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.

I asked about schools. I agree with @NoisyViewereveryone should give consent before consuming food connected to religious rituals. No they shouldn’t happily eat anything just because they are unaware.

It is always ok for people to choose to opt out of religious ritual and practise. And it should be made clear so they can decide. Or parents for them if too young.

I have, upthread. I’m engaging with you directly because you decided to quote me in the first place.

I'm not missing that point at all, I'm responding to a hypothetical scenario put forward by a pp. I recognised that the scenario was flawed for precisely the reasons that you have outlined, I was trying to respond to the pp's question in good faith.

I don't understand why people keep putting forward strawman arguments about people being forced to eat halal meat against their will. Nobody is arguing that people should have to eat it if they don't want to, and nobody is arguing that it shouldn't be labelled.

Who is stopping anyone from opting out?

Plenty are saying people are bigoted or intolerant if they don’t want to eat, buy halal or have it as the only option in schools. That’s the problem.

If that’s changed and people accept a no without that in return then great.

As a non religious Hindu..I would eat holy communion wafers if I wanted to..I eat halal and non halal. It doesn't bother me. I just don't need beef and pork. If someone blessed and prayed over my refried beans for example I wouldn't be bothered. I'd enjoy the food.

Well, clearly not.

Anyone who has specific dietary requirements doesn't have the luxury of being blissfully oblivious - they will need to proactively check.

Isn't this just common sense?

That isn't what people are saying. People can choose to eat, or avoid eating, whatever they like. I don't eat halal meat because I'm vegetarian. That doesn't make me a bigot.

The issue is with people claiming to avoid halal because of animal welfare reasons when they are quite happy to eat other mass produced meat without any concerns about animal welfare. This is clearly disingenuous, and it's therefore reasonable to question people's motivations.

Some do it through accusations of bigotry and intolerance as below. Rather than accepting it and saying ok.

However since everyone seems to want clear halal labelling and options for everyone including those who wish to avoid it, in schools and hospitals too then great perhaps all agree.

Both reasons are valid.

The allegations of bigotry arise from the shameless attempts to portray halal meat as being intrinsically more cruel than non-halal meat. The evidence doesn't support this, and it's clear that the people pushing this narrative are doing so with their own agenda.

There is no issue with people making personal choices about what they do or do not wish to eat.

Why aren’t you opposed to cruel ritual slaughter?

I disagree.

They don’t sell Kosher chicken in KFC, it’s not niche so obviously people care less

I am. But I'm equally opposed to cruel non-ritual slaughter. And I'm opposed to cruel farming methods employed in mass produced meat.

I'm also opposed to people making spurious claims purporting to care about animal welfare in order to push hateful narratives when their behaviour makes it very clear that they don't actually care about animal welfare at all.

If regular non slaughtered by a Muslim under strict sharia law meat has always been the standard then why would you feel parents would have to check if schools have changed their food, the onus should be on the school or establishment to inform their pupils or customers about that unless you think sharia law slaughtered animals should now be the standard in the UK?
Isn't this just common sense?

I sense this comment isn’t meant to be a joke, but it’s a big one. OP, you opened your post by saying, “You either don’t care, or you’re absolutely seething because your meat may or may not be halal.” “Seething” is a pretty high emotion word; we don’t often use it about ourselves, but we do use it more often with people we feel are over-acting their anger. Also “may or may not be” implies the type of person that allows their anger to overflow about a situation that isn’t even certain. I doubt you’d say it about a group you belonged to, so we know that’s not your opinion. Your comments have only made it clearer that you have disdain for these “seething” people and since you mentioned them signing “Restore Britain,” we all know who you mean, and it’s not the kebab shop owner down the road, is it?

So… halal and kosher discussion is inherently either a discussion of understanding OR of racism or religious intolerance - if it doesn’t change the flavor of the meat, why are all these “Restore Britain” types so up in arms? I’ll give you a hint: it starts with Is and ends with lam. Or if they’re complaining about kosher instead, it starts with Je and ends with wish. Shrug. If someone is SO into animal welfare that think halal or kosher is more cruel than regular factory farming methods, then I hope they’re either vegetarian or only buying meat from small holdings that’s been hand reared. 🤷‍♀️

I would say it's common sense to assume that schools can choose to serve any food that is legally permitted in this country. If parents have specific requirements around what they want their children to eat, then I would expect them to check.

Most people won't be bothered either way. Those that consider it important will make an effort to find out.

Reading the post below on the process I’m happy to avoid for both reasons.

So clear labelling and all options in public places. Let consumers show demand based on that.

Dont be so ridiculous, regular meat has always been the norm so any change from that should be relayed to them. So how often should parents check if their is no onus on the school to let them know? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?

I support clear labelling, but I think it should be more than just halal or kosher.

It should be clear as to whether animals are stunned or not, and further details should be provided about how the animal was slaughtered and how it was treated while alive. I'm sure that anyone who genuinely cares about animal welfare would support the provision of such information, so that everyone can make informed decisions about the food that they eat.

I'm sure anyone with particular concerns could ask to be informed if the school changes its meat supply.

Fine if you like. Halal, kosher and welfare. No problem.

Great.

Whats wrong with wanting to know if meat is "halal" or "kosher" or not?

Surely the religious people being accommodated by halal or kosher means of slaughter need to know so they can eat at that restaurant or buy that product, and people who object to eating halal/kosher meat want to know so they can avoid it.

If we are going to have animals killed by religious instruction it needs to be labelled correctly. Othewise what is the point?