Muslim Family In Spain Denounces Teacher For Offending Son- Or, Talking About Ham Is A No-No

For various reasons, there are many of us who choose not to eat pig, in its many different culinary manifestations. I'm a vegetarian, so any form of animal flesh is out- besides, after seeing the film "Babe", who could ever eat bacon again? Others stay away from ham and pork for health reasons- you can still get trichinosis from eating undercooked pork, and who wants to share their intestines with a bunch of nasty worms. Still others stay away from piggy products because of religious dietary laws. Judaism and Islam forbid eating pork, and it's even a no-no for the Seventh-day Adventists, although there are some who don't abide by those particular laws. But even though I choose to 'just say no' to eating pork products (along with some Jews and Seventh-day Adventists, we have no problems if someone else eats them, and we certainly are not offended by the mere mention or a picture of a piglet. Some Muslims, on the other hand, consider it almost a capital offense to even talk about the "P" word, and people around the world are suffering the consequences of that aversion.

Ask a high school teacher at the Menéndez Tolosa institute in Spain who was reported to the National Police by the family of a student of his, for having offended the boy. His major crime? Mentioning 'ham', which the Spaniards happen to love.

According to Spanish language El Diario de Cádiz , a professor was teaching a class in geography and talking about the different climates on our planet. As an example of a cold, dry climate he mentioned Trevélez, which happens to be a major ham-producing village in Granada, Spain. Apparently, that kind of climate is perfect for curing ham and the professor used that fact as an anecdote. Now, the professor wasn't forcing the students to eat, or touch said 'cured ham', he simply mentioned the fact that the weather there was ideal. Well, the mere mention of the "H" word ticked the student off, and he told the teacher to stop talking about ham because it offended him as a Muslim. The teacher responded, and rightfully so, that it was simply an example and that he did not take into account the religion of his students. And rather than broach the subject with the teacher first, the family raced off to the police to file a complaint- the teacher is now accused of labour abuse, with a little racism and xenophobia for added effect.

Students and teachers alike are furious considering he is a well-liked professor with a stellar record, who has dedicated well over 20 years to teaching. The National Police is keeping the investigation open pending the outcome in court.

Now, I know not all Muslims would go so far as to file a criminal complaint against someone for mentioning pork, ham bacon or any other pig-related word, but good grief, the fact that even a few do happen to file frivolous complaints is a few too many. This should not be happening in the Western world. We should not have to censor ourselves for fear that we might offend someone, or worse yet, that we might get sued for said offenses.

I think the good professor should file a counter-complaint (on behalf of the poor maligned pig) against the student and his family for porkophobia. This insanity has got to stop!

Other Sources: Diario De Jerez, Larazon.es

H/T Tea and Politics