Saturday, June 14, 2008
Halal For All
I had occasion to attend a dinner event fairly recently; although an official type function organised in England by an English institution, I must point out that a sizable minority of those attending would be Muslims. Of course this meant that a dietary requirement of some of those attending would be for halal food, I would expect in cases like this that a halal option would be provided. Of course that involves extra work and expense, so it should come as no surprise to find the institution opted for the easy answer in other words halal for all, except for the sainted vegetarians of course.
I should add that this was not actually pointed out at any stage in the proceedings, but I heard a rumour prior to attending and I noticed there was only one meat option. Most of those attending were probably totally unaware that the main meat course was halal.
I have no objection to catering for the dietary requirements of others; nor indeed if I am a guest of others, or in other countries and I will usually eat what is given to me. However I object most strongly to being at an official type event in England and not being provided with English or at least British type food. The institution was quite prepared to cater for vegetarians, and quite prepared to cater for Muslims, but my money is as good as theirs and we are in England which is not a Muslim country. Why should I (or anyone else) have to subsidise the dietary preferences of others whilst unable to have our own satisfied?
At the reception beforehand there were some drinks, a choice between bucks fizz (a mixture of champagne and orange juice) and orange juice itself. Being the sort of person who wishes to know what he is drinking before selecting my drink I enquired about the choice (and promptly chose the bucks fizz). It appears that others of a different religion, despite knowing of the tendencies of the infidels to drink alcohol, and similarly knowing of their own religious requirements, nevertheless plunged straight in without checking, only to discover later they had been drinking bucks fizz. They then complained that they had been "served" alcohol. We just cannot bend over enough.
Of course a reactionary like me would say it was their own stupid fault and it serves them right, but that would involve them taking some responsibility for themselves by actually checking before drinking; and responsibility is a dirty word. We see here the unintended consequences of partial islamification, the lazy assumption on their part that everything would be according to their preferences has led them to take that which is forbidden. No doubt next year the event must be made alcohol free thus ensuring no one can make such mistakes.
I should add that this was not actually pointed out at any stage in the proceedings, but I heard a rumour prior to attending and I noticed there was only one meat option. Most of those attending were probably totally unaware that the main meat course was halal.
I have no objection to catering for the dietary requirements of others; nor indeed if I am a guest of others, or in other countries and I will usually eat what is given to me. However I object most strongly to being at an official type event in England and not being provided with English or at least British type food. The institution was quite prepared to cater for vegetarians, and quite prepared to cater for Muslims, but my money is as good as theirs and we are in England which is not a Muslim country. Why should I (or anyone else) have to subsidise the dietary preferences of others whilst unable to have our own satisfied?
At the reception beforehand there were some drinks, a choice between bucks fizz (a mixture of champagne and orange juice) and orange juice itself. Being the sort of person who wishes to know what he is drinking before selecting my drink I enquired about the choice (and promptly chose the bucks fizz). It appears that others of a different religion, despite knowing of the tendencies of the infidels to drink alcohol, and similarly knowing of their own religious requirements, nevertheless plunged straight in without checking, only to discover later they had been drinking bucks fizz. They then complained that they had been "served" alcohol. We just cannot bend over enough.
Of course a reactionary like me would say it was their own stupid fault and it serves them right, but that would involve them taking some responsibility for themselves by actually checking before drinking; and responsibility is a dirty word. We see here the unintended consequences of partial islamification, the lazy assumption on their part that everything would be according to their preferences has led them to take that which is forbidden. No doubt next year the event must be made alcohol free thus ensuring no one can make such mistakes.
Tags: Islamification, Dhimmitude, alcohol,
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
