On Sat, 10 Aug 2002 19:48:00 -0500, Theola Walden Baker
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:


>And, no, Amadeus, I don't think the work is a *justification* of someone
>who
>wishes to eat beef.  I think it's a well-researched text by a scholar who
>dispels the pervasive myth ...

If a hindu writes about beef eating it just *is* a justification.
Which may be done in the *intention* to have a justification or not.
As I'm not a hindu and vedic specialist I'm not able to judge Jha's work
and tend to beleave your judgement that it's well researched.

I think there are certain religious patterns of other people which
should be respected by outsiders.
For a catholic not to eat meat on fridays.
For other christians maybe not to smoke in churches.
For jews not to eat pigs. For muslims not to drinc alcokol.
What is it worth putting all that down?

If someone came up with a historical documentation how much and when the
people of Israel *did* eat pigs - what should one think about that?

Not eating cows, but milking them is a big productivity enhancement to a
population, from about 8% to 75% of biomass.
But that's only a mechanistic view.

There is also the problem that a given cow could harbor my grandfather's
soul or even the incarnation of a goddess or god.
I think we should leave it up th the particular beleaves what to do.

I think *we* should be glad if not all Indian and Chinese (2,200 Million
people) would start to eat beef and meat as the west does.
If you consider the agricultural space and energy only the 250 million US
citicen and the 360 millio Europeans use up.
2,200 million beef-eaters in asia would have the potential to end in a
disaster.

For a little more learning about hinduism I'll read Jha's articles.

regards

Amadeus S.