I figured this would go nicely with the discussion of God in America, and as today is Thanksgiving, I decided to give it a thread of its own, and to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.


City of New York, October 3, 1789


Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."



Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.



And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.



Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.


Go: Washington

Even if we could imagine a contemporary politician able to string one complex sentence together, or a mainstream media-channel willing to publish anything over 20 words, can you imagine any President's being allowed to say that to-day, Thomas?

it would be rather inetresting to see a modern"sound-bite" parody of the above, given the state of religious belief to-day.

I'd give more than I can afford just to have a leader with that kind of intelligence, backbone and morality, Estragon.
Those days are gone. The Shrub is the best we've had in years, and that is quite sad.

Thomas it is possible that God created us with evolution, if that is the case, then thank God for
Scrubs. Besides TC if a bush were good enough for Moses why then would it not be good enough for you?

TC in war you and I are obligated by our government to protect each other no mater what the other's belief system is. If you have ever gone to war recently you would know that the issue of ignoring race, creed or color allows us to work together. In fact the policy of promoting the issue of God while at war, is to give credence to the fact that all names for God are just names. This Nation has succeeded where many have not. It is because our ancestors elected to afford that benefit of doubt.


To the extent that benefit of doubt is valid and of an ethic, which chooses to judge intent by actions. One could determine a mean by which we can assess survivability.This is not just in the relation to potential disasters but conflicts as well. Which exist today and have existed in the past.

One way to understand the NWO it that the efforts of 5 billion people can be directed towards a goal. The Egyptians had the Pyramids what could be our wonder?

Is it that conflicts about the past, outweigh what allows for survival? A society working together is what allows for survival, under whatever conditions exist in nature.

What are your thoughts?




[Edited on 1-12-2002 by Toltec]

Horse hockey! Sorry for the overly succinct response to your conclusion-drawing by connecting disassociated concepts and events, but I figured it'd contrast nicely.

BTW, although I think it pretty much off base, I do like the way you randomly strike 3-4 concepts in one shot! Your mind is working at a fast pace!

TC People who work together survive to the degree of which you do not lessens a species ability to survive. That is a simple equations, in fact no algebra need be applied.



[Edited on 1-12-2002 by Toltec]

AAAaack! Get away from me with that Algebra!!

A fragmented society made up of distinctly different sub-cultures may not agree on who or what is the enemy and what needs to be done. What I consider my enemy you may consider an icon.

Yeah I hate the Algebra as well, especially in war. They come in stacks which you separate by uniform. TC the extent to which one survive in an environment is dependent on there ability to adapt. The people in this country have adapted by working together despite race, creed or color.

All symbols of meaning are represented in the visual form. Any one can look at an Icon and presume that it has no meaning. Or one can present that a benefit of doubt does exist. This then are how alliances form (Taking differences and putting them aside).

If 500 years ago if some of my ancestors saw an Icon of a man nailed to a cross, bleeding and with a ring of thorns around it head. They would have probably believed they were dealing with a warning sign (a death sign) . An example being if one did not know about this version of history or that society. They could be drawn in to war as a result of what potential things it could imply (The Devil??) . Today there are Indians in the Military who have served with distinction, pretty much since WW II. One of the reason we know this is because of Army Algebra.

What are your thoughts?