Ham at Christmas and a Jew for Jesus (er... not so much)

Okay, so inspired by The Queen's post on ham as the traditional Christmas dish, I just had to wonder at the source of this tradition.

At the time of Jesus' birth, and long past his crucifixion, Jews did not eat pig. So one could reasonably assume Jesus didn't eat pig. So who gave permission to eat pig? From what I was told, it was Paul. Or rather a dream Paul had.

So it would seem Paul granted unto man permission to eat pork products. Thus the tradition of eating pineapple-garnished ham to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who would have never, as an observant Jew, eaten pork. As Yul Brynner would say, "A puzzlement." Hmmm...

Anyway, I got a call from my sister yesterday; probably the most adult phone call we've had in years. So as she's bitching about her husband and telling me about all the people in her life - her church friends, the pastor and his wife, the community she's cleaved herself to - I asked her about her attendance at church. As she chatted away about things having to do with church and religion, she said a few things that made me wonder.

She said she's doesn't believe Jesus was more than a prophet, nor does she believe in the resurrection.

"So why do you worship Jesus if you don't believe he's God?"

"Well, you know me. I'm a follower."

"Well, what's wrong with being yourself? Why pretend to be someting you're not?"

"It's just easier. If the people around here knew, they would pray for my soul and then shun me."

"Wow. What a narrow community you live in."

"You have no idea," she said.

Southern Missouri - this is no surprise.