Bleep,
I was thinking about this topic just this morning.
I only eat breakfast on the weekends. I take pride in being the one who fixes it for the family. (My omelets are to die for!!) Anyway, I love pork. Bacon, sausage... As I cooked, I thought of my Muslim brother.
My entire extended family is planning a mini reunion at the end of next month at my house. I look forward to the precious event of having everyone here for the first time. But, my Muslim brother (who, like the JW brother, takes his relgion quite seriously) doesn't eat pork and I'm thinking of ways to make him feel at home without making him uncomfortable in any way.
All these thoughts running together made me think of one of the bible's prohibitions -- the eating of pork. Here's how I think that prohibition/directive (and all others) came about: all ancient peoples could do to find their way was to observe their natural surroundings and take note of what happened as time went along. Nothing but trial and error.
Eventually they discovered that eating pork (eaten raw or undercooked) made a person sick or even killed them. Moral? God doesn't want us to eat pork. Hey! Scribe!! Write that down! "God" had finally whispered something of value in someone's ear.
People make gods in their image? I believe they do. They have no choice since s/he hasn't spoken up for a while. Nothing left for us simple humans to do but guess... and constantly re-invent our gods as we go.