Taco Bell and the Afterlife

I read with exasperation the story on Taco Bell’s unsettling settlement with Mukesh K. Rai, a Hindu who bit into the bean burrito he ordered only to find it contained beef, the eating of which is strictly prohibited by his religion [“Taco Bell Settles Suit With Hindu Over Meal Order,” Heard on the Beat, Feb. 11].

He sued Taco Bell for $144,000 after having to fly to England to consult his religious guru (he couldn’t call?) and then to India to cleanse his tainted soul in the Ganges River. Give me a break!

Anyone who so values his religious purity that he would trek across the planet to restore it should not be entrusting his immortal soul to a minimum-wage-earning teenager at a fast-food restaurant; if you do, you deserve what you get. You don’t need a religious guru to tell you that.

If your diet is that important to your faith, prepare your own food! Or, like kosher Jews, dine at restaurants that specifically accommodate such diets. Or check your food for cow meat before taking that unholy bite.

It is not a fast-food restaurant’s responsibility to safeguard your afterlife. That’s your responsibility.

DARREN J. ROBERTS

Los Angeles