Pine nut eating Lebanese Pigs, God and Religion
TLDR: Pine nut eating Lebanese pigs, God and religion.
When I was a teenager I had a housekeeper who was both a thief and a tyrant yet she truly believed that she was a very devout person and an examplary Muslim. I believe this is quite common for tyrants. She routinely terrorized the neighborhood and had a host of exotic opinions.
She had lived in Lebanon as a young bride with her long lost Lebanese husband. Said Lebanese husband used to entertain a lot and when he did, he would buy pork products such as cold cuts and sausages. She told me she would eat them "by accident" and her rationalization was pure comedic gold.
"My husband would fill my fridge with everything when we had guests. Cold meats, cheeses, nuts and cakes! Everything! Even you Salma who grew up in a big house, couldn't imagine it. Anyways, once he left this really nice luncheon meat and I ate it all! When he found out, he told me I shouldn't have, since it was pork. But it was delicious! You know why ? because Lebanese pigs, they eat pine nuts! They don't eat garbage like Egyptian pigs. You see the Lebanese pigs walk in the forest eating pine nuts and they have shiny coats that gleam in the sun, not like our disgusting pigs. You know, if God had known that Lebanese pigs ate pine nuts, he would have only forbade us from eating Egyptian pork, and we could eat Lebanese pork without problem.
-Don't you keep saying that God knows everything ?
-What would you know about God! They don't teach you anything decent at that foreign school of yours! I know what I am saying! I am a woman of God. I talk to him five times a day !"
I was reminded of this particularly funny episode yesterday during a walk in the Parc de Bagatelle, where the ground was littered with pinecones. I don't really know if Lebanese pigs really do eat pine nuts.