Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture,   ISBN:9780679724681

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Marvin Harris points out that human life is not merely a panorama of random happenings of divergent cultures. One wonders how this is so when confronted by the belief systems of peoples around the globe, some of which seem to make little or no sense. He shows that "even the most bizarre-seeming beliefs and practices" are a result of ordinary conditions arising from "guts, sex, energy, wind, rain," and a "host of ordinary phenomena" built from emerging history.

In Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture: Harris begins with an explanation for why the hungry peasants of India do not kill and eat the "sacred" cows which roam the country at will. Does this make sense?

Cows are kept alive for the simple reason that killing them is economic abortion. Cows are revered because they provide milk. Their dung can be burned like peat to heat homes and cooking pots. Dung can be mixed with other ingredients and spread like cement across the ground for flooring material. The cows are far less costly than unaffordable tractors for cultivating fields. Finally, cows that freely walk the streets eat most anything, saving the cost of paying street cleaners.

Yahweh and Allah denounced the pig as unclean to Jews, Moslems, and some Christians. To even touch a pig or pork meat, let alone taste it made one unclean. Why? Harris traces this phenomenon to several factors. One of the most popular is that swine when left in a watery pen are delighted to wallow in the mud, eating their own urine and excrement.

Maimonides (Egypt) in the 12th century claimed that God intended his ban on pork as a health measure. In the 19th century, the discovery of trichinosis in poorly cooked pork seemed to prove his theory. However, it is interesting that God is choosy. He did not decry cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and mules which transmit deadly anthrax while pigs do not.

The next topic Harris addresses is the irrationality of war in ancient times and today. He claims that humans are not basically warmongers. In In Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches he attempts to show that people invariably go to war because "they lack alternative solutions to certain problems." He mentions the Maring, a tribe in New Guinea that wars on a regular basis every so many years.

Why? Ceremonial war stops the tribe "from eating too much forest too fast." Each time a defeated tribe is routed from its garden fields, the conquered land is left fallow for many years so that forest plants and cover can regenerate. Harris also denigrates the idea of males being savages by nature. Not so, claims Harris. From ancient times, male physiology and psychology have been bred to favor warrior-like behavior necessary to defeat enemies like the Maring mentioned above. Males are expendable in battle whereas child-bearing women, needed to continue a tribe or race, are not. Without an understanding of another's belief system, war is necessary for survival.

Finally, Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches addresses the idea of messiahs, witches, and witchcraft. The Holy Roman Empire extended over most of what was believed to be the civilized world surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This Christianization brought about by the spread of Christ's message as a Messiah brought with it a certain predictable regularity to everyday life.

The Christian church provided a format - a liturgy to follow from birth, through life, to death and an afterlife. People literally did not have to think. Baptism brought them into the church where they were told what to believe and how they should live. The church and its clergy provided the leadership to get Christians through heaven's pearly gates.

Of course, to the Jewish people in the Holy Lands, Jesus was not their messiah. His message was one of a gentle life of acceptance, of living and loving, forgiving and forgetting. But The Old Testament is filled with predictions of a militaristic messiah who would come and lead the Jews to triumph over adversity, win back Jerusalem, and rebuild their temple so they could truly live as God's chosen ones.

Anyone who dared speak out against the Christian Church's abuses and/or its beliefs were labeled heretics. It was against them that Rome first authorized the use of torture to persuade these erring believers to rescind their sinful ideas and agree to return to the Roman Church. Many went underground to form anti-Roman Church organizations.

According to Harris, it was an easy logical step to connect heretical beliefs with devils, sorcery, and witchcraft within these secret organizations. Witches, particularly during and after the inquisition, were accused of causing everything from hailstorms, to outbreaks of disease, to death of livestock. Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches reveals some of the ingeniously cruel torture devices used to force persons to confess witchcraft - guilty or not.

Harris ends his book by explaining that without genuine knowledge of others and their beliefs, humans can make the mistake of repeating the past. He believes that just as scientific objectivity explained the misunderstanding about cows, pigs, messiahs, and witches, this same objectivity can show mankind the diversity of lifestyles today -- diversity that when misunderstood was responsible for Vietnam, and is now responsible for Iraq -- diversity that determines how nations are forced to interact with their environment, either positively or negatively.

While the title of this book, Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches, may seem trite, the material presented makes for a fun, educational read that will demystify some mysterious past beliefs that most take for granted. The material is presented orderly, clearly, and often humorously.

I would recommend the book to a reader searching for a tale that reads more like an adventure than a sociological or anthropological treatise. But as the author warns, it must be read in the order presented. Without understanding "cows," one cannot easily understand "pigs." Each section builds upon the preceding one. Hopefully, the ideas presented in Harris' book will lead its readers to a better understanding of the human condition.

Other materials:
The Origin And Essence Of Taboos - Pamphlet
Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (Routledge Classics)
A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials
The Myth of the Holy Cow

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I found some amusing and interesting stories in Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches - Marvin Harris' irreverent and objective guide to phenomena he describes as 'cow love', 'pig hate' and 'phantom cargo'. Harris writes in an easy laid back style with plenty of anecdotes, and though the work tries to explain a lot of deeply ingrained cultural practices as well as taboos, it is never simplistic. The general pace of the book however did not quite prepare me for the strongly worded final chapters however, where the author takes a shot at the hippie movement of the late sixties and early seventies. The book was published in the mid-seventies so it does tend to be a little dated but I think it is an excellent work and a rewarding read.

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The first three chapters were interesting. But the next two on Jesus were a surprise. He stated that the militant Jesus and his band of terrorists attacked a synagogue. Then in the final passover, they attacked Jerusalem but were captured and killed.

Since these "facts" were clearly fabricated to support the conclusion he later wanted to support about how drugs can help one see their inner self, it appears we cannot rely on any other of his "facts" because they may be just as fabricated and self-serving.

The book appears to be nothing other than fantasy fiction, not a book on cultures. So it was a complete waste of time reading.

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Yes, there are Cows, and Pigs, and Wars. Also messiahs and humankind, and society in all its glory. I reached the book following Jared Diamond's works, anthropology for the layman. And this book is as good. Very interesting, distancing from the society and humankind, looking as an espectator, you find that the simplest common sense rules do apply to all your life, but one is usually so close to it as not to notice.

If you like understanding and taking apart myths, and understanding cultural references and icons, you will like the book. For any person practising critical thinking on our everyday's life, this is a bit of fresh air, and a reason to keep doing that.

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Harris was a wonderful writer both in style and in substance. Harris wrote out an intense idea with near perfect logic and simplicity. You will notice this the moment you breeze through the chapter on "Mother Cow". He disentangles one of the strongest held beliefs in one of the most complex religions without taking away from its spirituality, mysticism, and beauty. He also writes in a "passing the torch" manner as though he is writing to the younger generations.

Anthropology is a uniquely holistic discipline. Harris' book is a fine example of this as Harris takes from every conceivable direction. This is most clear in his analysis of the Messiah or the Prince of Peace or Jesus.

For the pseudo-anthropologist or even the casual reader, this book will certainly please.