Thanksgiving start of the new batcave weblog

OK, since physics911.org has gone down I have lost my weblog, so i created one here.
Since it has been so long since i have posted, ill have to catchup, but first I want to post some non-911 material after all, its a blog. So here it goes, my feelings about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving As most people see it...
1:The fourth Thursday of November, observed as a legal holiday in the United States to commemorate the feast held at Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag 2: a short prayer of thanks before a meal

Well, this makes me thinketh. First it makes me think I should be working for dictionary.com.
Most people i believe, think 1+2 are related. More importantly though, is that the indians felt as one with nature. They respected the land, their enviornment and only killed when they needed to. They praised the magnificent beasts, like the buffalo, and held them in honor upon their death. They felt the pain of the animals death, and the sorrow of the heard. They did not just observe natures beauty, they were part of it. That was their culture until we decided that we were better and deserved the land they occupied. The funny thing is they never saw land as something to be owned as we do. They belonged to it. I will come back to a related theme here later. Now I want to address 2:The prayer. but, first let me give you some background on my perpsective.
I was born and raised catholic in a suburb of New Orleans. David Duke actually ran and almost won a rep position for this area, and I remember a very close governers race where most people where i lived voted for him. When I was about 12 years old, I did not understand much of the way religion was being taught to us, so I decided to do some reading. I read Zen Buddhism, Taoism, the Koran, the Bible, and other books on culture and religion. (recomended reading is "The Power of Myth" ) More on my perspective throughout this blog.

2:The prayer. a short prayer of thanks before a meal.
Looking back on how the indians saw things, and many other religions as well, giving thanks was different than most Americans see it today. It has now become a cultural thing, more of a habit, and done out of politeness, rather than the deep respect the indians and many other cultures show toward nature and the world as they see it. At this point I want to bring up the fact that I am a vegetarian. I get asked a lot WHY I am, and it makes me wonder why others are not, and wonder why they ask they question? Which brings us to religion and culture.
American Indians, Buddhists, and several other cultures see humans as part of nature, and not here to dominate it. Christians seem to be split on this, depending on who you talk to and how you read it. Personally, I think that some people do not understand the difference between religion and God, many cultures do this, but it is more prevelant with Christians. To most cultures we are one with nature and one with God. Religion in modern day US (I am speaking here mainly about christians) has become more of a habit and part of the culture. They do not feel the reverence that thier religion was based on anymore. IMHO modern Christianity has lost its way. Te religious right (Pat Robinsons) of the day, at least realize this, but they make a HUGE error in thinking. They want to bring back the "good ol days", forgetting that in these days slavery was legal. The error is much deeper than that though. The error is the mis-interpretation of what the bible stood for in the first place.
Now, let me address Morals.

1. Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character: moral scrutiny; a moral quandary.
2. Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a moral lesson.
3. Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life.
4. Arising from conscience or the sense of right and wrong: a moral obligation.
5. Having psychological rather than physical or tangible effects: a moral victory; moral support.
6. Based on strong likelihood or firm conviction, rather than on the actual evidence: a moral certainty.

Intersting eh? What the Christian right has done is take the parts of the definition that are suitable to them. In fact, it has been going on so long, they helped define it. Of course Christians are divided on this and other things, including which version of the bible is proper to be used. I do not condemn the Christian religion, its origin was very similar to the origins of other religions. My definition, again differs from dictinary.com.
Religion is a way to express ones belief system, and share those ideas with others, usually in an attempt to recruit new members.
Maybe I should submit that to dictionary.com?

I could go on about the difference between what i think the bible was intended for, and how it is interpreted now.... In fact, let me do a bit of that....
Most people have at least heard about contradictions in the bible. One verse saying an eye for an eye, another, saying turn the other cheek...
Well, these differences are being shamefully exploited. In fact, 100 people could read the bible and come up with 100 different ways they understood the meaning. So how do we know which one is correct? Well, any individual viewpoint is correct. Just as in Zen Buddhism, it is a personal thing. Siddhartha said I can but point the way.


The larger percentage of the US is christian. That is true of world pops as well, but the numbers are changing.