Catholics: How is fish not meat?

Originally posted by wantsome
Seriously I'm here to pick a fight. My grandmother won't agrue with me anymore over it. How is fish now considerd meat? Is it becasue they don't have legs?

Convince a person fish aint meat and they might as well believe the earth is flat.

I've been asking vegans and vegetarions that very same question for years.

Weird for sure.

Fish
From the Royal House of Fishing
lineage
Shem
too
Simon and Andrew Peter,
otherwise known as Simon Peter,,the Rock,,

of the line of Shem,
of the Royal House,
"come he said,
for i will make you fishers of men,,,"
ya that Simon Peter,,
so the fish thing,, its symbolic,, or secret if u will.,,
ya who knew,,,

Originally posted by curious7

Originally posted by wantsome
Seriously I'm here to pick a fight. My grandmother won't agrue with me anymore over it. How is fish now considerd meat? Is it becasue they don't have legs?

Convince a person fish aint meat and they might as well believe the earth is flat.

I've been asking vegans and vegetarions that very same question for years.

Weird for sure.

It's not weird, it's just some words take on a generic meaning when they actually have a specific meaning.

BTW vegans don't eat fish, so who did you ask? Strict vegetarians don't eat fish either. All these years you've been asking people who are vegetarians for reasons that don't include not eating fish, so your only argument is that they shouldn't call themselves vegetarian? What are you the hypocrisy police?

Actually a person who eats only veggies and fish is a Pescatarian...

Definition: Occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used and a pescatarian is not technically a vegetarian, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet. Pescetarians often believe that moderate consumption of fish or fish oils, which are high in Omega-3 fatty acids, is necessary for optimum health, although vegetarian alternatives, such as flax seed oil, are available.

vegetarian.about.com...

Maybe you should just inform them?

A quick search turned up this stuff:

As a generic culinary and butchery term of art, "meat" refers to the muscular flesh of a mammal. This is the definition most commonly applied by governments in meat product regulation and food labeling, and in religious rites and rituals. Edible birds and fish/seafood are not "meat" under this application but are treated separately from mammals. Likewise, amphibians and reptiles, not to mention the "meat" of edible insects, arachnids, and so on.
Religious rites and rituals regarding food also tend to apply this distinction, classifying the birds of the air and the fish of the sea separately from land-bound mammals. Sea-bound mammals are often treated as fish under religious laws. Following is stated in the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.

Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Answers.com

And a better explanation from a Catholic source:

Why is Fish Not Considered Meat When Abstaining from Meat During Lent?

The answer is in the translation of the Cannon Law. The Catholic Church’s official language is Latin. In the Cannon it states that we must abstain from “carne”. If you have ever been to a Mexican restaurant you know that a Carne Asada is steak. In Latin the word “Carne” refers to a warm-blooded animal that walks the Earth. Fish does not meet either requirement.

Why do Catholics do that?

The search engine is your friend.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

So by that theory does that put mermaids on the menu?

Originally posted by jaynkeel

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

So by that theory does that put mermaids on the menu?

mmmmmm ..... mermaid tail soup.

Wow, there are so many scholarly and researched answers to this thread, I love it

However, the answer is way, way more simple than any of you may imagine.

The tradition of eating fish instead of meat on Fridays started back in a time when fish was cheaper than meat. i.e it was the 'poor man's food'

The whole idea from eating fish instead of meat was that you would make a small sacrifice by doing so and the money you would save from buying fish instead of meat you gave to the poor via the Peter's pence collection in church.

It's that simple folks

However, tradition has become rather outdated now that fish is the same price or generally dearer than meat. We have fallen into the trap of following tradition for tradition's sake and forgotten what the real meaning is about (kind of like Christmas and Easter really)

So, if you really want to be a good Catholic, it would probably be better to eat vegetarian or some other cheap food on a Friday, as you are supposed to be saving money on the meal and giving those savings to the poor

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

Then what would you class the flesh of a whale as?

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

if you get meat from animals what do you get from fish..

reply to post by markosity1973


Yes but its always fish and chips on a friday its like a law but then again maybe thats just me...mmmm fish and chips.


I've not considered fish meat in a long time but remember arguing with family members about it, i suppose it is but now in my head fish comes from fish i.e. i call the "meat" from fish, fish. Its certainly not important enough for my to pull my hair out over.

my school boy latin is very rusty - but carne = flesh .

it is only cathoilcism that attempts to refine the definition to suit its dogma

but like everything else in catholicism - dogma can be bent if you have the power , but i digress

all " refinements " to claim that carne is ` warm blooded ` , terestrial ` etc etc are simply catholic fictions

reply to post by LanceonW


nothing like good old battered flake and chips wrapped in newspaper with salt and lemon..

I'm going to eat my fish meat now.

Don't worry about if its meat or not, Its seafood and it taste good.

Scollop's, Prawns, Crayfish Yummy.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

Hey...everyone...I am correcting myself. When I answered this thread...I thought perhaps I was right...but I wasn't...I was wrong.

Definition of meat - "meat is animal flesh that is used for food"

So whether you are eating beef, pork, poultry, fish, mammals etc. - it is all meat.

Live and learn!

Originally posted by fiftyfifty

Then what would you class the flesh of a whale as?

Whales are mammals so it would be meat.

Originally posted by purplemer

if you get meat from animals what do you get from fish..

Err...Fish?

Meat from mammals, poultry from birds, seafood from seafood, fish from fish.

Yeah, I have thought about this before as well. Fish is meat as far as I am concerned. It is the muscle of the animal. It's meat.

Meat that goes wonderful with tarter sauce.

Originally posted by ANOK

Originally posted by purplemer

if you get meat from animals what do you get from fish..

Err...Fish?

Meat from mammals, poultry from birds, seafood from seafood, fish from fish.

Oh, come on. You are talking semantics. Meat is meat and meat is the muscle of the animal.... You are eating muscle whether it come from fish, bird or cow.

Call it anything you want. You are eating muscle.... No matter the animal.

Arguing over what you call that muscle, is rather pointless....

Originally posted by purplemer

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by wantsome

 

Fish - is an aquatic animal (a water animal)

Meat - is food from animals that reside on land

if you get meat from animals what do you get from fish..

Fish fingers.

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth

Oh, come on. You are talking semantics. Meat is meat and meat is the muscle of the animal.... You are eating muscle whether it come from fish, bird or cow.

Call it anything you want. You are eating muscle.... No matter the animal.

Arguing over what you call that muscle, is rather pointless....

It's not semantics, words have specific meanings, but over time they sometimes take on generic meanings from misunderstandings or convenience.

If you go by the true definition then things make more sense. It makes eating fish on Friday make sense, because it's not "meat".

Use generic definitions and confusion can arise. A good example of that is terms like 'socialism', the true definition of the term is nothing like the generic meaning that people think it is. It's the difference between the true technical definition, and what the layman uses.

I'm a Catholic but I think Fish is still Meat. I guess fish lives in the water?!