Phood Pharisaism

Written by Douglas Wilson

Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:59 am

Those who have been following these posts on food have often seen me qualify and set boundaries to what I have been saying. Such qualifications are necessary and good, and so here comes another one. Put this one in the categories of two different prepositions -- at and for. Who are these posts aimed at, and who are they for?

They are directed at every form of phood pharisaism. Some may think that this is mostly a windmill to tilt at, but I think differently. I see and hear expressions of moral superiority based on personal food choices on a regular basis, and such expressions are a true enemy of our souls. They are deadly.

This is quite a different thing than a recognition that some foods can be better than others -- aesthetically, nutritionally, and so forth. Avoidance of pharisaism is not equivalent to food relativism -- though the pharisees usually think that it is. If their made-up rules fall, then all moral standards must topple with them, and civilization with it.

So that is where these posts are aimed. If you're not living in phariseeville, then, as the Aussies say, no worries. If you have never seen an instance of phood pharisaism, and you don't know what I am talking about, then perhaps you should consider whether you are one. But if like the rest of us you do live in a society that is given over to this foolishness, then it would be difficult not to be affected by it all. But being affected by pharisees is not the same thing as being one, and those in that category can find themselves being pushed in a direction they haven't really thought about much.

So if you assume that natural, ancient, and organic necessarily means healthier, then these posts are for you. Something could genuinely be all three and still be bad for you. If you tend to think that natural on a label is anything other than an advertising hook, manipulated and controlled by bureaucrats and corporate execs, these posts are for you. If you think that you (or your children) ought to be required to eat the heel of the loaf because the browner and tougher it is, the more nutritious it must be, then these posts are for you.

Add this page to your favorite Social Networking websites

Comments

Only registered users can write comments!

Michael Duenes - Bay Area Foodies

Saturday, February 27, 2010 9:30 am

Living in the Bay Area where we have what we call "foodies," where Alice Waters is a god, where Michael Pollan teaches at CAL, these posts are definitely for my context. We are surrounded by this noise, and your holding in tension food Pharisaism and food relativism is highly needed for my own clear thinking. Thanks again.

Brian C. - Orange County Foodies

Saturday, February 27, 2010 4:36 pm

Mike... Not just the Bay area, but all over California. This is where the Foodies were born. But you are right about a high population of Foodies in the Bay. I believe Napa is their headquarters.

Robert Seward - reality question

Saturday, February 27, 2010 11:58 pm

I have this thing called a round tummy. It seems to be getting bigger. It seems if I don't learn more about nutrition, my round tummy is likely to grow. How do I get my tummy to not grow anymore if I don't think about good foods and bad foods etc?

oldfatslow

Sunday, February 28, 2010 4:00 am

Robert, it's not that
food is moral, it's the
eating (Prov. 23:2).

Which reminds me, I
need to go sharpen all
my knives.

ofs

Tammy - REAL natural FOOD is healthier

Sunday, February 28, 2010 6:19 am

http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2010/02/28/if-you-find-problems-with-genetically-modified-foods-watch-out.aspx

Genetically modified organisms are not "natural" foods. There are studies that show that they cause physical harm. The scientists that find the problems are gagged and lose their jobs, all in the name of the profit for big ag and corporate food. See above linked article for scientists and studies that show that as well as sources for the Doctor's article.

The sin nature of man is very capable of making "food" that is harmful to people all in the name of making a profit for the parties with financial interests in doing so.

Pointing this out to my friends in a loving way is loving them, not being a pharisee. No one I know is demanding that all you that like your junk food throw it away or your souls will be in danger of hell. That is not the case. But, your physical bodies are in danger of illness and disease when you consume things that don't promote good health. If you have the funds to pay for the doctors and medications that go along with this choice and that is your preference, it isn't going to cause you to lose your soul. On the other hand, those of us who are seeking to keep our health, by eating only what is healthy, as much as possible have the right to do so too. It seems to me that there is more "phariseeism" in the desire to dampen your fellow believers desire to exercise DOMINION and STEWARDSHIP over their health than in those who choose to eat in a way that promotes health and to share what they have learned with others.

Jane Dunsworth

Monday, March 01, 2010 8:27 am

Wait...not agreeing with you is a willful campaign against dominion and stewardship, but it doesn't endanger your soul?

I think the point is being proved here.

Jane Dunsworth

Monday, March 01, 2010 9:28 am

Wait...not agreeing with you is a willful campaign against dominion and stewardship, but it doesn't endanger someone's soul?

I think the point is being proved here.

Tammy - Hardly!

Monday, March 01, 2010 9:46 am

Hardly, I think it is the reverse. I don't go around telling everyone that they have to eat like me. But, those of us who want to eat healthy and dare to share with others the information that we have found through research are being declared pharisees. Doing research and determining whether something is good to eat or not is what I consider to be taking dominion over that area of my life. That does not save my soul, but I definitely know that my body is more healthy because of it.

If I just walk into a supermarket and put stuff in my cart to feed my body without paying any attention to the ingredients in the products, I am just hoping that others have my best interests at heart.

So, there is a new rule being promoted here. You are allowed to eat organic or natural, just don't tell anyone about it and don't dare think that it is a better way to eat.

Where does the Bible teach that we can't share information about good nutrition with each other? Where does the Bible teach that if we believe that eating food as close to the way it was created is better, that we are pharisees?

It does not. I don't walk around demanding that everyone agree with me, but these posts seem to be demanding that we agree with Doug that all things that industry chooses to call food must be food and must be accepted as healthy.

I don't agree with that premise. The owners of corporations are sinners just like everyone else and are capable of making decisions that are in their self-interests and harmful to others.

Shana

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:05 am

I can't seem to have a conversation at church that doesn't eventually roll around to food/health/natural remedies, etc. I think it is a sign that something is seriously out of kilter.

Tammy

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:30 am

Shana, I suspect that a lot of the people in your church are interested in that.

Yesterday at our church, over our weekly potluck lunch and afternoon fellowship, we discussed herbs that might help my cow with fescue foot amongst other things. The vet told me she will have her hoof fall off in a matter of weeks. While what we do may not help her, we are going to try and lots of ladies and men at our church have studied herbs, so I was very glad of the advice that I received.

As a body, we can all learn from each other and I personally think that that is a very good thing.

Shana

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:33 am

When 85% of the conversation revolves around those topics, there is a problem.

Tammy

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:38 am

Start a conversation about a different topic if you want to talk about something else.

We ladies talk about children, music, food, herbs, gardening, livestock, natural health care, vaccinations, and more at our CREC congregation. The men tend to talk more about theology and work related things.

Shana

Monday, March 01, 2010 10:51 am

You are making a lot of assumptions about what I have or haven't done. Can't change their mind, won't change the subject, and all that... My post was not a complaint. I love my church friends, and they are not all of this persuasion. All it takes is a few strong personalities. My point was simply that our conversations are perhaps symptomatic of a real problem afflicting American culture. It is not that talking "shop" is bad in and of itself.

Billie Hallman

Tuesday, March 02, 2010 5:17 am

Considering that our worship service culminates in a meal, and that we prepare and eat 3 meals a day, I don't find it so strange that we spend so much time talking about food and its preparation, seed to table. What I think I'm starting to see, though, is this is an argument of method, when it ought to be an argument of principal. If we all had the principals in order, we might find we're okay with a wider variety of methods.

Jane Dunsworth

Monday, March 01, 2010 12:38 pm

Tammy, I think your long comment indicates that you are not paying attention to the argument. That is why I say it proves the point of this post. Despite Pastor Wilson's repeated statements that this is not about whether it is healthier to eat one way or the other, but about how those views are expressed and the value people put on them, you insist on making it about the former and then taking offense.

My other point as that you can't accuse someone of willfully attempting to thwart stewardship and dominion and then say it is not a matter of endangering your soul. Willfully attempting to thwart others' practice of biblical virtues is sin, which endangers the soul. If you're accusing them of sin, then you ARE raising this to a moral issue. and you are also accusing people of doing something I've not seen anyone do. No one is trying to stop you from doing what is right for your family, which is what dominion and stewardship about.

Billie Hallman

Thursday, March 04, 2010 8:31 am

Perhaps the lesson might be better taught by telling the food pharisees to stop yammering and pick up a hoe and weed the garden. Or try to help an animal that they depend upon for food to get over pneumonia (from moving it, not from overcrowding and the like) without antibiotics. When apeals to Scripture or reason aren't getting through; blood, sweat, and tears often will soften the heart enough to let them. But you seem unwilling to do that (see below), and I can't figure out why.

"Second, and related to this, is the universal human tendency that people have to cluster in cities. Another universal human tendency has been to envy the lot of those who don't cluster there, those who get to live in the pristine countryside. But the game is requires that you not to envy them so much that you might actually do something about it. Part of the romanticism about farmers is related to this -- we respect them as part of their intangible pay, so that food continues to show up in the city, where we intend to live out our days.

We must never forget that the story arc provided in Scripture is an arc that begins with a Garden and ends with a Garden City. This allows for agrarian values (and I would argue requires them), but does not allow for agrarianism, if you follow the distinction. To want everyone to live close to the land is to want a human race that God, for some reason, decided not to create. "