I AM not quite sure which annoyed me more … the news that a French fast food chain has gone all halal at some of its branches, or the fact that the French have given up bulldozing fast food outlets. Instead – quelle horreur – they are even encouraging them to take root in places like the Louvre in Paris.
Leaving aside my utter disdain for Big Macs, Burger Kings and the like, there’s a bright side to the report that the popular Quick chain has replaced bacon with smoked halal turkey at several of its outlets – it has infuriated some Catholics, and anything that annoys the Catlicks must have some merit.
A Quick drive-thru sign in France
A comment on E-Deo, a Catholic website, said:
Quick is in the process of inventing fast-Islamisation.
Regular customers were also outraged. Asked Delphine, 26:
I don’t understand, why can’t they sell halal burgers and bacon burgers at the same time?
The answer’s obvious: you cannot avoid cross-contamination, stupid!
Wait, wait … maybe you can, but it would cost beaucoup euros, and push prices up to almost the same levels as you would encounter, at say, Paul Bocuse’s place in Lyon, where I once spend five memorable hours over dinner (you just gotta try the black truffle soup, topped with a pastry dome only slightly smaller than the one crowning the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem).
A Quick spokesman said that no customers were “obliged” to eat halal meat, as “in parallel, we have ten Quick restaurants in the Lyon area” offering “classic menus”.
The halal restaurants – three in a Paris suburb, two in Marseille, and the remainder in Toulouse, Villeurbanne, near Lyon, and Roubaix, northern France, are all in areas with high Muslim populations. The company said the move was part of a test, which began in November, and that pork may return to the menu at a later date.
Some Muslim customers welcomed the move in one branch in Roubaix. Said Farid, 17.
I’m happy, as I can come with my Muslim friends.
Farid would, I imagine, be happier still if a Muslim pub were to open next door – one just like the Halal Inn here in dear old Blighty.
Behind the bar of Britain’s only Muslim pub – it’s in Oldham – there are fizzy drinks and fruit juices, including non-alcoholic spritzers and buck’s fizz for those special occasions.
In addition to tea and coffee, a range of Asian snacks is available, while Islamic songs are played over loudspeakers. Pubgoers can play snooker, darts or karam, an Indian board game similar to billiards. Islamic-themed quiz nights have also been organised.
Owners Azizur Rahman and business partner Muzahid Khan spotted the potential in the former Westwood Inn which was lying empty on the edge of the town centre.
Said Khan:
Muslims are a major consumer group and they need somewhere to relax and socialise just like anybody else. But the presence of alcohol means traditional pubs are off-putting to those who want to follow strict Islamic rulings, so this is the perfect place for them to come.
More and more pubs are closing down across the country, and we believe turning them into Islamic pubs could be a success anywhere that has a large Muslim community.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
February 17th, 2010 at 2:19 am
I am reminded of the movie, “The thirteeth soldier”, in the scene where the unwilling ambassador to the Nordic tribes is sucked into battle with a barbaric enemy, he is offered some booze, and he quotes his Quran, that “let no fermented product of the vine touch your lips”, and the Nordics laugh at him. Then, one of them tell him it’s made out of honey. He proceeds to suck it down like Dean Martin. LOL.
Well, while I find the food qualms of the various religions to be somewhere between hilarious and pathetic, I have to acknowledge that I refuse to eat shit, regardless of the species of the contributer. So everyone has to draw a line somewhere. And as long as we are playing the losing game called “capitalism”, I find no fault with someone who thinks he can carve out a niche, a cross section of local population that will buy his service and environment in sufficient numbers to turn a profit. In theory, it’s no different than opening a strip club or a whoar house. It’s exploiting people’s weaknesses for profit. Whether it’s halal or kosher, it’s the same.
I would cut the guys a break and focus on the real problem, religion.
NeoWolfe
February 17th, 2010 at 7:27 am
Actually, I disapprove of halal on principle. If you cannot eat carrion killed humanely, stick to vegetables.
I am disgusted that standards of butchery (?) are dropping so low, to accommodate 7th. century misconceptions.
Oh and by the way – do islamic pubs let women in?
February 17th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Where is the need for an “Islamic pub”? I don’t know of any pubs in Britain which refuse to serve non-alcoholic drinks. Like many other religiots, these people are “Practising Victims”.
February 17th, 2010 at 8:13 am
It’s lonesome away from your kindred and all
By the camp fire at night where the wild dingos call
But there’s nothing so lonesome so morbid or drear
Than to stand in a bar of a pub with no beer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJW19nlzb3Q
February 17th, 2010 at 9:28 am
How long before this business discovers it could make more money by buying only Halal and selling it to unsuspecting customers who don’t want it. Halal/Kosher meat is produced by a barbarous act and should be banned.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
I should wait until families with children were present and demand a refund for my food on the grounds that it “did not taste ‘halal’, there was no detectable flavour of trauma or suffering and I could not eat anything I wasn’t certain had screamed when it’s throat was cut”.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
@gsw
“Oh and by the way – do islamic pubs let women in?”
Yes, they are allowed in at night to do the cleaning or during opening hours in place of the traditional dart board.
Actually, what is all the fuss about with alcohol and islam? They don’t seem to have the same issues with drugs. I heard that muslm women have been getting stoned for centuries.
February 17th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
BTW off topic (of the story at least) but does anyone know where I can find statistics on the relationship between sex abuse and religious believers? I’m wondering what percentage of abusers are religious.
TIA
Godless not gormless
February 17th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
This is just another example of the trump card all religions use.
We have laws to protect people and animals from cruelty and people against discrimination but your invisible sky daddy says if you respect these laws and the people (or animals) they protect your not following your religion correctly-so please go ahead and use and abuse as much as you like.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
One reason religions have these arbitrary laws is to stop believers mixing with unbelievers.
Godless not gormless – there are some data on that, which I’m planning to post on my blog next week. Short answer: it’s one of the few crime-related areas where there are good data, and there does appear to be a link (religious people more likely to commit sexual crimes).
February 18th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Thanks Tom, that’s great! I’ll have a look.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:22 pm
It’s up! http://epiphenom.fieldofscienc.....re-of.html