reasons for religious practices (was Re: penile cancer)

[Guest guest]

>I am

>right with

>you that there are often sound reasons for practices - I

>have a

>strong suspicion that the Methodist side of my family is

>genetically

>as well as religiously unable to handle alcohol well)

Mine too! Well, my dad was raised (in Disciples of Christ

church, which is also anti-alcohol) with a firm hatred/fear

of alcohol. He had a great-grandfather that was a mid-19th

century scandal because he had been a pillar of the

community and yet drank all the time and eventually left

his wife for his secretary. So anyway, that side of his

family (my dad's mom's family) is really strict about a lot

of things, especially alcohol and my dad has said that he

has an addictive personality, whatever he means by that.

I saw something on TV recently where some scientists were

trying to find the 'causes' of the plagues that Moses

brought on the Egyptians, which in passing also explained

some of the dietary and other Jewish laws. I didn't know

that once your house gets a little damp in it, you're

supposed to burn it down, for example. OK, I'm sure that's

not how it's done anymore, but it's in there somewhere.

Phyllis

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