Hi Ron;

I'm sorry I don't quite see what you are getting at.  To me, any neolithic 
concepts (religious or otherwise - eg. food guides) of what represents the 
right foods for human consumption, are irrelevant to our undertstanding of 
what we really should be eating to attain optimum health. I agree that they 
colour our acceptance of certain foods and not others, but so what? I think 
everyone realizes that. The problem, as I see it, is the adaptation to a new 
way of eating (raw meats for instance, organ foods etc. .. yech!! :-) I'm 
not sure if I could ever eat raw heart for instance! :-)  The latest 
"advancement", for me, is that I am simply boiling my chicken  (skinless, 
boneless thighs), mixing it up in spices and throwing it into my salad... 
quite good actually....  and I'm still wary of a high fat diet and eat a lot 
of veggies with much of my fat coming from avocados and nuts..... I tend to 
think monosaturates are very good for you (which make up a large percentage 
of the fat in the eskimo diet).

Marilyn

> Hi Marilyn,
> Like it or not, religion often shapes or influences many of our decisions
> about food and behaviors related to food. In the context of Catholicism, 
> for
> instance, I was told to eat fish on Fridays. At the time, I thought it was
> silly. Now, looking back, it was one piece of very good dietary advice.
> Similarly, I was encouraged to take communion each week. That was very bad
> dietary advice, as I have since learned that I have celiac disease. 
> Although
> I have long since lost touch with Catholic dogma, I do realize that my
> upbringing has influenced my current thinking and behavior. I can envision
> discussions on this list that would benefit from bringing religious tenets
> into the discussion. I believe that the Jewish faith and several branches 
> of
> Christianity incorporate bread into some of their religious observances.
> Discussions of such issues in the context of this list seem perfectly
> appropriate to me. For
>
> I'm talking about calm, polite discussions, not the rude in-your-face kind
> of rhetoric we've seen crop up from time to time.  Here and elsewhere, 
> such
> quietly reasoned discussions provoke me to think about, re-evaluate, and
> sometimes change my behaviors and choices. For the most part, this latter 
> is
> what I get from this list.
>
> Best Wishes,
> Ron
>
> Marilyn Harris said:
>
>> Hi Ron;
>>
>> Of what possible use would discussing religion at all in this group be,
>> other than about it being a negative influence on the understanding of 
>> the
>> concept of the paleolithic diet, or is that what you mean?
>>
>> Marilyn
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> This is an unfortunate and divisive topic. While evolution underlies many
>> of
>> the assumptions that drive this discussion list, it need not preclude 
>> most
>> religious perspectives, Christian or otherwise. Thanks in advance,
>> Ron