One of my favorite televisions shows of all time is The X-Files. I didn’t watch it when it originally aired, but eventually got a hankering to see it on DVD. There are many reasons to like it, including its originality and the dynamics between Mulder and Scully and the sense that governments really do hide things. As I rewatch episodes I see how much religion plays into it as well. This post is actually not about the X-Files proper, but about a place in Bethlehem I recently discovered. I’m not a preachy vegan, but I do like to support the establishments who make such lifestyles as mine much easier. It was thus that I discovered Paranormal Pizza in Bethlehem. I wondered about the name, figuring that it was paranormal that you could have non-dairy, non-meat pizza at all.
To celebrate Earth Day we decided to check it out. The menu has a set of fixed items, each named after an X-Files character. I was glad to see that I’m not alone in my appreciation of the show. The pizza’s very good, and I’m sure the college-age crowd that was there would agree with me. I did wonder how many of them knew the X-Files. Is it still a thing? Maybe recent government disclosures have brought it back into the public eye. Hey, I’m a Bible editor, about as far from the public eye as you can possibly get. Vegan pizza on Earth Day, however, just felt right.
Foodiness seems to be trending. A great many options are available in the land of plenty. Still, I know that vegetarians and vegans in developing countries exist, and many of them for similar reasons to me. They know animals think and feel. We promote the myth that they don’t so that we don’t have to feel guilty about exploiting them. It seems to me that many of our world-wide problems would start to vanish if we realized we can evolve out of being predators. Cashews and almonds can become cheese. Soy beans and wheat can become meat. And peanuts are about the best food ever, in any form. Then there’s the natural fruits and veg. Industrial animal farming is perhaps the largest polluter of our planet. Yesterday was Earth Day. I was eating a pizza made from wheat, tomatoes, and cashews. These ingredients might seem a bit unusual. Paranormal, even. But that’s precisely the point. I won’t be waiting until the next Earth Day to go back for more.
