Pointless 'Halal meat' story by the Mail... socially divisive.

[perseus]

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/parents-roast-school-over-halal-meat-1-5060738

What exactly is the point of this story exactly? other than to potentially cause division amongst communities and tension between ethnic groups.

In my opinion, the school were initially doing the right thing in just changing it to Halal meat without feeling the need to tell anyone. The bottom line is, they have 40 kids who cannot access dinner in school in accordance with their religion, and 310 or so who it doesnt matter one jot to, how the animals they eat are killed.

So if you take an act utliitarian 'hedonic calculus' approach to decision making, it's a no brainer. Make ALL meat Halal and no body loses, and the muslim children gain something (their dinner). DONT buy halal meat and the 310 none muslim kids dont gain anything extra (or lose anything) and the muslim kids lose out...... THUS, make all the meat halal, and more people benefit overall.

Also, what exactly is the argument for not killing it the halal way? Animals typically are killed either by a stun bolt gun, then have their arteries and/or veins cut, or have the main jugular vein cut (halal), or a gassed in some cases, or in the case of chickens, hung upside down by their feet and electrocuted in water with electricity passed through it. None of them are exactly 'nice' and I wouldn't particularly want to make a six year old aware of ANY of the methods.

Finally, its a FACT that 95% of all Lamb imported from New Zealand is already Halal (as they don't want to alienate half of their export market and about 2 billion customers by killing it in a none halal way).

Most people are ignorent the this FACT so I don't see why keeping them in the dark about this issue would have been such an problem.

Totally dangerous, socially divisive, right wing sh**e from the mail.... which makes a change from the usual extreme left wing sh**e they spout about the need to give half the town free food/travel/fridge freezers/council tax/credit advice/whatever the hell labour think will buy them votes...

[steveL]

now I'm really scared....I find myself agreeing with Perseus 

[The Great Dictator]

He knows a lot about murder ?

[AWB]

Perseus, the only Sh**e is coming from you! how on earth do you know what the other people feel about this? You said....  " 310 or so who it doesnt matter one jot to, how the animals they eat are killed."? It would bother me. If there are only 40 then cater for them in other ways.

[steveL]

Anyone remember John Pool in Saturday night's Mail? A ficticious columnist whose sole purpose was to wind people up by writing the most extreme things. The column was deliberately designed to ruffle feathers so that people would buy the Mail on Saturday to read what he wrote next thereby increasing the circulation figures.

The Mail is a bit more subtle these days but it still slots in the odd article provocateur - you see it most in those silly on-line polls.

[AWB]

Perseus,please Re read both of your letters on this subject and you may come to the conclusion that what you have written is Totally Pointless!

Oh, and by the way, Calm Down and stop being so abusive , after all it is only a discussion site!

[Julie noted]

I can see both sides to this story but there's only one aspect that bothers me; I wouldn't go to live in a country that I knew made me wear a burka (or similar), that wouldn't let me drive a car, that wouldn't let me drink alcohol, that restricts females in job choices, that has to have permission from a male member of family to travel, that bans females from praying with males, etc. etc. So why do people come to the UK, knowing OUR customs, and then expect us to change them to suit THEIR way of life? I don't understand the logic.

[AWB]

Julie, Excellent post, I totally agree with what you are saying

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

What next, will they stop little Johnny taking alcopops into school because it may offend those who follow teetotal religions.

It wil be a slippery slide before The Bible is banned !

[mk1]

If they kept religion out of schools then the problem would not arise in the first place!

[Ryehill]

             I must admit that I have been reluctant to contribute to this discussion in case I get subjected to the usual barrage of abuse which Perseus calls debate. First of all  o compare nut allergy to the provision of halhal meat is nonsense, one is a matter of life and death , the other requires a short walk home.
             I would also like to point out that muslim children have been attending Lynnfield school for well over 30 years, so why has the subject of halhal meat suddenly surfaced? During those years many children will have gone home for a mid-day meal, for all sorts of reasons. The muslim parent interviewed has 3 older children, who attended Lynnfield and  came home  at lunchtime, so what has changed?
           

[SRMoore]

Personally I do not prescribe to the view of 'it doesn't bother the majority so we'll give the minority what they want' attitude, especially when the majority isn't consulted.

Schools provide seperate dietry requirements for lactose intollerant kids, vegetarians, vegans without forcing the majority to eat the same.

The British Army have muslim, jews and other religions within the rank and file. Do they provide all hallal or koshe ration packs? No they certainly do not. Each outfit knows how many soldiers there are which require special requirments for their food and theyensure they have the required number to provide them with it. Another example would be to tell a battallion of squadies that after a few weeks in the field the one thing they crave, a bacon sarnie, is off the books for fear of upsetting one soldier. That would go down like a lead ballon!

[steveL]

I think everyone is getting a bit carried away here.

To me it's simply a case of a school trying to accommodate the needs of a minority and then realising that, for economic reasons, it would be cheaper if they avoided trying to fund their meat requirements from two different sources. It was a mistake, but a genuine one and one which was corrected as soon as the penny of common sense dropped.

I do agree with Perseus though, I think The Mail has pushed this story as one that might create controversy and therefore help them sell a few more copies.

[steveL]

. . . perhaps one day KD, you'll be able to get passed the word 'muslim' in a sentence without going into convulsions.

[The Great Dictator]

Its only a matter of time before Bombmaking on part of the national curriculum.