November 19, 1863 (143 years ago today)
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

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Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

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But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion;
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ;
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Somehow I stumbled on Hitler's T4 project in 1938, less than 66 years ago.
It was a project to eliminate Germany's undesirable babies.
The age was raised to include kids up to 16 years old. Hitler planned euthanasia for the unperfect.
It occured to me that, the way the Third Reicht thought, was simular to many 'cleansing' efforts recorded in history.
This way of thinking would include the Pilgrims cleansing the land of the indians.
I guess the moral of this story is, that killing people over physical or religious differences, is pure evil.
Knowing what I know, it would be hard for me to cheer when any war is won, because I believe that war itself is evil.
Wouldn't it have been much nicer if the bureaucrats could have won Iraq through economical and political means?
I've read that the United States has a larger gross domestic product than India, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain and Brazil combined. Dollar wise, the US is worth 200 Iraqs. That's a lot of monitary influence.
We are the richest people on the planet by far!

The pilgrims came across the Atlantic Ocean to land here in December 1620. They were of the Puritan Sect of the English Separatist Church, and ironically, the Puritans were escaping religious persecution. They had spirit, but were perhaps poor planners, coming to the Americas in the winter time. They had no flour, cattle or dairy products, and the potato was thought of as poisonous. The wheat they brought wouldn't grow in New England's rocky soil. The native indians helped them survive to their first crop. It was the indian's culture (the Wampanoags) to welcome strangers to their villages. Together, they celebrated the traditional English harvest festival with 91 of their saviors (the native indians).
In 1676, June 29th was proclaimed as the first Thanksgiving holiday.
The celebration did not include the native indians. The celebration was meant partly to be a victory celebration over their heathen neighbors. In the name of god, they killed the indians who helped them survive the first winter. The pilgrims brought the plague (small pox) and guns. The Puritan Elder praised god for the plague that killed the indians because it purified the land.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed National Thanksgiving Day
It was to be the last Thursday in November. For hundreds of years prior, this holiday bounced all around the calendar.
As I sit around the table with my loved ones and enjoy the time we're together
I think of history, how our ancestors killed their true saviors, the American Indians, because they didn't believe in their perceived savior, Jesus Christ. I wonder how those people could get so messed up. In many ways, this is a Thankless holiday.
In spite of Thanksgiving's roots, this day has become a day of love.
I celebrate this day, in memory of all of the previous Thanksgiving holidays. I regret most of my loved ones have passed, and can not share today. Yet,
I'm thankful, for the love and new memories created and shared on this holiday
Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, 2004.