Would you like sharia with that?

Halal: No choice for you!

Longer ago than I care to reveal I would occasionally frequent the Hare Krishnas? restaurant just near Melbourne?s famous Flinders Street Station.

The food was always basic and no choice: depending on the day, either a tomato pasta or a potato curry, with a spiced pudding and custard, and cordial. But the main attraction for a young punk on the dole was that it was free. Later they began asking for a gold coin donation, but it was still more than worth it.

In keeping with the Krishnas? religious beliefs, it was all vegetarian, and you?d be wished a cheery ?Hare Krishna!? as you were served. There was also some Krishna literature for those who wanted it, and a sectioned-off area where Krishna videos played if you were so inclined.

I can only guess that their motivation was a mix of religious charity and proselytising. Fair enough: the thing was, you knew it was a Hare Krishna joint. That was their whole thing. You didn?t go there expecting a juicy burger, let alone a menu choice. For the price of a cheap (or free) meal, you accepted their refusal to serve meat.

What is very different is when supposedly secure food businesses begin accommodating special religious groups. In that case, what should be their standard offering is forced to change, to deny some customers what they should otherwise expect. Quote:

Australian KFC stores are refusing to sell bacon in their burgers – because they only use Halal products. End of quote.

Chain restaurants like KFC are run on a specific business model that is predicated on their uniformity: what you get at one, you get at all of them. KFC sells chicken and bacon burgers. If you go to a KFC, you expect to have the choice of a chicken and bacon burger. Quote:

Unless, of course, that KFC is in an area with a high density of Muslims. Quote.

A customer revealed the rule after contacting the fast food company about the lack of bacon offered at a store in Punchbowl, in Sydney’s west.

‘Why is bacon not available at KFC Punchbowl, NSW?’ Disgruntled customer Marc Miller? wrote on Facebook.

In response, KFC said the fast food chain’s stores in Punchbowl and Bankstown South in NSW, as well as a location in Fawkner in Victoria, don’t sell bacon to keep in line with other halal products. End of quote.

It should surprise absolutely no-one that those are areas with exceptionally high numbers of Muslims. Punchbowl in Sydney is about 30% Muslim. Fawkner is in an area that has between 25% to 40% Muslims.

Sure, it could be argued that those stores are merely catering to the demands of their local populace. But here?s the thing: why do the Islamic 30% of Punchbowl get to dictate to the 70% non-Muslim population? Quote:

[KFC said]?’we cannot claim our stores can be classified as being 100% Halal, as there is bacon in all stores (except for three stores listed above)’ End of quote.

Why do they have to be 100% Halal certified? Why can?t Muslims just choose not to order a chicken and bacon burger and let everyone else make their own choice?

Jews don?t eat bacon either, but in Melbourne?s Jewish hub Caulfield (45% Jewish) bacon is on the menu. Jews are able to live with the choices of other groups. Why not Muslims? Quote:

The spokesperson added that there are no current plans to extend the number of stores in Australia which have Halal products. End of quote.

You can almost hear the ??yet? in there.

As Mark Steyn says, the more Islam you have, the less you have of everything else.

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