A little can of worms
October 29, 2007 10:32 am Daily lifeI feel confident taking this area on, since I was a licensed nutritionist back in the day, but obviously I don’t feel all that confident about how it will be recieved or I wouldn’t have flashed my credentials so pathetically right off the bat. I think this will be a touchy topic.
Here goes: Nutrition teaching: Good thing, yes- BUT a door to the new legalism also.
Killer foods lurk everywhere. We know what they are: sugar, white flour, hydrogenated fats, to name a few. This killer is even worse than a diet of donuts, fatty pork chops and sodas, for this killer poisons the heart and thinking of man.
What am I speaking of? A prideful and condemning attitude.
There are people can quote diet rhetoric like pros, they champion the idea of only keeping the purest of food in the diet, but they have accidentally allowed prideful attitudes inside of their heart.
The truth is, some people get downright ugly about diet. “I’ve done the organic diet for xx years, and I have perfect health. I can run for miles, and can do things people many years my junior can’t even do.” They proudly hold this up in the face of people who are struggling with the costs of an organic lifestyle. But, does it ever occur to these self-satisfied souls that not everyone has the same metabolism, or checkbook, as they do? It’s an egotistical attitude to assume that what works for you will work for everyone else, and that there’s something wrong with a person if they can’t thrive on the same diet as you do. And if someone has arthritis, it’s not necessarily their fault because they haven’t completely cut out sugar. Maybe they just have arthritis.
Be careful, Faith Community. I honestly believe no one means this to happen, and I can’t think of a single malicious person in this area, but you are opening the door to a two tiered system. Good Christians who eat right and don’t expose their children to “toxic chemicals”, and everyone else.
How is this any different than the old “Worldly Christian” charge, where Christians were second tier for dancing, drinking, and going to movies?
October 29th, 2007 at 11:27 am
To quote a friend, “I smell what you’re steppin’ in, friend.” : )
I find these attitudes to be especially prevalent among pregnant women.
That’s all the further I’m willing to take that.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Yeah, from experience, it can feel pretty taboo around Hudson to even insinuate that you might, at some point, feed your future children macaroni and cheese. I’m with you, B. Thanks for pointing out a ‘not-so-obvious’ way that it’s possible for us to classify one another. As I consider making diet changes in our home in coming months, this type of thinking isn’t something I want to “step in”.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:05 am
Agree 100%. I’m the opposite - I hate organic. Think it’s wasteful and bad for the environment. Try dropping that on someone the next time you get a lecture about your food sins.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:08 pm
I agree, and well put. It seems our depraved hearts can do that with any area of life. Dang it!
The timer just dinged for the frozen pizza . . .
November 1st, 2007 at 10:09 am
As a veteran of touchy topics (for better or for worse, with plenty of experience with both better and worse
), and for whatever it’s worth, I’ve got your back on this one too 
I liked your statement, “It’s an egotistical attitude to assume that what works for you will work for everyone else.” That’s so true!
I don’t mind organic, but don’t intentionally eat exclusively organic either. And while we have a responsibility to eat well, I don’t see anything in the Bible banning corn dogs. (Sure, there’s argument for biblical instruction on eating 6 corn dogs, but that argument is no different of those are 6 organic corn dogs.)
Anyway, thanks for the great post Brandy!