To absolutely loathe the increase in smear campaigns against businesses because of the halal meat debate?

[nc0007]

Well it’s not really a debate, is it? You either don’t care, or you’re absolutely seething because your meat may or may not be halal. But irrespectively of what you think about this, AIBU to think that people ‘outing’ businesses on social media about what meat they use and encouraging hundreds of people to smear them not just in posts but reviews to tank their ratings is just crazy?

Hundreds of people commenting ‘I’ve just left them a bad review on google’ because a (British owned baked potato) business extended their trading hours to their Muslim customers? People who have never bought anything from them in their life, probably geographically will never go there. Actively trying to sabotage a business because you think you’re what - some sort of activist?

And don’t get me started on the posts where people reach out to these poor customer service reps in supermarkets to ask them if the meat they sell is halal because of this mad narrative that ‘80% of supermarket meat is halal’ - where has this nonsense come from?!?! 😂 People screenshotting and commenting about how ‘Clare from Lidl’ is avoiding the question when she probably doesn’t have a scooby and the answer probably isn’t a straight yes or no either!

Madness. Utter madness. People treating this like it’s a full time job.

It is unreasonable to sell halhal meet without it being labeled so. If you see how the halal butcher process is done it would put most people off, it's cruel and barbaric. Chickens are strung up on a circular conveyor belt with a giant funnel in the middle the chickens go through a blade that slices their heads off and the blood and guts runs into the funnel. Larger animals sre hung up, have their throats slit with no stun and left to die. So NO, people should be able to make an informed choice.

Is that true though? I’m a total hypocrite in that I love animals but also eat meat on a regular basis.
However I would like to think the animals are killed on a reasonably humane basis, which halal meat doesn’t appear to be.
Does that make me racist?

Certainly, if you’re a mainstream Christian, you throw out the bits that are made outdated by the New Testament.

But live by whatever rules you personally like.

What does annoy me is the pizza chains with halal franchises who sell pepperoni pizza which isn’t pepperoni! Or ham which isn’t ham!

That pisses me right off.

It definitely didn't paint a good picture of the people who egged him just because they wanted halal meat.

Most people follow etiquette when sharing a meal in someone’s home, they probably know and like them.

In a supermarket customers can just choose the product they want. Some will look for halal others will avoid it and choose non halal. I don’t think either need to explain much more on why.

Also applies to a restaurant, bakery, school. Customer choice is with them, not others to order they must buy it.

Ill stick with the old testament because thats Gods original laws.
Jesus said himself i have not come to change anything but to fulfil the will of him who sent me.
In mark 5, he says I have not come to abolish any laws.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Mark 5.17.

I think you mean Matthew 5.17?

Do you make sure not to wear clothes of two different fabrics together? (Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:9–11)

Do you also avoid shellfish which is also deemed unclean? (Leviticus 11:9-12 and Deuteronomy 14:9-10)

Do you believe unmarried women who are raped should have to marry their rapist? (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

Do you believe that if a man accuses a woman of not being a virgin when he marries her she can be killed? (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)

Just interested whether you follow all of the laws laid out in Deuteronomy and Leviticus or just the ones that suite you?

What about moses ten commandments?

Exactly.

Do the people who only buy free range eggs know or care what happens to the male chicks in the industry? They are gassed or occasionally macerated at a day old, it happens whether the eggs are battery or free range.

No, i dont follow those. Or the verses in Samuel that says kill all women and children of amalek and spare none not even animals or newborn babies. Im.not a Christian but I was once. And I do believe that pork is harmful as alcohol is too alongside smoking and drugs.

Ive not been able to read all replies since I created this thread yet, but I do understand some points around people wanting to be informed and making a choice based on this. However most processed meats (your nuggets and whatever) will be made from scraps. It’ll likely be pooled in from whatever slaughterhouse so it would be impossible to definitively give people an answer to say ‘this product contains this % of halal’. You could label it as ‘may contain traces of Halal, Kosher, whatever scraps we could find’ like you do with nuts or milk but this would not solve the debate on welfare. I think most people that opt to buy this type of food need to accept that it’ll never come from a well treated animal, no matter the religious or non-religious aspect.

Nobody needs to explain anything - I am just interested as to why.

I have had conversations with Muslims about their beliefs and why they believe them and some really interesting conversations with Jehovah's Witnesses as to why they believe what they do - particularly around not celebrating Christmas and Birthdays.

I have also had conversations with people from different sides of the political spectrum and different backgrounds to me as to where their beliefs, ideas and views come from.

Sometimes that has led me to change my mind about things or think of things differently, sometimes listening to my views has changed other peoples minds

Having conversations about what people believe and why leads to greater understanding and a much more peaceful and cohesive world generally.

Im not a Christian anymore. Left the church in 2011 and follow the worship of only one God. Not God and jesus. Because I believe God made jesus not the other way round. And I dont pick and choose. There are many verses in the bible that I do agree with and somei dont agree with. I dont follow the bible wholeheartedly and agree that its full of violence and errors. I only mirror my beliefs to certain verses. I.e why muslims dont eat pork when I looked into it I felt sick and stopped eating it as a Christian two years before I even left attending church.

The way I look at it is, I do what I can.

I can't control what happens to male chicks or most of the horrific animal cruelty that goes on in the world.

All I can do is control my own actions so I buy free range whenever I can. I'm also kind to my own animals and donate to animal charities.

I can't let myself be overwhelmed by all the sadness in the world so I just try to live a moral life. I can afford free range, so I buy it.

This desire for understanding doesn’t really tally with your earlier post

‘Anyone who then avoided stunned Halal couldn't argue animal welfare and could be called out for the clear bigot's they are - particularly if they are not religious (like over 50% of the country)’

This sums it up for me as well. I think labelling is important and welfare standards should be increased across the board, with no exceptions made for any religions.

1. Animal welfare. I eat very little meat and dairy, but when I do I try to buy the most ethically produced products. The reason I am practically a vegan, is because I found this too difficult to navigate.

2. I find it bizarre that we have Muslim prayers in slaughterhouses in the Uk and that this is becoming bc a norm. You said as an atheist, you do not care. As an atheist I do care and I dont follow why I shouldn’t care as prayers are meaningless for me. It’s not meaningless if imposed on me (indirectly or directly).

And thats all great, respecting others way of life/religions/thoughts etc.

Following on from my previous point, the law is that animals must be stunned before slaughter with EXEMPTIONS for religious slaughter practices. I would like to see ZERO exemptions. This, I understand, is also the position of the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association.

Yes - that is my view at the moment because I cannot see any other reason other than religion or bigotry why a meat eater who cares about animal welfare would not eat pre-stunned Halal meat.

I am happy to have my mind changed about that - hence asking why an atheist would object to what is simply a handful of words and having a conversation. As I said, having conversations with people who have different views has caused me to change my mind in the past and rethink my stance on things.

A reply along the lines of "I don't have to tell you" is fine people are perfectly entitled keep their reasons to themselves.

However, I am just as entitled to assume that a meat eater who has declared themselves to not be religious, buys meat from the supermarket but would refuse to buy pre-stunned Halal meat and refuses to discuss the reasons why in a perfectly polite conversation is doing so because their reasons are in fact bigoted and they know it.

🤣

That man is an absolute knob head. No one should be vandalising him OR eulogising him.

So people who do not agree with you are bigoted if they are not fully giving an explanation accepted by you? This is what you saying, isn’t it? I need to convince you why as an atheist I do not want to eat halal or I am a bigot.

The animal welfare position I understand.

But it is the prayer bit I don't - how are the words being imposed on you?

If they hold no meaning, how does it make any difference? And would you feel the same about sitting and eating with a Muslim person who said those words over the table prior to eating?

I am genuinely trying to understand why you feel that way?

I mean - would you take issue with someone reading from Marx or Rousseau because they were imposing left wing ideology on you or from Burk or Hayek because they were imposing right wing ideology while they were slaughtering an animal or is it just religious texts?

Would you have an issue with a simple gratitude form of words if it didn't have an organised religious connotation?

This is quite controlling. Buy the halal or explain why. I’m not sure why people take this position on here.

Fortunately if labelling catches up with consumer opinion you’ll not know who buys what, only if demand goes down.