[blam]

"Not quiite so simplistic. COws provide milk and this would be considered reason enough to cherish them."

Okay I'll go with that too. Do the Indians today harvest milk from the cows? If not, wouldn't that weaken your argument?

BTW, I don't even want to talk about the Jains and their eating customs, lol.

[Cronos]

Do the Indians today harvest milk from the cows? If not, wouldn't that weaken your argument?

Yes, they do still milk cows -- I think it's an important part of their economy in the northern part of hte Indian continent. however, the most important thing is that this rule was set in the days when milk was of paramount importance. Just as you rightly point out that eating pork in ancient times would have been a bit dangerous but is now perfectly safe.