Health Justice: It’s Time We Honored the Rights of Our Bodies

Eat the lawful and good things Allah has provided you, and be wary of Allah in whom you have faith. – Qur’an 5:88

Our bodies are an endowment upon us by our Creator, as is the planet and the environment we live on. The more we are attached to this worldly life, the less we care about the quality and the ethics behind that which we consume, especially food. In a society that promotes apathy, we don’t care what we put in our mouths.

Our consciousness level has been so dumbed down that we just wolf anything down. We also don’t seem to mind the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve which drives up the costs of food and energy, which are conveniently left off the inflation index. It’s no wonder that healthy, organic food cost so much, whereas the crops that are essential to junk food (such as corn, wheat, and factory-farmed meat) are heavily subsidized by the government, lowering their prices for consumers, thus incentivizing unhealthy living.

Whether you are a Muslim or a Christian, the above verse from the Qur’an has a universal meaning that we can all understand. It says to eat the lawful (halal) and good (tayyeb) things God has provided to us. However, this English translation is a butchery of the true, deep, and spiritual meaning behind the original Arabic.

Tayyeb has a multi-dimensional meaning to it, including ethical, pure, wholesome, etc. God wants us to be cognizant of what we put into our body. Not only do we destroy our health by eating poor diets, we also destroy the planet too.

Aside from polluting the groundwater, Monsanto’s RoundUp has been declared a carcinogen by the State of California and the World Health Organization. While the ad hominem derogatory slur of “pseudo-science” gets thrown around a lot (sometimes rightfully, as many so-called ‘natural health’ bloggers really jump the shark and discredit the entire field by making baseless claims), the real pseudo-science is when multinational corporations strongarm their way into silencing, manipulating, and/or slandering independent scientific investigations into whether or not their products are safe for the people and the planet. Such is the case of Monsanto colluding with the EPA to stifle a study into whether or not Roundup is carcinogenic. Where in middle school science classes do they teach that a step of the scientific method is if you feel the results of a study might come out negative towards your bottom line as a corporation, use your vast material resources and government cronies to stifle said research?

The irony is that Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who has a big pro-Monsanto streak, made an episode of Cosmos where he decried the corporate-government-research collusive relationship, using the example of how lead was removed from gasoline (unleaded). The government’s main science expert, according to the episode, worked for a research institution funded by the oil and lead industries, most likely through intermediaries such as the Rockefeller Foundation if I remember correctly. An intrepid independent scientist thought there was something wrong about the increased lead levels in the ocean and air, and since lead is hazardous to human health, he found that the source came from the leaded gasoline. He was mocked in the same way that people who question Monsanto’s perverse use of crony capitalism are mocked today.

As long as corporations can strong arm the government – or more realistically, the government welcomes such corrupt collusion without any coercion – into approving their products as safe, then we cannot say that the science is settled on issues like RoundUp. Only when trust and impartiality is restored, and intimidation tactics are punishable by law and the corporate-government revolving door is closed, then with freedom of scientific inquiry respected we can let the research fall as it may and determine whether these substances are safe or not.

One just has to look at Monsanto’s history of providing the US government with chemical weapons materials that were used in atrocious war crimes. Agent Orange, used on Vietnam, still has its gruesome and tragic effects seen to this day. White phosphorous, which burns flesh to the bone and gives leukemia to people in the regional area in the aftermath, was used by the U.S. in its wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by Israel in its wars of aggression against Gaza and Lebanon.

Does this sound like a company that cares about human beings? Farmers in India and Iraq often complain about the iron grip Monsanto has over their freedom to farm as they please, such as saving seed and other time-honored agricultural practices.

That is why it is so important to care about what we eat. Doing so respects our bodies as well as our minds and our souls. Getting sucked into the material world makes us docile and zombie-like. We were made to live as dignified, rational, and spiritual beings. Our bodies have a right upon us. While there is a lot of injustice in the world, which we should try our best to reform and rectify, the biggest impact we have is that which is in our immediate vicinity. We must change ourselves first before we can change others. If we are unjust to ourselves and our families, we cannot be just anywhere else. Practicing health justice will allow all other aspects of being a just human being will emanate from that.

We know it is unjust that much organic food costs a lot. Some of it is due to gimmicks, such as Whole Foods, but there is also the factor of inflation and the lack of government subsidies to healthy, sustainable agriculture.

Here’s a pro-tip: to save on healthy food, go to Trader Joe’s and Costco. They offer many organic and non-GMO products at lower costs than Whole Foods. Additionally, when we buy organic, we send a signal to the market that consumers want organic, therefore more organic food is produced, and the increase in supply means the price will lower over time. Not only are we investing in our health and avoiding massive medical bills (of course nothing causes immortality, it is just better to be healthy than to not be), we are investing in future savings by shifting the market and increasing the supply of healthy foods.

As the article started with a Qur’anic verse about eating healthy, let us close with a Bible verse to balance it out.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Ridha Naturals products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.