The True Reason For America's Thanksgiving

The ignorance surrounding the true reason for Thanksgiving in America is just amazing to behold. America was traditionally known as a Christian nation, but I challenge you to pick up and read most newspapers, magazines, or watch television on programs about the meaning for Thanksgiving in America and you will rarely hear the true reason for this most important American holiday, which is summed up in one word, "God". Every Thanksgiving holiday every American should begin the practice of reading our first President's, George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation and then get together with family, friends, and fellow citizens and give thanks to Almighty God in prayer.

Here is a copy of President George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation in order to start this practice:

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

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 and 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 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 enable 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 has 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 to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase 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 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

George Washington

The Poems "Creed" and "Chance"

Here are two satirical poems written by the English Journalist, Steve Turner, that I first heard qouted by Ravi Zacharias during one of his presentations concerning the subject, "Can Man Live Without God?" The poems were apparently written in the 70's according to one source I found on the world wide web, but I did at one time find another source, which I cannot relocate, that said the poems were written in 1981.

I love these two poems because they so accurately and vividly describe and point out the prevailing illogical thought processes that you may tend to find in the "old media", from liberals, Atheists, Agnostics, and New Agers. The logic behind these poems are timeless. In the end the truth prevails because truth corresponds to reality. I hope to continue blogging in the spirit of these two poems by Steve Turner and continue to move the proverbial "ball" forward by adding more observations of similar illogical thought processes wherever I find them. To confine and limit my satire, my observations, to a few with prejudice and without being all inclusive in my criticisms without prejudice means that I have lost my right to be heard and taken seriously at all.

Here is "Creed" by Steve Turner:

*****

Creed

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy is OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything is getting better
despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there's something in
horoscopes, UFO's and bent spoons;
Jesus was a good man
just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.
He was a good moral teacher
although we think His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same--
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it's compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What's selected is average.
What's average is normal.
What's normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.
We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It's only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,
and the flowering of individual thought.

"Chance" a post-script

If chance be the Father of all flesh,
disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
and when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.

*****

If these two satirical poems have wet your appetite for more material by Steve Turner, then here is a link to another book he authored called, "The Gospel According to the Beatles".

Why There is Hope for America

On July 4, 2007, I discovered an essay contest for Citizen magazine at the Focus on the Family's website. The topic was, "Why There is Hope for America." I felt compelled from the heart to write this 500 word essay, so since July 4th I have been working on this essay. I have finished it today and submitted it.

__________

This is the essay that I wrote:

Why There is Hope for America

by Mark O'Neil

The shores of America have always been a land of hope, hope of religious expression and freedom from Jamestown to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, hope of independence for thirteen colonies seeking to secure certain unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, hope of freedom and equality for Africans abducted and forced into slavery, hope of equal representation and opportunity for women as coequal partners with men, and hope of new beginnings and new opportunities for immigrants leaving the old world behind for the new. However, it was one foundational hope that made America great and from this one hope overflowed all the blessings and the expressions of the other hopes. The founding fathers of our nation expressed this foundational hope for our nation in these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” For it is when men anchor their hope in their Creator who endowed them with certain unalienable Rights, that these Rights are realized as blessings to men from their Creator, and when men anchor their hope elsewhere, these same blessings suffer from less than the equal and full measure of expression among mankind.

Because hope in the hearts of good men may grow dim and the assurance it brings may be neglected by them, and because there are evil and ignorant men among mankind who have contempt for their Creator, for His obvious design for Nature, and who strive to do all within their limited power to deceive, corrupt, and destroy the hope of men, then we must be ever vigilant to cultivate hope in our Creator and the assurance it brings to the hearts of men. Therefore all men who earnestly seek to experience the equal and full measure of the expression of their Rights should fix the foundation of their hope with a sacred solemn covenant in Nature’s God. For when the People of a nation fix their hope in Nature’s God, then He will restore the blessing of experiencing the equal and full measure of the Rights with which He endowed to them. Therefore when God can find at least one man in our nation who is willing to firmly fix the foundation of his hope in the Creator then there is hope for America.

However, history has proven that not all men will heed the Patriot’s call of our founding fathers to entrust themselves to their Creator. Therefore we must continuously strive to keep the Patriot’s call of our founding fathers by fervently guarding the hope with which we were entrusted until the day the last Patriot is no more. When this day arrives, Nature’s God will intervene into the affairs of men to champion His own cause bringing to full fruition His designs for Nature and for the blessings He endowed to men.

_____

It was difficult for me to keep the essay within 500 words, because there was so much truth and context that I wanted to bring to this specific subject and that I felt everyone needed to hear. I obviously had more to say on the matter. However, the contest being what it is, this is the best I could do in the time and words allowed.

As an afterword, I based my essay upon the principles from the entire chapter of Jeremiah 35 with the blessing of the Lord in verses 18 and 19 in my mind. I also drew upon my general knowledge of God’s word, the Declaration of Independence, American history, and our national motto, “In God We Trust.” All these afore mentioned things were combined and written in a style to honor the heritage which our founding fathers passed on to us, their posterity, and to hopefully pass on these same things and this essay on to our own posterity.

4th of July, 2007

Thanks to the strong convictions, bravery, and faith of our forefathers and special thanks to Nature's God and His divine hand of providence and protection, we have freedoms and the blessings that flow from those same freedoms that very few other nations on this earth have ever known. It is with this same formula of character and divine intervention that we too can continue to hope to pass on these freedoms and blessings to our own posterity.

Happy 4th of July in the year of our Lord, 2007

Mark O'Neil

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

Why I am Not an Atheist

1) Just a Few of the Many Reasons Why I Have Questioned the Existence of God

I believe everyone at some point in their lives asks the question, “Does God exist?” I certainly have asked myself this question, and not just once, but many, many times.

I cannot imagine anyone who is seeking to obtain a college degree in biology, like I did, who does not have to ask themselves this question, especially in light of the fact that the Theory of Evolution is the basis of modern biology. Anyone who seriously studies the Theory of Evolution will discover that it is based entirely upon naturalistic philosophy and was championed by men, like Charles Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould, Francis Crick, etc. who openly admitted their bias toward pushing a naturalistic philosophy without any room for the possibility of the existence of God.

Also, I was raised in the Christian faith, so growing up I had embraced the faith of my parents without much questioning at first, because as a child I had a relationship of love, trust, and security with my parents, which they had earned from me in some degree. I also had personal experiences while growing up in which the only explanation that I could ascribe to my experiences was a divine hand intervention on my behalf or on the behalf of others. As I grew older, more mature, more educated, I began to explore this question more in depth.

Another reason I questioned the existence of God was that I have seen things in this world that I could only describe as “evil.” Seeing such evil things in this world makes one question the existence of God, especially a perfect, holy, and good God.

The final reason I am sharing with you is that I have experienced great depression, loss, and pain in my life and when you go through such deep, dark places it causes you to question God and to question His very existence. I was twelve years old when I experienced my first bout of deep depression.

2) What is Atheism?

Atheism is the absolute denial of the existence of God or any gods. It is a Greek word in origin, meaning “no God”, the “A” stands for “no” and “theist” for “God.”

3) The Reason Why I am Not an Atheist

Since Atheism is the absolute denial of the existence of God or any gods, then to be an Atheist one would have to have absolute knowledge of this universe and everything contained within and without in order to be able to make the claim they are truly an Atheist. I am not willing to be so arrogant and so foolish to make the ridiculous claim that I know everything to there is to know about this universe in order to refute the existence of God or any other gods. This is why the bible says that the person who claims there is no God is a fool, because of the arrogance of making that very claim.

Psalm 53:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’…”

The honest, humble, and more thoughtful person who doubts the existence of God or any gods, will not call themselves Atheists at all, but will call themselves, “Agnostic.” I remember when I did not fully understand and appreciate the difference between what is an Atheist and what is an Agnostic. It was when I was in college at Mississippi State University and I was a roommate with Todd Hoff at 54 Arbor Acres. At that time Todd was an adamant Agnostic and was adamant that no one could ever know, with any certainty, whether God existed or not.

Well, the next question you will be asking is why am I not an Agnostic?