Editorial
Hard to Swallow
Public Health, Government Obesity & Church Resistance
by Patrick Henry Reardon
Visiting another city some months ago, I found myself having breakfast in a B&B with a group of folks completely unknown to me. At first, each of us strangers struggled, I believe, to find an interesting and non-controversial topic to discuss while eating our early-morning quiche. (This detail should have tipped me off that trouble was on the way.) Relief landed on the table, however, in the form of the local newspaper. Why not discuss the front-page news?
Well, as it happened, the New York City Health Department had—just the previous day—banned the purchase of sugared beverages larger than 16 ounces at restaurants and other public places, including sports arenas. Much of the front page was taken up with it. This seemed like a safe-enough subject, so we started to talk about it.
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Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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