Tetra:
you know when you drive behind a truck with a load of pigs in it? you know that smell? it's disgusting, and you can practically taste it.
well, i have never nticed this with bacon or pork chops, but i have with pork roast. it seems that unless i really really marinate the roast all to hell, it retains some of that disgusting taste.
I'm glad you said this - I always thought it was my imagination! Nobody ever believes me when I say that it literally tastes like crap!
A couple of things I've been taught along my journey:
I did some 7th day Adventist Bible studies a few years back and they cited the trichonosis theory, saying that it was only found in pigs and humans who eat pork.
When I did Islamic Studies, the lecturer (a Muslim) said that pigs have the closest genetic makeup to humans - if it's true, that might be one in the eye for evolutionists who believe we're descended from apes!
I tend to think that the laws came from general knowledge of hygiene available to nomadic people living in hot countries:
eg - pork goes off quicker than other meat so in the absence of refrigeration, its probably not the best option for meat, also they're not suited to hot climates, pink skin - sunburn, plus the points made by proplog2 and everyone else. Pigs really don't have much going for them, do they?!
Not eating anything that eats carrion because you don't know what the carrion died of so possibly diseased.
Shellfish and eels are 'bottom' feeders - they eat sewage and any other debris, again the possibility of disease.
Not mixing wool and linen - two fibres which are diametrically opposed to one another as regards shrinkage stability and strength, so lacking the shrink-resist methods we have today, mixing these two would be wasteful, you'd have an unwearable garment after a couple of washes.
Skin diseases and mildew spread quickly so laws regarding these seem logical as quarantine measures.
Finally, perhaps (entirely speculation here) women having their periods was regarded as unclean due to it being a hot country, poorer sanitation and washing facilities = smell = flies which carry disease?
