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dimossi
Skeptic Friend
USA
141 Posts |
 Posted - 03/04/2002 : 19:30:55
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I have family and friends who insist on saying grace at dinner time. I usually just sit there and watch the others as they perform their silly ritual, but lately I was thinking....
I would like to turn the tables. I don't want to be rude and ridicule their beliefs, but I want fairness. So I came up with an idea for a "Science Grace". I mean, when you think about it, there are many reasons to be thankful for science. So I am just trying to figure out a good "prayer" to say the next time my family and friends are at my house for dinner. Here is a rough draft of what I propose as a decent "Science Grace":
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Oh Great Science,
We would like to thank you for helping us humans make all the great scientific advances that have helped prolong our lives. It was only 150 years ago that the average life span was in the 30s. Today it is in the 80s thanks to advancements in scientific medicine and nutrition. Thanks to science we now know how simple sterilization can help prevent sickness due to bacteria or other microorganisms. Thank you science for saving countless lives by eradicating the SmallPox virus. Thank you science for saving so many lives by helping us predict when and where hurricanes and floods may strike. Thank you science for providing the ability to mass produce huge amounts of food fast enough to provide for our growing society. Thank you science for this food!
A-Science
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Please give me some feedback on any changes, additions, or even your own "Science Grace".
If we can author enough different versions of the "Science Grace", then maybe I will a reason to start begging my friends and family to attend dinner at my house. 
"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." [Carl Sagan]
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2002 : 20:02:11 [Permalink]
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[quote]
Please give me some feedback on any changes, additions, or even your own "Science Grace".
If we can author enough different versions of the "Science Grace", then maybe I will a reason to start begging my friends and family to attend dinner at my house.
"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." [Carl Sagan]
[/quote]
Very nice, and more accurate than any dinnertime prayer I've heard.
As far as saying this at the table with your friends and family there: can you cook? Maybe there's a reason they're praying
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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Lars_H
SFN Regular
Germany
630 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2002 : 20:21:18 [Permalink]
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I always thought that Bart Simpson had a good point when he said:
"Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing"
But seriously, I don't feel very comfortable in thanking any fictional entity for stuff that was achived by humans. Even thanking science does not feel right to me. It is just a tool. Do I have to thank the Hammer who provided me with the roof above my head?
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dimossi
Skeptic Friend
USA
141 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2002 : 20:56:16 [Permalink]
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Lisa:
My wife usually does the cooking..."thank Her for that".  My specialty is Hamburger Helper...who I do "thank" as well.
Lars_H:
I understand your concern about "thanking". Maybe I should make it clear that it is not a "prayer" but a prequel to the meal. Either way, if these family and friends of mine get the impression that I am truly thanking science as they do their god, instead of satirically viewing their ritual; then maybe it will bring about some welcome debate to the dinner table.
"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." [Carl Sagan] |
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ronnywhite
SFN Regular
501 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2002 : 23:23:46 [Permalink]
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[quote]
perform their silly ritual, but lately I was thinking....
[/quote]
Ya, a harmless ritual, easily tolerable if it makes people feel better. Kinda like wearing a tie, instead of the sweat suit and Air Jordan tennies I'd much prefer. Thanks could be better given to the cows who did the real work on the ice cream, the hog who selflessly gave of itself for the pork loin, and those who sacrificed their beloved aerosols and stopped clobbering the ozone layer. Personally, a ritual of 50 situps would do me good, but that wouldn't go over too well I'm afraid.
Ron White |
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2002 : 01:32:30 [Permalink]
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[quote]
As far as saying this at the table with your friends and family there: can you cook? Maybe there's a reason they're praying
Lisa[/quote]
ROFLOL
*
Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2002 : 01:40:17 [Permalink]
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[quote]
Lisa:
My wife usually does the cooking..."thank Her for that". My specialty is Hamburger Helper...who I do "thank" as well.
Lars_H:
I understand your concern about "thanking". Maybe I should make it clear that it is not a "prayer" but a prequel to the meal. Either way, if these family and friends of mine get the impression that I am truly thanking science as they do their god, instead of satirically viewing their ritual; then maybe it will bring about some welcome debate to the dinner table.
[/quote]
There's the answer to your question:
Thank Betty Crocker or the Pillsbury Dough Boy or who ever makes Hamburger Helper. That is similar to what Bart said and much more honest IMO.
Ps. Funny coincidence, that episode of The Simpsons where Bart says that 'prayer' was just on.
*
Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2002 : 18:26:08 [Permalink]
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I think it was summer before last. I was having a backyard steak and martini thing with a bunch of friends and one of my neighbors shows up with her minister in tow. When everyone was served he stood up and announced that he would now say grace. Everyone one turned to me and grinned. Well, everyone except my wife who shut her eyes and shook her head and pretended she was somewhere where she couldn't hear me.
"Er, that's okay," said I. "No thank you."
"Oh it's no trouble. I'd be delighted."
Heads swiveled back and forth like at a tennis match.
"No, no thank you. We don't do things like that here."
"You don't thank God?!"
"No, (laugh) of course not. Now dig in. Enjoy."
Other than that he ate like a horse and drank like a fish he went unnoticed for the rest of the evening.
If it's your table you call the shots. You don't want magic spells chanted before you eat then tell them. It's simple manners. They either don't realize that they are being rude; in which case they would want to know so they can follow etiquette. Or they don't care; in which case they should be told to be quiet. Or they are doing it to spite you; in which case their bluff should be called.
You don't need to parody them.
I don't allow people to smoke or pray in my house. If they really have to I'll lend them an umbrella so they can stand out in back like a pariah until the're done.
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It will sometimes be necessary to use falsehood for the benefit of those who need such a mode of treatment.
----Eusebius of Nicomedia,
[i]The Preparation of the Gospel[/i] |
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Physiofly
Skeptic Friend
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2002 : 20:51:01 [Permalink]
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[quote]Even thanking science does not feel right to me. It is just a tool. Do I have to thank the Hammer who provided me with the roof above my head?[/quote]
Instead of thanking science, why not thank the scientists who made it all possible? Here's my tribute:
THANKS TO SCIENCE PEOPLE
Raise your head and give your thanks
To people of science and not to cranks.
We give thanks to Kepler and Copernicus
Who helped the sky make sense to us.
Galileo, forced to eat at home
Showed us heaven's center wasn't Rome.
Boyle, Charles and Pascal
You taught us how to cook things well.
Thank you Vesalius, for now we know
How our muscles work and grow.
Newton found laws for all things small and big
And gave his name to cookies made with fig.
Ovations please for Jenner and Pasteur
For making us healthy, keeping our food pure.
Praise to Madam Curie who showed us how
To preserve our food for ten years from now.
Bacon, Sagan, Laplace, Descartes
You gave us ways to think real smart.
Archimedes cried "Eureka!"
Thanks for coming,
Now pass the paprika!
"Be careful about reading health books. You might die of a misprint." - Mark Twain
Edited by - physiofly on 03/05/2002 20:54:47 |
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