honest question
 

This is a thread for not making fun of people or putting others down. We're all ignorance. This is a thread where if you have questions about other cultures, etc, ask them. Rules for thread: If you're asking a question, try to do so in a way that won't offend people. Rule 2: If some one asks a questions, don't make fun of them. Give them the benefit of the doubt, because if we start calling everyone out this will turn into a flame war and its supposed to be about free, open discusion. This can only happen if we're all respectful. So here is my question for anyone about Jewish Kosher Laws. You can't eat meat with milk right? I get that part, but would it be okay to eat eggs at the same time as chicken?

I should know the answer to this but I don't.

I know that people who eat kosher cannot eat any type of shellfish. That includes clam and shrimp.

Re: honest question
 

Yes it would be. You can also eat eggs with milk.

-Rudey

I thought the rule was not a ban on a specific product (with noted exception of pork and shellfish) but that you werent supposed to eat the product of an animal with the flesh of that animal. For example, no cheeseburgers.

I think it's this but I could be wrong (I'm a bad Jew...I never went to Hebrew school):

hamburger = cow/mother
cheese = milk/calf's food

You're not supposed to eat the mother with the baby's food. I might be completely wrong...Rudey correct me if I am.

That's part of it but honestly it's not that simple. All the laws of kashrut have had hundreds of years of thought and reflection on them by people smarter than the average bear and can't be broken down into a one line equation like that. A lot of the laws have a lot to do with ritual purity more than anything else.

-Rudey

i just slayed a pig and i am gonna eat it to the muslim culture. i love those guys.

Eggs are one of things considered "wild cards", or can be served with meat or dairy. I'm not Jewish, so I don't know all the details, but being geriatrics, I get to know some of this stuff! :)

The original meat/milk rule was not to seethe a kid in its mother's milk. The idea is that it's cruel to the mother animal - not only are you turning her baby into dinner, you're also taking the milk intended for that baby.

Over the centuries, it's gotten expanded. First it was extended to other animals, like cattle. Then, since different meats were often stored together, it became forbidden to eat one type of meat with another type of milk - just in case you mixed them up. The prohibition was also extended to fowl, even though fowl don't produce milk. (Apparently the ancient rabbis thought the people were too stupid to tell the difference between a chicken and a cow. :rolleyes: )

These days, of course, different types of meat are generally kept separated. You even have separate meat herds and dairy herds for cattle, and (I believe) separate groups of chickens intended for egg production vs. slaughter for food. (I'm referring to big commercial farms here, not small family farms.)

Chicken and eggs is ok because you're not eating the baby along with nourishment the mother produces for the baby. (a) there's no embryo in the egg, (b) chickens don't produce an equivalent to milk, unless you count the egg yolk.

Eggs and dairy is ok because chickens don't produce milk, so you're definitely not having the baby with the mother's milk.

I hope this makes sense... :)

The term is "pareve" - neither meat nor dairy.

Fruits and veggies, fish, and baked goods made without using dairy products (e.g. challah bread) are other pareve items.

I was going to say pareve! :) But I wasn't sure if that was just for Passover or not.

No, bread and baked goods that are acceptable to eat during Passover will be marked "kosher for Passover". So, for instance, plain matzo will be both pareve and kosher for Passover.

They're also imprinted with the year - you're not supposed to eat last year's leftover matzo.

I honestly don't want to argue about this, but that's not totally true...barely even the tip of the iceberg. That's why you think the rabbis were stupid when in fact you don't know enough about it. :rolleyes: It's very patronizing for you to just roll your eyes and cast anyone as stupid.

-Rudey

Look who's talking.

What are you talking about? Because you couldn't respond you had to say that? How pathetic. If I tell someone they're stupid they are - they don't know what they're talking about and can't respond to what I say.

-Rudey
--Stupid

What are collared greens?

-Rudey

Can someone explain a Catholic christening to me?

My nephew was christened in a Catholic church, and his mother was nonpracticing and his father thinks he's Catholic... (He goes to Mass on Easter and Christmas, but he grew up Baptist and was baptized in a Baptist church.) I've never understood what his being christened means. What would it mean for him to be confirmed?

Isn't christening the same thing as baptizing? They both involve water right?

-Rudey

I found this really cute explanation online for you:
Southerners love their greens. A time-honored tradition in southern kitchens, greens have held an important place on the table for well over a century, and there is no other vegetable that is quite so unique to the region. Greens are any sort of cabbage in which the green leaves do not form a compact head. They are mostly kale, collards, turnip, spinach, and mustard greens.

In the South, a large quantity of greens to serve a family is commonly referred to as a "mess o' greens." The exact quantity that constitutes a "mess" varies with the size of the family.

The traditional way to cook greens is to boil or simmer slowly with a piece of salt pork or ham hock for a long time (this tempers their tough texture and smoothes out their bitter flavor) until they are very soft.

Typically, greens are served with freshly baked corn bread to dip into the pot-likker. Pot likker is the highly concentrated, vitamin-filled broth that results from the long boil of the greens. It is, in other words, the "liquor" left in the pot.

The cooking of greens came with the arrival of African slaves to the southern colonies and the need to satisfy their hunger and provide food for their families. The slaves of the plantations were given the leftover food from the plantation kitchen. Some of this food consisted of the tops of turnips and other greens. Ham hocks and pig's feet were also given to the slaves. Forced to create meals from these leftovers, slaves created the famous southern greens. One-pot meals also represent a tradtional method of food preparation, which is linked directly back to West Africa.

In spite of what some consider their unpleasant smell, reaction to the smell of cooking greens separates true southern eaters from wannabes.

According to folklore, collards served with black-eyed peas and hog jowl on New Year's Day promises a year of good luck and financial reward, hanging a fresh leaf over your door will ward off evil spirits, and a fresh leaf placed on the forehead promises to cure a headache.

I have some questions:

1) Why do older Asian men walk with their arms behind their back?

2) Why is there less personal space observed in the Asian culture? I can be walking in the gym and an Asian is righttherenexttomesocloseIcan'ttakeit...

3) Sometimes I see younger men, seemingly of a Muslim culture, with a covering on their head that has almost a bulb-like part on the crown of the forehead...What is this?

I feel like the day I learned that Sea cucumber isn't a vegetable.

-Rudey

adduncan or Beryana can probably explain this much better than me, but I'll take a stab at it. Being baptized (we don't really call it christened, at least around here) is basically when the parents and godparents affirm that they will raise this child Catholic and it enters into the Catholic faith. At this point, the decision is being made for little Jose. Later in his life, he'll go through other sacraments: Reconciliation (Confession) and First Eucharist (first communion). After that, generally around age 17, Jose makes the choice to be confirmed for himself, at which point he's considered an adult in the Church. It's sort of like being bat/bar mitzvahed only much less work. Lots of people are baptized Catholic but never get confirmed.

They're most likely Sikh and not Muslim and cover their head like that. I don't know the exact reasoning behind it but i bet it's somewhat similar to other religions - not sure. Also when they get "baptized" they carry a piece of metal, often a knife, in there. I thought that was interesting when it was explained to me.

-Rudey

I always thought Catholics called it baptism and Protestants called it christening, generally speaking.

I am a Lutheran, and we call it baptism, but we are rather close to the Catholics in many ways. I know some people use the words interchangably as synonyms, but I checked my dictionary and it said the christening was the rite of the baptism. To me a christening is more of a term that older people would use.

Also, we do Confirmation as well. However for the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) it can vary from congregation to congregation. My home church has Confirmation classes during the 8th grade school year with completion at Pentecost. The kids at the church in my college town finished THREE :eek: years of classes and were confirmed on Reformation Sunday. My best friend is Episcopalian and she went through a confirmation similar to mine.

Been baptist all my life, and I've never heard it called christening except when someone was referring to the Catholic church. Baptists call it baptism. Thanks for the explanations!

I am Episcopalian. We call it Baptism, and it is done generally before the baby is 1 depending on the parents, although you can be baptised at any age. In the Episcopal church it is the same as the Catholic in which the parents and Godparents are publicly promising to bring the child up in Christ. Where we differ is that this also entitles the baptised person to partake in communion. In the Episcopal church all baptised people no matter age or denominational preference are welcome to partake. We also have confirmation, which is voluntary. It is generally done at around age 16. You take several months worth of classes where you learn religion along with the history and beliefs of the Church. At the end of the classes the presiding bishop in the diocese will come and publicly confirm those who finished the classes. At this time those people are officially members of the Church and I would suppose considered adults.

Where I think we differ from other denominations such as Baptist is that the act of baptism is a person's voluntary commitment to the faith and the church where as in the Anglican/Lutheran/Catholic (probably others) it is the parents commitment to raise their child in the faith and the church until the child is considered old enough to make their own decision. Therefor, Confirmation for us is more like the Baptist baptism as this is when the individual decides for themselves (without the water).

AOIIBrandi, I should have added that part in about infant baptism. You're more with it than I am today! I didn't even think about it as most of the practicing people I know are Catholic/Episcopalian/Lutheran, or Jewish. I know at my home church once you were confirmed you were considered an "adult member" and that you could vote on congregational issues, and you no longer would be an acolyte.

What I think is so neat now is the Full Communion within different Protestant groups. I have found that sharing with other groups has made my faith stronger, and brought the students on my campus into a closer group.

I've asked I don't know how many people about this. Anyone else find it kind of funny that the place it's been made clearest to me is GC?

Hootie!
 

I was cruising the ELCA site this morning and found an FAQ about the differences between the ELCA and Missouri folks.
http://www.elca.org/co/faq/elcalcms.html
They should really add in about the Wisconsin Synod folks. Back home the churches are very diverse, but still hold the original ethnic roots. It is kind of neat.

As an aside the LCM at my school is really ELCA based with an Presbyterian, Methodist, Quaker, and a Catholic thrown in, but at another nearby college their LCM is full of Wels and Missouri folks. We're discussing a bowling challenge and the losers have to make traditional Lutheran church food. I see Jello Salad and Hotdish in my future!

The Presbyterian Church, USA (the largest of the Pres. Denominations), calls sit baptism. There is a confirmation, with classes, during the early teen years.

The PCUSA offers Communion to any baptised Christian no matter what denomination he/she was baptised by.

i dont know, but it's pimp.

its badass and it only looks cool when they do it.

Re: Hootie!
 

The Wisconsin folks are REALLY REALLY REALLY conservative. That's all I'm going to say on the subject, because we're playing nice in this thread.

Agreed. Plus if they have those catfish mustache things going on and silk outfits, I think it's even more badass.

-Rudey
--Nothin' but old asian man love here.

I am a "non-denominational Christian" (well, my church is HQ'd out of Church of God; Anderson, Indiana in case anyone wants to know).


My understanding is that Catholics and similar denominations, such as the Church of England, practice "christening". This practice is done with an infant whereby water is sprinkled onto the head of the baby, bringing him or her into the grace of God. It is essentially baptism for infants as I do not recall Catholic believers ever having this rite with water again (maybe someone else can help me out here). Sometimes it's called "christening", sometimes it's called "baptism".


Other Protestant denominations, such as my church, do not believe that a baby is capable of making this decision for him or herself and therefore christening is not done. Instead, we practice "baby dedication" and "adult baptism".


In baby dedication, the parents present the baby to the church congregation and pledge to do their best to raise the baby in a Christian home. There is no water sprinkling involved; though some churches annoint the baby's forehead with oil. What the parents are saying is that, they will try to raise the baby with Christian ideals, but also recognize that their child will have to decide for himself when he is old enough. The event is low-key and just a short presentation during a regular church service.


My church practices adult baptism by immersion. There comes a point in time when a person decides that Jesus is the way to go and decides to pray to God to ask him for forgiveness and ask for help in leading the right kind of life - in effect, they "become a Christian". One of the next steps for new believers is to make their public statement of faith through baptism. There is no age cut-off; I've seen people as young as 13 to as old as 40+ go through baptism. They key here is for the believer to choose to do it when *he or she is ready*.


For example, being that my [Polish-American] family is Roman Catholic, I was christened in a Catholic church when I was a baby. However, my family never went to Mass (my parents were non-practicing Catholics). By my own accord, I chose to become a Christian when I was 14. Two years later I decided that I wanted to be baptized again, this time by my choice, and went through another baptism at age 16.


My church conducts baptisms during a regular church service a couple times a year. That is, people who want to be baptised usually all go on the same day. This rite usually takes place inside the church as most churches have a "baptismal" or a big jacuzzi or bathtub-like tank right in the sanctuary which is filled with warm water for this occassion. The participant steps into the water-filled baptismal with the officiating pastor. Sometimes a friend or relative goes in too for moral support or to share in the happy occassion. The participant is asked by the pastor to verbally confirm his or her faith in Jesus Christ and his or her desire to be baptised.


In line with the account of Jesus' baptism in the New Testament, the participant is gently tilted backwards by the pastor and "dunked" momentarily. Yes, that means the believer gets soaking wet! :) Just in case anyone is sincerely wondering, I'll add that everyone is fully clothed for this. ;)


Of course, individual denominations will have slightly different takes on the subject. At any rate, I hope this helps further some understanding!


.....Kelly :)

I don't know why, but I don't think it's just Asian culture. I've been noticing it a lot in Germany too. The Europeans I've encountered stand much closer to each other when talking than I, a normal American, would do. Almost right up in each other's faces. Girls also tend to link arms or hold hands when walking down the street. It's cute and friendly. Even random strangers do it: On the bus, it's my tendency to take a seat where there's an empty seat beside me, but I've often seen people get on and take a seat right next to me even though there are many others that don't have anyone next to them.
Maybe the question should be, instead, why is there more personal space observed in American culture?

Re: Re: Hootie!
 

Yeah that's what I've heard. I was so STOKED when I saw a Lutheran church next to my apartment complex when I lived in Austin...but then I saw that it was Wisconsin Synod. I asked my mom about it and she was like, well you can go, but you're probably going to feel out of place. So...I never went.

A great explination!
My Baptist church didn't do dedications when I was a youngin but they are much more popular these days and I love them. The minister at my parent's church just had his new grandchild dedicated last summer...it was such a sweet moment!

Baptism...yeah something I never got around to doing...sigh. And now that I'm attending a Presby. church in NYC I feel sooo odd when communion comes around and they ask that only baptized Christians partake...

Religous ideas and rituals fascinate me!!

As far as the whole Catholic baptism/christening goes, I was baptized in 98,(Yes, I chose to become Catholic, and no it was not to get married, but anyhow....) because my mom is protestant and my dad is a non practicing Catholic...anyhow...I got three sacraments in one day...baptism, confirmation, and communion. As for calling it christening, I think it's just personal preference.

As for the whole Asian people standing closer, it's not just an Asian thing. I was at Disneyland Paris when I lived in France and the concept of personal space like we know it here just does not exist there. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that there are a lot more people packed into a much smaller space.

It is also like that in the metro/tube in Paris/London, or even in movie theaters when the space cushion seat rule is violated. Case in point, I went to see a movie in France, I sat in a row all by myself in the theater...(relatively empty) and some dude just came and sat next to me, and I had no idea who he was. Anyhow, that is just the way things worked there.

It was the same on the metro, I could be sitting in a seat surrounded by empty seats and the seats near me would be empty and someone would always come sit right next to me. Maybe I just attract the strange people...;)