type of freedom is superficial.

[satjas]

hey zelda

even around you, you will find people who do things and have no idea what they are doing. that is a lack of awareness. Only much later will they realize their situation and have to live with the consequences of theur own making.....which they will deny, because they were not aware of it in the first place. I hope that explained it.

the freedom i'm expressing is freedom in its truest essence. The one your heart cannot deny even when your mind says no.

-the paradigm shifter.....God's friend

The soul is that which beholds beauty even when the mind denies it.