"Food for the stomach and stomach for food, but God will destroy both."
When God created the universe, God saw that everything He had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). He urged the first man, “you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but…” (Genesis 2:16). Despite God giving everything to man to eat, He did not command him to eat everything but rather used “may” to allow man to make a choice of what he could eat. Thousands of years later, God gave the Israelites dietary commandments on what to eat and what not to eat. Among the animals forbidden were frogs and snakes, including animals that do not chew cud (Leviticus 11). Therefore, since then, men began to eat what is necessary according to their culture.
Against this background, in his
recent remarks, Gen. Kuol Manyang Juk
sparked an outcry when he challenged young people to avoid laziness and hunt snakes,
frogs, lizards, and dogs for food. In South Sudan, I have never come across a
tribe that openly eats those animals. Unfortunately, Kuol’s call came at a time
when the country is facing serious hunger because of insecurity, and, worst of
all, at a time when hundreds of young people have been killed while working to
survive. This Kuol termed 'laziness'. In West Africa, specific tribes eat
almost all those animals, including snails. This is not the case in South
Sudan. For this reason, the Senior Presidential Advisor’s remarks undermine
context, conscience, and concern for health.
To begin with, Kuol undermines
cultural context. I have lived in a Central African country for over a year and
have learned that each tribe has its own special delicacies, such as worms
(caterpillars), snails, crabs, snakes, and, in Nigeria, dogs. This is
acceptable because those are foods for them. What is good for other people
cannot necessarily be good for others. While snakes and dogs may be acceptable
for Nigerians or Chinese, they do not contextually sit well within the dietary
practices of South Sudan.
Furthermore, Kuol undermines
human conscience. What controls our taste for food is our conscience—the sense
of our feelings about something. Even Paul warned against destroying a
brother’s conscience in 1 Corinthians 8:12. Snakes or frogs are completely
unacceptable to many South Sudanese consciences. While living in West/Central
Africa, every time I attempted to eat mopane worms (caterpillars, considered
delicacies in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, etc.), I felt like vomiting.
My conscience rebuked my taste and made me uneasy whenever I desired to eat
caterpillars. Every Junubin faces that same reality regarding the reptiles the presidential advisor mentioned.
In addition, Kuol also
undermines concern for health. The Chinese eat snakes, but they prepare them
according to high and approved health standards. Frogs, snakes, and lizards are
animals that require careful handling and preparation before consumption.
Kuol’s irony is too much for Junubin, who see him as a leader. Commanding
Junubin to eat reptiles is like directing a blind man over a pit latrine.
In conclusion, Gen. Kuol’s
advice may sit well in some parts of Africa and China, where reptiles and
amphibians are considered food. However, just because some people eat those
animals—even if he himself has tasted them—he should not publicly declare such
foods appropriate for all. Kuol Manyang should value context when he speaks,
consider people’s consciences, and show greater concern for health. In the words
of Jesus, it is acceptable to eat what does not trouble one’s conscience. Yes,
if eating frogs or snakes does not affect my conscience or that of my brother,
then I can eat. However, the issue of poverty and hunger has nothing to do with
laziness in South Sudan. What holds South Sudan hostage is insecurity and poor
governance, of which Gen. Kuol is an architect.
End
Writer, Critic and Teacher.
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