Ahh, these three topics are the ones I enjoy the most. But, naturally, they are probably the most controversial ones out there. So anyway, here are my personal stances on these topics and how they relate to each other. If you don't like them, well, that's fine. Just give me your reasons. I'm willing to read them, even if I don't agree with you. If you agree with me, wonderful.
I am a Neo-Pagan, but I come from a Christian background. I was raised Episcopalian (with a small jaunt as a Lutheran), attended a Pentacostal school for three years as well as a Catholic one for three years. I am well-versed in many Christian theologies. However, one aspect of Christianity I never agreed with was Creationism, especially of the Young Earth variety. I can buy that God set off the chain reaction that made our universe the way it is, and I can even buy the belief that there was more to it than that (though that is not my belief), but I cannot and will not buy that dinosaurs and man roamed the earth together and that the earth is only 5000 years old. So why am I bringing this up? Because it pervades the Real Food movement, that God is somehow compelling us how to eat, that the Paleo diet subscribes to the theory of evolution and is therefore wrong. I could go on and on. In all my years as a Christian with religious education, I never was taught this pseudo-science, and now it's everywhere I look for information on Real Food. To me, as soon as I see a mention of Creationism, the author loses all credibility for me. Mythology exists to teach us spiritual truths, not to be a science primer. Genesis is a myth. Adam and Eve did not exist as such. Nor did Hercules, Thor, Genesha, etc, lest you think I'm just picking on Christians. Anyway, I'm not out to change anyone's beliefs, but I have to say that science CAN be trusted, and people don't have to take the Bible literally to be a good Christian. Science can and will support Real Food. That's why I eat it! It's the ethics of it that relate to my personal spiritual practice, but more on that later.
Moving on...I've said this before, but I am a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal. I'm a Bernie Sanders, socialist kind of liberal. That said, I like regulations, just not stupid ones. I don't want small government or big government; I want SMART government that isn't pushed around by corporate money. I want the freedom to buy raw milk, but I do want it tested regularly to make sure my farmers aren't cutting corners. I want GMOs and artificial flavors and colors banned by the FDA. I want real and thorough gold-standard testing on medicines and vaccines before they are approved for the market, instead of all the fast-tracking and lack of long-term study. Taking corporate money and lobbies out of government will force these changes. Many of my fellow Real Foodies take the opposite approach. They want hands-off government, and quite honestly, I'm a bit sympathetic to that, but only because our current system is the way it is. I don't want to make government smaller, I want it BETTER, but until then, I feel like a bit of a renegade. Lucky for me that I live in Massachusetts, where we haven't had FDA raids on raw milk farms (what a waste of taxpayer money!) In my opinion, the FDA would do better by spending its time and money on actually doing proper testing on foods and medicines without kowtowing to Big Pharma and Big Ag.
In another post, I will address my omnivorism as it relates to my spiritual practice. Stay tuned!
I am a Neo-Pagan, but I come from a Christian background. I was raised Episcopalian (with a small jaunt as a Lutheran), attended a Pentacostal school for three years as well as a Catholic one for three years. I am well-versed in many Christian theologies. However, one aspect of Christianity I never agreed with was Creationism, especially of the Young Earth variety. I can buy that God set off the chain reaction that made our universe the way it is, and I can even buy the belief that there was more to it than that (though that is not my belief), but I cannot and will not buy that dinosaurs and man roamed the earth together and that the earth is only 5000 years old. So why am I bringing this up? Because it pervades the Real Food movement, that God is somehow compelling us how to eat, that the Paleo diet subscribes to the theory of evolution and is therefore wrong. I could go on and on. In all my years as a Christian with religious education, I never was taught this pseudo-science, and now it's everywhere I look for information on Real Food. To me, as soon as I see a mention of Creationism, the author loses all credibility for me. Mythology exists to teach us spiritual truths, not to be a science primer. Genesis is a myth. Adam and Eve did not exist as such. Nor did Hercules, Thor, Genesha, etc, lest you think I'm just picking on Christians. Anyway, I'm not out to change anyone's beliefs, but I have to say that science CAN be trusted, and people don't have to take the Bible literally to be a good Christian. Science can and will support Real Food. That's why I eat it! It's the ethics of it that relate to my personal spiritual practice, but more on that later.
Moving on...I've said this before, but I am a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal. I'm a Bernie Sanders, socialist kind of liberal. That said, I like regulations, just not stupid ones. I don't want small government or big government; I want SMART government that isn't pushed around by corporate money. I want the freedom to buy raw milk, but I do want it tested regularly to make sure my farmers aren't cutting corners. I want GMOs and artificial flavors and colors banned by the FDA. I want real and thorough gold-standard testing on medicines and vaccines before they are approved for the market, instead of all the fast-tracking and lack of long-term study. Taking corporate money and lobbies out of government will force these changes. Many of my fellow Real Foodies take the opposite approach. They want hands-off government, and quite honestly, I'm a bit sympathetic to that, but only because our current system is the way it is. I don't want to make government smaller, I want it BETTER, but until then, I feel like a bit of a renegade. Lucky for me that I live in Massachusetts, where we haven't had FDA raids on raw milk farms (what a waste of taxpayer money!) In my opinion, the FDA would do better by spending its time and money on actually doing proper testing on foods and medicines without kowtowing to Big Pharma and Big Ag.
In another post, I will address my omnivorism as it relates to my spiritual practice. Stay tuned!
Your last paragraph about smarter government could have come right from my own mouth. How else are we going to deal with the less than wonderful food producers? Market forces can only do so much to drive them out, and that is only if their negative practices come to light. Libertarianism would be nice, but I honestly don't trust people enough just to regulate themselves when it comes to interacting with others.
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That's exactly it, Soli. I can't say as I trust corporations, and I can't obviously trust government either. The problem is that they are too wedded to each other (in the worst ways) to make any real changes.
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