Eating flesh with blood--dispelling the myths.
"You eat flesh with the blood"
The evil of flesh eating comes from the fact that a creature created
by the Creator
has been killed for the purposes of self-gratification by another
creature,
Not from the fact that the blood has not been sufficiently drained
from the flesh.
"Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? You resort to the sword, you commit abominations..." Ezekiel 33: 25-26.The law against eating flesh with blood in it originally meant eating anything derived from bloodshed. This is seen clearly in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch. Some orthodox Jews attempted to create a legal loophole allowing the eating of flesh if the blood was drained from it. It is physically impossible to remove all traces of blood from flesh, because blood, whether in a liquid or dried state, is an essential, inseparable part of flesh. If you eat the dryest of dried flesh, you are still eating dried blood in that flesh. Those who argue that eating flesh is fine as long as the blood is drained away are nothing by sophists attempting to justify demonism.
Clive Backster's experiments with plants and animals in The Secret Life of Plants demonstrated that even separated from its source blood still responds to emotional stimuli. Therefore, the fact that all flesh retains some blood matter, whether dried or in liquid form, means that eaters of flesh cannot help but take in blood. Blood is simply a by product of the crime, the horrendous atrocity committed on the the animal. While some Jews objected to the drinking of blood, or to the eating of flesh not drained of its blood, they were still biologically assimilating blood to some degree. It is impossible not to if one eats flesh.
Moreover, to the vegetarian Ezekiel, the above distinctions
claiming one could eat flesh drained of its blood are the straining of
gnats while swallowing a camel. While carnivores no doubt sought
ways in which to lessen their anxiety, depression and despair, hoping that
they would not have to relinquish their addiction to eating flesh, the
history of the Jewish people in the Old Testament, or for that matter,
the later history of Judaism, is extremely morbid and depressing. When
happiness does occur, it is very short-lived. Ezekiel sees the hypocrisy
of his people, and when accusing them, he is not saying those who eat blood
are evil and those who eat dried flesh are not. He is clearly against
the eating of all flesh and the animal sacrifices when he tells the Jews:
"you commit abominations." Baruch's attitude was the same.
In no uncertain terms, the Book of Baruch, described as Apocryphal
by orthodox Jews and the Protestant tradition, clearly draws on the strictly
vegetarian Book of Enoch as is shown in other parts of this study.
And thus, the animal sacrifices themselves are seen as sacrifices to demons,
as they are in the Book of Enoch.
It is not, as orthodox Jews, Christians like Paul, and Sunni Muslims
assert, that one may sacrifice animals as long as one invokes the name
of the correct Deity. Baruch makes this distinction clear by asserting
the right of all four-legged creatures to live peacefully on earth.
Any sacrifice of them, or any creature, is demonic.
The carnivore's preferences regarding the degree of blood
residue in the corpse is secondary to the fact that a violent crime has
been committed against another sentient creature, and nothing criminal
occurs without payback in the universe of a just God.