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