It’s impossible to make any comment on this suitable to CS, but fortunately many of the commenters at the linked site have already done the job.
I really liked the “straight from Lot’s wife” marketing idea, though.
I think it’s funny. There should also be Buddhist salt, vegetarian salt, vegan salt, green peace salt and PETA salt. It’s all gimmick, yes even kosher salt.
:dubious: I’m pretty sure it’s called that because due to the crystal size it’s appropriate for use in kashering, not because it required rabbinical supervision and certification. (I hope I’m being whooshed.)
Oy vey…
Somewhere in my childhood, I seem to recall learning about a certain religious leader who drove money changers from the temple.
::hangs head::
I am sorely ashamed to live in the same state as this moron.
No, I’m not whooshing. Why shouldn’t there be Christian salt? Why on earth would anyone care if it’s kosher? Personally I like sea salt. Hey, maybe someone will come out with Pacific salt. I’d go for that, if it fits the bill. Why? I’m a California boy.
My SIL gets her bottled water from a company that advertises as being from Maine. Why? Because she’s from Maine, and wants her water from home. How silly. Whatevs, if it sells.
If someone comes out with gay salt, I just might buy it, knowing it’s silly.
It’s not called kosher salt because it is kosher (all salt is kosher). It is called kosher salt because its shape makes it useful in preparing kosher foods. I don’t think this qualifies as a gimmick, as the salt is truly different, not just blessed or marketed differently.
From the article:
Sounds pretty biblical and superstitious to me, whether it’s blessed or just examined to conform to biblical passages.
The rationale behind koshering food may be biblical and superstitious, but once you’ve decided you’re going to draw blood from a carcass, it’s pretty solidly within the realm of scientific fact that this salt works better than those salts for the koshering process. Just as a paring knife works better for paring than other knives, so too does the salt that’s most useful for koshering get called kosher salt. (It would probably be less confusing if it were called koshering salt instead, but it is what it is.)
What is sciency about this (kosher) salt? Are we talking grain size? Because the kosher salt wiki entry says:
So if it’s not grain size, what makes it kosher, and what makes people get all uppity over someone else coming out with Religion Salt?
For God’s sake, don’t question Jewish dietary laws against consuming blood. Those laws are there for a reason.
Presumably it would be kosher to use Christian salt to kosher meat, as long as the Christian salt is kosher. They could call it Judeo-Christian salt.
In all seriousness, how do you even bless salt? I mean, I know Catholics bless salt for use in exorcisms and such, but has there ever been a corresponding ritual just for table salt? “O Lord, bless this thy salt; keeping it salty in thine eyes…” I must question whether this is genuinely sound theology.
I always thought salt was one of those things the ancient world considered so reliable that it was pretty much beyond the need for blessing. Doesn’t Jesus himself make a big deal out of how salt doesn’t really need any help to be salt? I seem to recall a parable about throwing the salt out if it isn’t sufficiently salty. I’m sure Jesus would have said something about praying for the salt first if it would have done any good. Surely Jesus wouldn’t have wanted his followers to go around wasting salt.
Well, can’t speak for every religion, but Catholics can bless anything. Ever sneeze around a Catholic? What did they say? 
AFAIK. priests can definitely bless anything they want. Usually it’s water, crucifixes and people but I don’t know of anything they can’t bless if someone asks nicely.
Off the top of my head, “…who caused all things to come into being.” ("… shehakol nihyeh bidvaro.")
Shavua tov! Have a good week!
Yeah, I’m just having difficulty wrapping my head around the idea of blessing ordinary salt. If you’re going to be USING the salt for something spiritual, then I can see that. It’s like blessing holy water-- the water itself receives sacramental vibrations or whatever, that grant it the efficacy to drive out demons and vampires and such. I can understand how that principle would also apply to salt.
Is this the same ritual that is being used to bless “Christian salt?” And if so, why? Nobody is claiming that this salt is going to be used for anything spiritual. It’s just a pretty transparent marketing ploy. People are going to use it to season their eggs. What is the salt being blessed for? How is blessed salt going to do God’s will any better than unblessed salt? Is it supposed to be a more effective seasoning? Will it miraculously not contribute to hypertension? Will it keep away the zombies? I’m just not seeing what the presiding minister is aiming for here.
Say I’m a priest, and at the end of the day I go back to the priest-cave with all the other priests and we discuss our day. And all the other priests are talking about writing sermons and driving out the forces of darkness and ministering to the needs of the poor and downtrodden; and here I’ve spent my afternoon blessing some guy’s warehouse full of table salt so he can market it to my parishioners more effectively.
I’m having a hard time seeing how that practice would be justified on religious or ethical grounds. People are not going to come to church if you lead them to believe that they can get the same result by adding salt.
It is grain size - namely, that the grains are very large. Have you seen kosher salt before, compared to table salt?
The mention about variation is that some brands have larger grains than others, and so a cup of Morton might be have more grams worth of NaCl in it than, say, a cup of another brand. This makes a huge difference in the flavor in cooking. And if a recipe calls for a tablespoon of regular table salt and you use kosher, you’re really adding less than a tablespoon worth of salt and a fair amount of air in between the big crystals.
It’s also nice to use kosher salt on meat - the big grains of salt will stay ‘intact’ better than teeny little table salt crystals, and so you get a better “pop” of salt flavor on your tongue when you take a bite and taste a big salt crystal directly.
The box of Crazy Mixed Up Salt Mrs. Plant has is marked Kosher. My French Sea Salt is not.
Memo: Add salt to grocery list.
The former isn’t just salt. 
No, but I presume to earn a Kosher mark on the box, someone must supervise the joint to be sure they don’t lubricate the salt crushing machine with pig fat.
It’s not that people are getting uppity over the Christian Salt itself, it’s that the guy completely misunderstood why kosher salt is called such and took action based on that misunderstanding in such a way that it seems almost like retaliation. “Well if them Jews get their special salt, why can’t we have ours?”
I find most gentiles don’t really need salt. It’s been a while since I even eaten one though. But, Passover is coming and we’ll have the chance to eat some goy baby then.
That depends on who you ask. While the law on cooking meat thoroughly certainly seems to have practical use, the law on not consuming blood does not. I can’t think of any disease you can get by drinking blood you can’t also get from eating meat. AFAIK, blood is safe to eat as long as you cook it first (as in blood sausage or blood pudding).