OK, guys. Stepping away from my obviously controversial intro I start this thread.
I always wondered how things that exist came to be.
You know...how Spiderman became Spiderman.
That radioactive spider that set the phenomenon off, you know?
In the gay rights issue some people against those rights seem to irrationally cling to verses said in an ancient text known as the Bible for the foundation & relevance of their belief & prejudice.
No matter how much it is shown that homosexuality is biological & that even in the animal kingdom there are homosexual beasts they still anchor themselves to those long-held beliefs fortified by the weight of textual history.
I think this same thing goes on when it comes to discrimination against fat people.
Ancient holy books talking about the sin of gluttony & greed.
These old words have filtered through the generations as anyone who has weight eats a lot & is by definition a glutton.
It doesn't matter that if a thin person eats voraciously he/she won't be called the same thing. It's just that they see a fat body type make an assumption that the person is an "irresponsible eater" & attach that person's name to the "sin of gluttony" therefore receiving all the scorn & rejection produced by society.
It doesn't matter that in business practices greed is often rewarded & abundance of money is seen as intelligent, wise & crafty. It doesn't matter if people with houses too big to live in (50 room mansions for a single person) get applauded as successful.
No, none of this matters to the prejudiced ones. All they see is a fat body & attach a scarlet letter, no let's say a magenta text message to the name & personage of the one carrying that body.
And no one takes into account that maybe when these words were written up things were scarcer back then. Civilization was only at a certain point at that time & maybe eating too much in ratio to the others in the household WAS a no-no. Who knows?
Food is abundant in America at least & in essence you can almost say we're ALL gluttons now. Every corner & side there's some kind of food place available. There's food in the convenience store, at work, food you can order, & even PRE-order. There's so much waste that goes on in restaurants when everyday ON the day so much food is simply thrown away good or not rather than giving it to someone less fortunate.
That to me is more sinful than eating.
That's like chopping down a long-standing mighty oak just to make a toothpick discarding the rest.
What's wrong with eating anyhow? We SHOULD create abundance. That's the whole point of civilization. Getting control of our environment so that we live easier & better. No more bad hunts for sustenance when the game isn't available. No, we created agriculture & the food market.
Why do we have to have food police/food nazis anyhow? No one's gonna eat it all & no one CAN eat it all even if they wanted to.
We all have different levels of everything we are. Some can get by on a snack or two throughout the day while some have to have hearty full-course meals. As long as it isn't at the expense of others what's the problem?
I can think of much better problems than that if you WERE to call that a problem.
And what of this?
Don't they know that just because a person is fat doesn't mean they eat a lot?
Don't they know that fat people can eat the "health food" too just like these health food-heads? Celery, tofu, balanced meals & all that.
Why can't they get it through their heads that the fat form is just a body type like everything else?
That it is NOT a sin or a marker of sin?
Some would say 'what's a "sin" anyhow?' if they don't follow that particular book. LOL!
I know this is not the only way fat discrimination became acceptable & encouraged by society but I think this is one component that keeps it alive.
I also think the Industrial Revolution had something to do with it too. (but that's a theory for another thread)
What are YOUR ideas on religions as the source of fat discrimination?
And any OTHER ideas on the beginnings/origins, the radioactive spider to Spider-Man, on what brought about fat discrimination?
John Lucas
I always wondered how things that exist came to be.
You know...how Spiderman became Spiderman.
That radioactive spider that set the phenomenon off, you know?
In the gay rights issue some people against those rights seem to irrationally cling to verses said in an ancient text known as the Bible for the foundation & relevance of their belief & prejudice.
No matter how much it is shown that homosexuality is biological & that even in the animal kingdom there are homosexual beasts they still anchor themselves to those long-held beliefs fortified by the weight of textual history.
I think this same thing goes on when it comes to discrimination against fat people.
Ancient holy books talking about the sin of gluttony & greed.
These old words have filtered through the generations as anyone who has weight eats a lot & is by definition a glutton.
It doesn't matter that if a thin person eats voraciously he/she won't be called the same thing. It's just that they see a fat body type make an assumption that the person is an "irresponsible eater" & attach that person's name to the "sin of gluttony" therefore receiving all the scorn & rejection produced by society.
It doesn't matter that in business practices greed is often rewarded & abundance of money is seen as intelligent, wise & crafty. It doesn't matter if people with houses too big to live in (50 room mansions for a single person) get applauded as successful.
No, none of this matters to the prejudiced ones. All they see is a fat body & attach a scarlet letter, no let's say a magenta text message to the name & personage of the one carrying that body.
And no one takes into account that maybe when these words were written up things were scarcer back then. Civilization was only at a certain point at that time & maybe eating too much in ratio to the others in the household WAS a no-no. Who knows?
Food is abundant in America at least & in essence you can almost say we're ALL gluttons now. Every corner & side there's some kind of food place available. There's food in the convenience store, at work, food you can order, & even PRE-order. There's so much waste that goes on in restaurants when everyday ON the day so much food is simply thrown away good or not rather than giving it to someone less fortunate.
That to me is more sinful than eating.
That's like chopping down a long-standing mighty oak just to make a toothpick discarding the rest.
What's wrong with eating anyhow? We SHOULD create abundance. That's the whole point of civilization. Getting control of our environment so that we live easier & better. No more bad hunts for sustenance when the game isn't available. No, we created agriculture & the food market.
Why do we have to have food police/food nazis anyhow? No one's gonna eat it all & no one CAN eat it all even if they wanted to.
We all have different levels of everything we are. Some can get by on a snack or two throughout the day while some have to have hearty full-course meals. As long as it isn't at the expense of others what's the problem?
I can think of much better problems than that if you WERE to call that a problem.
And what of this?
Don't they know that just because a person is fat doesn't mean they eat a lot?
Don't they know that fat people can eat the "health food" too just like these health food-heads? Celery, tofu, balanced meals & all that.
Why can't they get it through their heads that the fat form is just a body type like everything else?
That it is NOT a sin or a marker of sin?
Some would say 'what's a "sin" anyhow?' if they don't follow that particular book. LOL!
I know this is not the only way fat discrimination became acceptable & encouraged by society but I think this is one component that keeps it alive.
I also think the Industrial Revolution had something to do with it too. (but that's a theory for another thread)
What are YOUR ideas on religions as the source of fat discrimination?
And any OTHER ideas on the beginnings/origins, the radioactive spider to Spider-Man, on what brought about fat discrimination?
John Lucas
