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.

If someone offered you the holy communion would you take it?

Because it isn't really about animal welfare.

I imagine it would be a concern for Jewish people in the UK.

Good question. I suspect that most people aren't aware of the subtleties, just that there are questions over cruelty and those questions are connected with religious beliefs maybe. Or that's how they are seen.

Why does it have to be solely that? It’s a religious ritual.

It’s not labelled. I have to actively research to find out if it’s halal or not. I buy from Waitrose as I do not believe their meat is halal except perhaps lamb which I never buy anyway.

Yes, I’ve had the wafer in a church.

It wasn’t holy to me, it was a bit of wafer, made no difference to me.

Why did you do that? It’s not compulsory.

Then they should have to figure that out within their communities.

I was offered it I guess, so I took it.

It's likely stunned though. Especially if in a UK supermarket.

Kosher meat is never stunned and not counted as kosher if it is from certain parts of the animal. So you could definitely consume unstunned, unlabelled meat that was slaughtered for the kosher market. Less likely that you will find unstunned and unlabelled halal meat.

Yes, and as I've repeatedly said, I think halal and kosher meat should be clearly labelled as such. That will help Muslim and Jewish people who will obviously need to know what they're eating. It will also help Sikhs who are not permitted to eat ritually slaughtered meat.

I am not arguing that anyone should have to eat something that they don't want to eat. I am objecting to people pretending that animal welfare is the reason for their objections, when they are showing by their other choices that they don't actually give a toss about the welfare of animals. It's a bit like all of the far right types suddenly pretending that they care about women's rights. It is so obviously disingenuous.

You’d have to go up to the religious person offering it, rather than stay sitting in a pew. Why would you hear the words spoken and think yes I’ll get up and join in the line to have this?

It was a church learning event, everyone was encouraged to get up.

Why the third degree?

Lots of people who aren't very familiar with church rituals might just assume that they should follow whatever everyone else is doing in order to be polite/respectful.

My (Sikh) DH assumed that he should cross himself when we went to a funeral in a Catholic Church because that's what he saw everyone else doing and he wanted to show respect.

Right. I don’t know what that is maybe they were handing out something else.

Most people in church hearing someone bless a wafer as the body of Christ isn’t going to think yeh I’ll line up even though they don’t believe.

It’s the same for halal. People would like to opt out of the religious ritual. People should accept that want to.

Sure do it or don’t. No one will say it’s intolerant or bigoted to opt out if someone realises what lining up for a blessed communion means.

Side stepping mistakenly religious adults, would you be ok with holy communion for all school children?

Nobody is being penalised. What's happening is that Muslims and Jews are being given preferential treatment in that they have been given exemptions from UK law.

Given that it impacts negatively on animal welfare, according to the RSPCA and FAWC, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. And now that the halal industry in particular has expanded so much, the practice was bound to come under greater scrutiny.

Thanks MrsB. That’s so funny about your DH.

I’ve always been open to learning about different religions and have no issue with going to a place of worship and doing what I’m asked.

Does anyone actually have an issue with someone choosing not to eat halal meat for religious reasons? I'm not aware of this.

My issue is the faux outrage about animal welfare in relation to halal meat, most of which is stunned in any case, from people who don't otherwise appear to give a toss about the welfare of animals in our meat or dairy industries.

It was definitely the wafer for the body of Christ.

I don’t think anyone has an issue with people opting out.

But going back to the OP’s first post, restaurants are allowed to serve whatever they want including halal. People who don’t want to eat the food can simply opt out.

The same as Muslims and Jews and Hindus have to opt out of eating meat at the vast majority of restaurants in the UK. E.g. eating a BigMac at McDonalds isn’t possible for
Muslims, Jews or Hindus.

This is not true. They won't sell meat labeled as halal if it is not, but have to such qualms about selling halal meat not labelled as such so that if meat eaters of other faiths or none are unwittingly eating meat that has specifically been slaughtered under strict Islamic law ie 'sharia law'

It’s both. Not always together. Some want to avoid it not because they are religious though, it’s more opting out of religious ritual through informed choice which is fine.

Or their dc are not religious so they’d prefer to not have it in schools.

Ok you’re not being asked to participate if you don’t have faith.

In my case we were.