Now comes news that the General Assembly is pondering legislation that would make it a misdemeanor to sell halal food — the Muslim counterpart to kosher food — in Virginia under false pretenses. An estimated 350,000 Muslims live in the Commonwealth. In Northern Virginia alone, there are some 45 mosques.
It’s a New World, Baby, Better Get Used to It
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7 responses to “It’s a New World, Baby, Better Get Used to It”
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I think you have this one wrong — the legislation prevents people from selling halal *under false pretenses* (e.g. mixing halal meat with ordinary butchered meat).
This is a good bill, not a bad one.
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I’m OK with this bill, Shaun. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. My point in posting this item is to bring attention to the fact (that I find remarkable) that there are 350,000 Muslims in Virginia. In other words, one Virginian in 20 is Muslim.
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Do you really think that number is right? Where did it come from?
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I’d be interested in the numbers also. I assume the RPV Muslim Outreach Initiative is probably not the most informed place to go for data on this.
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I have some Muslim friends who are not “parcticing” Muslims but have not integrated into other faiths either. One, for example, has a son named John.
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Why should the state be involved in policing whether a food company is following Islamic dietary laws?
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I assume the rationale is that it is a consumer protection issue. If a company falsely labels foods as Kosher, Halal, or “organic” and they aren’t, consumers paying money for something they aren’t getting. It’s a fraud. If you’re an Orthodox Jew or an observant Muslim, the negative impacts of eating forbidden foods are severe. You probably are inured to paying higher prices for ritually pure foodstuffs, but you have every right to get exactly what you think you’re paying for.
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