Opus 2026-426: Philosophy and Ground Beef

I was part of a recent discussion with a family that was ready to refill the meat compartment in their freezer.  I think the solution this time was half a cow and a whole pig.  After discussing taste and quality we got off on the concerns about beef brought in from Mexico and other places.  The current noise about some parasite made people aware of a problem that is ongoing.  I’m sure that there’s some issues with American raised beef also, but the general feeling was the quality was higher, and safer.

I have never slaughtered an animal.  The closest I’ve come is catching and cleaning a fish.  I imagine it can be a pretty messy process.  Raw steak is as close as I ever want to get, but that brought me to the concept of working in a slaughterhouse, which my uncle did for years, or in a butcher shop and being a part of that journey from a living, breathing animal to breakfast sausage.  What was once alive is now someone else’s meal.  What once was moving freely through the pastures, munching on grass, sniffing the daisies, feeding its newborn calf and heading home to be milked is now being packaged in different cuts.

It brought me to the difference between animals and people.  In the creation account, the only living entity that was created in the image of God was man.  We are different.  We are unique.  At the same time we share some of the same qualities.  We die.  The big question is what happens after that?  If I were a believer in certain eastern religions where you have reincarnation I’m sure that a cow soul would move on to something else.  That is not my belief.  When a cow dies, it is dead.

Not so with people.  What is that mysterious element which is removed at death which science cannot put back?  Man is always wondered what happens after death.  Of course as Christians, we believe that it’s just a promotion, or demotion, depending on your circumstances.  We believe that that inner core goes on.  Depending on your theology, you can think of it as a soul or the spirit, but that essential element that is you continues on into eternity.

We are not just a part of nature.  We are part of the kingdom of God. We are created in the image of God.  We need to take that into consideration when we decide on just about anything.

homo unius libri