No artificial flavors or preservatives?

[brettz9]

Hi all,

Here is an interesting quotation. Although the context is about alcohol, it seems to me that it quite strongly would argue against any kind of artificial foods (though a doctor friend pointed out that vinegar undergoes an "artificial" process, so would that be considered in the same vein?). What do you all think?

(For myself, although I was quite skeptical for quite some time that it would make a real difference, now that I have had a chance to do possibly without any artificial flavors, coloring, and preservatives in my own diet, I see what a big difference it makes to things, ranging from skin to mood.)

I may not respond very much in this thread as my energy is quite low (for other reasons!), but I came across this as I was keeping myself busy:

Regarding the use of liquors: According to the texts of the Book of Akdas, both light and strong drinks are prohibited. The reason for this prohibition is that it leads the mind astray and is the cause of weakening the body. If alcohol were beneficial, it would have been brought into the world by the divine creation and not by the effort of man. Whatever is beneficial for man exists in creation. Now, it has been proved and is established medically and scientifically that liquors are harmful.

Therefore the meaning of that which is written in the Tablets: “I have chosen for thee whatsoever is in the heaven and earth,” signifies those things which are according to the divine creation and not the things which are harmful. For instance, poison is one of the things: now, can we say that poisons are to be used habitually because God has created them for man? However, spirituous liquors, if prescribed by a physician for the patient and their use is necessary, then they may be used as directed.

In brief, I hope that thou mayest find eternal bliss and receive inexhaustible joy and happiness. The after effect of drinking is depression, but the wine of the Love of God bestows exaltation of the spirit.

('Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, Vol. I, no. 6, pp. 4-5)

Note: I should add that we do not know the status of this Tablet (as authenticated or not) without confirmation from the World Centre.

[Zazaban]

It looks to me like he's talking about the fact that alcohol artificially makes one feel good I.E. "Benefit not found in creation"

Just my opinion though.

[brettz9]

Yes, as Baha'u'llah foretold, we are living in a time in which civilization is being carried to excess. And then some.

I might point out that the line "Whatever is beneficial for man exists in creation. " does not seem to be limited to alcohol. And of course 'Abdu'l-Baha by implying that alcohol does not exist in creation, does not mean that He was ignorant of the law of the conservation of mass and energy. Of course alcohol or artificial foods are "natural" in the sense that they come out of nature, but it is a process which goes quite against the millenia of biological experience we have had in becoming accustomed to natural food as it was available to us in not-so-refined/altered forms (one exception being cow's milk, for which Europeans at least have developed some lactose tolerance, but that was against the norm, took some time, and dairy has other negative side-effects which we haven't gotten used to).

We humans have really, really been suckered into a false sense of confidence in a man-made world, to the extent that we even think it is odd when we hear that science has proved that people actually need sunshine, that fruits can prevent cancer, and so on. Hello? Duh! (It is great that sciene is exploring this, but I mean we shouldn't think that only man-made solutions will work or that they will work better than natural ones for normal maintenance of health...)