Not very Kosher

Without hesitation, I agree with Albrecht von Brandenburg that in a Catholic country enforcing the Catholic religion, both halal and kosher would be forbidden, not because of cruelty to animals mind you, but simply because we are not to eat meat which has first been offered to false gods. That being written, I would be very surprised if kosher had been banned in Europe during the time of Christendom, which shows the principle of tolerance was deep in Catholic culture. This is in keeping with Fr. Hunwicke's point that "a robust Catholicism is more likely to support freedom".

Modern Europe, of course, sees Christianity as no different from Judaism or Islam, so I am in agreement with Fr. Hunwicke that we ought to be cautious when a state bans the slaughter of animals in ways prescribed by a particular religioin, on an issue which is not per se immoral outside of religious considerations. It means that the next time they could be coming for us, to prove that the state is religiously neutral, and although Christians do not perform ritual slaughter, there is no shortage of customs they would wish to outlaw - starting perhaps with infant baptism.

Of course, the other thing that troubles me is that Belgium sees no problem killing its young or its old, and yet it sees itself duty-bound to interfere in the slaughter of animals. This is the modern secularist Western state for you, in which the natural order is inverted, and what is most important becomes least, and what is trivial or irrational.

These countries, it must be noted, cannot survive for long, if nature is to have its way, and nature always wins.