MYTHS AND MEALS
When someone says to you, "Oh, that's just a myth," they're probably dismissing something they don't believe. But whether or not myths are factually true, they often reveal important things about the ways people view their world and live their lives.
On today's Insight we'll see how creation myths influence our attitudes and even affect the way we eat.
In the book of Genesis, people are created separately from animals and in the image of God. According to this tradition, which is accepted by both Jews and Christians, people occupy a unique position in between God and the animals. According to Hindu tradition, people, animals, plants, rocks, and even gods, all evolved together from a single soul. First that soul divided into a man and a woman who then produced people. Next the man and woman changed successively into all the other animals, each time copulating to bring forth that species.
These two creation stories represent two very different attitudes toward the natural world. Judaism and Christianity recognize clear boundaries separating God, humans, and animals, while Hinduism affirms the oneness of all creation and sees boundaries as artificial.
These two myths also reflect different attitudes toward animals in everyday life--right down to what one cooks for dinner. In Jewish and Christians societies, eating animals is the norm while vegetarianism is relatively uncommon. But in Hindu society, vegetarianism is considered orthodox, saintly, and conservative, even by those who are not vegetarians.
It's impossible to say whether myths or attitudes come first. More likely, the two develop together. But in any case, the stories we tell about how we came into being are often connected to even the simplest of our daily activities.
This script was prepared as part of a pilot series for the radio program, "Insight: The World's Religions," produced by Indiana University, Department of Religious Studies and written by Don Ulin
