"Slim For Him"
Not exactly a KKRB reading selection, but check out this excellent review of what looks to be a very interesting book.
"Historians generally have interpreted the evolving meanings associated with rigorous dieting (and other kinds of physical denial) as a process of secularization. What started as mortification for sin, they say, turned into purposeful renunciation to compensate for the guilt of affluence and leisure. Griffith disagrees. She argues instead that religion has been involved in those cultural protocols from beginning to end. "
"Bluntly put, the diet industry, Christian and otherwise, is fighting an unwinnable battle. Sociologists, she tells us, have found that religious practice correlates positively with obesity. Christians in general and Southern Baptists in particular are the heaviest. Yet who is surprised? Whole Foods-style supermarkets might be growing, but so are McDonalds. Indeed, I do not recall ever seeing a fast-food franchise boarded up for keeps."
"Historians generally have interpreted the evolving meanings associated with rigorous dieting (and other kinds of physical denial) as a process of secularization. What started as mortification for sin, they say, turned into purposeful renunciation to compensate for the guilt of affluence and leisure. Griffith disagrees. She argues instead that religion has been involved in those cultural protocols from beginning to end. "
"Bluntly put, the diet industry, Christian and otherwise, is fighting an unwinnable battle. Sociologists, she tells us, have found that religious practice correlates positively with obesity. Christians in general and Southern Baptists in particular are the heaviest. Yet who is surprised? Whole Foods-style supermarkets might be growing, but so are McDonalds. Indeed, I do not recall ever seeing a fast-food franchise boarded up for keeps."
posted by Germanicu$ at 2:16 PM
4 Comments:
"Indeed, I do not recall ever seeing a fast-food franchise boarded up for keeps."
Grand Rapidians will recall that the McDonalds on Wealthy and Fuller not only closed for good several years ago, but became a Baptist church for a time.
There's another one right here in the loop, on Madison near Dearborn - a McD's that closed for good, that is. Shut down because of rats, I believe.
The point is, Christians are fat because they're hypocritical gluttons. Besides, Jesus was a vegetarian: http://www.jesusveg.com/
Pass me the dead cow, as inhumanely butchered as possible. Do you have any that recently calfed? I want to be sure to orphan as many of them as possible.
Hmmmmm. Orphaned cow........
Seriously, I have noticed the portly trend of believers. Though no one cares, I'm part of one of the more conservative denominations, the Evangelical Free Church of America, although I call myself a Southern Baptist for the sake of relating my theology and thumping propensity to something people might recognize.
Anyhoo, while living in West Virginia, I noticed the penchant for people wearing moo moos and sporting 500 pounds of unnecessary fat to talk to me of the evils of smoking and drinking. That having been said, I think the fat Christian trend may be more of an educational situation, as my church in Evanston, which is uber-educated, is really pretty slim, as I think about the people there. If pressed, I'm sure you could find a few people there who would suggest that I could lose a couple of pounds.
Incidentally, can't a fatter Christendom be proof that God is supplying our need for food:)?
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