Leviticus 11 - What's the deal with clean and unclean foods in the Bible?

Why does God hate shrimp and pigs?? Why are some foods "clean", some "unclean", and some an "abomination"/"detestable" in the Old Testament? What is the purpose of such strange laws? What do these laws have to do with God or with being a Holy people? Why do Christians seemingly "pick and choose" when it comes to food laws they want to break? Here are some things that EVERYONE should know about the food laws of Leviticus 11 (and Deuteronomy 14)...especially Christians. For more on this and other interpretive issues surrounding the Hebrew Scriptures, see the Disciple Dojo DVD resource "The Bible For the Rest of Us" (available at http://jmsmith.org/store/bible ). ***Disciple Dojo shirts and other gifts are available over in our online store! - https://www.zazzle.com/discipledojo