KOSHER "laws" are wholly religious, and those who observe them are governed by doctrines of a particular creed. Why, then, should non-kosher citizens be taxed for the support of government-mandated bureaus established for the purpose of regulating and enforcing these Jewish "laws"? It is an imposition to expect the tax-payer to pay for the up-keep of a religious enforcement bureau.
If kosher slaughter-houses, butcher-shops, and other food establishments cannot be trusted by the Jews themselves in the matter of kosher killings and selling of food and food accessories, it is no part of the American tax-payer's obligation to be burdened with the expense of maintaining state-supported agencies for the enforcement of these "laws", which are distinctly religious.
Yet non-kosher citizens are being taxed today for the up-keep of the Bureau of Kosher Enforcement, operated by our State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This office maintains a staff for the express purpose of enforcing the observance of Jewish orthodox laws, by inspecting kosher premises, conducting investigations, and pressing convictions in cases of kosher violations. Such a bureau is a travesty on the American principle of the separation of State and Church.
Visit a non-kosher slaughter-house and witness the humane method used in killing the animals: they are first made unconscious by a blow on the head before their throats are slit. In kosher slaughter-houses, the animal is not stunned but allowed to bleed slowly and painfully to death.
This cruel practice is a hideous survival of an ancient religious rite and a disgrace to civilization. Those who sanction it are governed by the idea that it is a "sin" to eat meat in which there is any blood. Millions of people today eat blooded meats and are healthy and stronger for it. Only a blind and superstitious attachment to rabbinical teachings maintains this infamy.
And to carry out this needless cruelty to animals, in order that no blood shall remain in the carcass, the people are taxed to pay for the up-keep of a government maintained bureau for the enforcement of kosher "laws".
Kosher killings not only entail an act of wanton cruelty to animals, but by involving the State in their enforcement, violate an American principle and impose a rank injustice on non-kosher tax-payers. If a religious cult wishes to impose certain "laws" on its adherents and maintain agencies for enforcement, let it do so out of its own funds and not at the expense of the tax-payers.
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Article last updated October 22, 2005
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