The Bible says that people shouldn't try to make "deals" with God.

It should also say that they shouldn't try to speak for Him, either!

Mainely me, while I would admit it is possible for people to misread the Bible, (you seem to do it on a regular basis) God has use man to "speak" for him throughout history. The Bible does also have us make "deals" with God. Aside from marriage where I signed on to a deal to leave my family and cleave to my wife, and honor her in a list of ways. God also has another deal with me where he trusted me with 3 wonderful kids that really don't belong to me, but to him. There is also the most important one where all I had to do was except his free gift of salvation, and I can become one of his own. That wasn't just a deal, but a bargin.

Also to turkey boy above.... The only thing about my turkeys "life and death" I am concerned about is that he managed to pack on at least 20 pounds before bitting the big one. Happy thanks giving and enjoy you tofuy thing!

I'm sure I am eating at Buck's House this year! Bring on the gobbler baby!

Sharon ... I also really enjoy Sarahs heartfelt sympathetic writing style. Her view of the world, though more widespread than you believe, is little heard in this part of the country and there is plenty to be learned from her perspective. ....I have one question though. Why the slap at her because she is married to an officer?

Buck Johnson's assertion that "My family’s Thanksgiving dinner will include a tofurky, lentil roast, mashed potatoes, corn stuffing, stuffed squash, chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and carrot cake" is truly offensive.

Where does mr. Johnson have the God given right to assume that plants have less inherent dignity that turkeys and pigs (mmmmm, ham, bacon.....)? Fortunately, the Swiss, who are much more advanced socially than we, have decreed that plants have dignity and shoudl be treated as such (http://www.ekah.admin.ch/en/index.html). Mr. Johnson should be careful in impuning meat eaters, that is, humans who eat as nature inteneded them to---there's a reason you have both sharp and flat teeth, poindexter---while continuing to capricously rob plants of their dignity by treating them as mere food. Plants are alive as well, Mr. Johnson. Why does a turkey of a T-bone deserve this more than a cucumber or a banana? Please pass the porterhouse!

Buck Johnston: Will your mashed potatoes have milk and butter? Will your pumpkin pie and carrot cake have big jumbo eggs? If not, I'm staying home. I suspect with your planned dinner you'll need lots of multi-symptom relief on Friday to conquer your discomfort and get back out there ! If you're a runner, a good Tofurky Trot on Thanksgiving morning will help you prepare some for the onslaught. Are there any races scheduled around here? And Buck, You forgot the GRAVY! Those pan drippings aren't there for nothing. Tofurky pan drippings...I Think NOT!

"God defined marriage"?

Maybe. Guess all those millions of Buddhisms and Hindus are SOL. Too bad they can't get married. Maybe not.

God defined human nature. Humans then made little rules about this and that, including inventing a notion called marriage. We humans also created other things, like blind faith, intolerance and our concept of God. Oh, we also wrote the bible.

I wonder if Buck wears leather shoes and sleeps with feather pillows. I've met many veggie lovers who don't try to push their prefrences on others! Eat your vegerky and I'll eat my REAL Turkey. I come from a family who used to go out and slaughter a fresh one the day of thanksgiving. LOL!!!

I am not a vegan or vegitarian but I have always wondered why they eat fake meat? If meat is so bad and terrible you should not try to make veggies taste like it. Seems to me they really do like meat but just want to call attention to themselves...

It's nice to see that so many people are relying on what "god" tells them is true. Pfft. Grow your own brains and stop cowering from a character in a book. It's ridiculous.

And it IS nice that you have your own tastes and diet, Buck from Bangor, but had your ancestors had this same diet, then you probably wouldn't be here. Eating meat is how "hunters" and "gatherers" survived. Only feel guilty for eating this Thanksgiving because you know some people are going hungry. But maybe next year decide to donate your money for a turkey to go to food cupboards and needy families.

Peace on Thanksgiving and your holidays.

Buck, you vegans crack us up. You give human characteristics to animals as if they're people with feelings. Now excuse me, there's a turkey socccer practice in Bangor and I've got to pick up my baby. He's trying not to be a fat butterball.

Hey, Buck. The best part of Thanksgiving for me is to wake up in the morning with those great smells permeating the house (my wife is an early riser). Does tofu smell like turkey? From what I've heard, tofu just smells.

The Romans created the institution of marriage as we in the West know it, not God. It was created to administer the disposal of assets and liabilities after death of a spouse. In the twilight of the Roman Empire, the responsibility for administering the institution of marriage was handed over to the Church, which started the infusion of religiosity into marriage, and has brought us to the bitter debate we're having today.

Cheers to you Buck for an excellent letter and for having such compassion for all beings of all species !! No animal parts or fluids being served at our home for thanksgiving either. Just a wonderful array of delicious plant based goodness.

Hey Chemaine, let me know the first time you have to chase down and stab, shoot or beat a vegetable to death in order to eat it, like you ALWAYS have to do with any animal meats. That's the difference, vegetables are meant to be eaten by humans, not animals, that's why animals feel pain and can flee and why eating them will eventually give you heart disease and cancer.

Kateindfcity, Bucks ancestors most likely didn't have all the options that we have today, meat may have been a necessity for them, but not for us. Another great reason NOT to eat animals, out of unselfish respect for all they provided for our desperate ancestors.

well i for one, killed my own raised turkey, i even watched it run around everywhere after i chopped it's head off, gross yup, but it will be tastey.

Happy Turkey day everyone!!!!!

I for one am thankful I don't have to eat at Buck's house, if they served me that junk I would walk out in the middle of the meal. I have never lost a night of sleep thinking where the animal came from or anything like that. Thanksgiving turkey is my favorite meal of the year so I will enjoy myself tomorrow and I hope you others will as well. Please pass the gravy.

"Hey Chemaine, let me know the first time you have to chase down and stab, shoot or beat a vegetable to death in order to eat it, like you ALWAYS have to do with any animal meats. That's the difference, vegetables are meant to be eaten by humans, not animals, that's why animals feel pain and can flee and why eating them will eventually give you heart disease and cancer. "

I don't hunt, i buy my meat neatly packed at the supermarket. I do not disparage those who hunt (unless they use automatic weapons or waste the resource) and sometimes enjoy venison . The Swiss believe plants have dignity. Who are you to disprove them? Your assertion that we are supposed to only eat vegetables is patently incorrect. If this were so, we would only have dull teeth, like cows. We do not. Thus, you are incorrect.

happy thanksgiving, and pass me a drumstick, please.

The Romans were human. God did not create marriage, we did.

Chemaine, I'm not talking about hunting, I'm talking about the difference between plants and animals and how they have to be acquired in order to eat them. You, or somebody hired by you (the meat companies), HAVE TO chase down and either stab, slice, shoot or beat an animal to death against their will in order to process their parts and fluids for consumption. With plants there is no resistance whatsoever, and in most cases after you pull a tomato from the vine, corn from the stalk, pepper from the branch, and on and on, the plant itself actually lives out it's full natural lifespan according to it's will. Not to mention that the plant foods will not clog our arteries, give us heartattacks, colon cancer, strokes, etc, as meat almost always does sooner or later, because plants are what we, as a species, are meant to subsist on. That's great that the Swiss think plants have dignity, if they truly care about plants then they definitely do not want to be eating animals as we KNOW for a fact of their desire to avoid pain and live out their full natural lifespans, often with their families. I am very "patently' correct concerning teeth, go kill an animal in the wild and try to gnaw his or her flesh from their coat and bones, then try the same thing with a freshly picked garden vegetable.

Chemaine, gotta say you are all over that one. Good point on the teeth thing.

Why can't you just enjoy your veggiefest of a Thankgiving and I will enjoy my turkey laden Thanksgiving. If you are trying to make me feel guilty about eating animals you are wasting your breath. I still wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday though.

It's not about you at all dpare71, nobody attempted to make you feel guilty, and it's not about me either, it's all about speaking out for the voiceless who are being brutalized and killed against their will. It's really interesting how I come on here and see everybody bashing Buck's letter, so I respond to a few points in defense of Buck and in defense of the voiceless animals, and then all of a sudden you turn everything around and say that I'm the one causing the bad feelings when I was only responding to all the initial, extremely rude Buck-bashing. Something to think about. Happy Tofurky day !

P.S. Regarding the creation of marriage - I suppose one could say that since God created the Romans, He had an indirect hand in creating marriage, but I think He left the details to the bureaucrats.

gmse66, do you suppose that the reason turkeys, chickens, etc. run around after their heads have been chopped off is because birds are anatomically similar to human males, that their brains are located in their genitals?

I hope that vegetarians and vegans justify their lifestyle only on preferences only on health or personal reasons. Humans have obviously evolved to be omnivores, not herbivores, so don't justify it on biological fitness. If you care to justify it on inhumane slaughtering and other meat preparation practices, that's OK (for you) too but these opinions do not justify not eating any meat or animal protein. As for vegans, I hope you get your Vitamin B12 supplements (which are from meat and dairy sources, although ultimately bacterial) otherwise you're in for big problems with your health. I think the Swiss vegetable situation must have been formulated in jest but got out of hand.

As for the marriage issue, charting the cultural history of the institution is most revealing. Through most of Europe, the only official (legal) marriage is perfomed by a agent of the government. In the USA, governments issue marriage licenses to the clergy. This allows any church to recognize only those marriages performed by their clergy. I believe that these policies should be adopted: legal marriage to those desiring it and religious marriage in the church of their choice. As for delgation of marriage authority, you won't find it in the Bible, but the State (Roman) and the Church (Roman Catholic) coopted that long ago. Look it up in appropriate historical sources.

Having said this, do I regret my chruch performed marriage of many decades? Not a bit, far from it. What I do regret is the artificial, pseudo-pietistic oppostion to revising the definition and justification for marriage, including making reproduction essential to the marriage and family.

bobbuntrock, we are actually evolving away from being onmivores, that style of eating is just what we are TOLD to eat from birth by very well financed advertising campaigns and such. Sadly it is exactly that animal production and consumption that is rapidly depleting our planets resources and destroying our environment. There is no way possible to sustain the current earth human population with animal products. Just the water aspect alone is staggering, something like 3,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of animal protein, in comparison to 300 gallons for 1 pound of plant protein. As far as biological fitness is concerned, all legitimate studies show that humans who choose a plant-based diet always have a far lower incidence of heart disease, cancer, obesity, stroke, and on and on. Not to mention that there are many, many top athletes who consume only plant foods and thrive beautifully. Meat is definitely not a necessity, unless of course you are isolated out in the wilderness or up in the arctic, and it's a matter of absolute survival. Vitamin B12 is easily obtained from Nutritional yeast, which is not derived from animals but grown on molasses, as well as from the vegetables from our own gardens providing we do not scrub them, as it is present in the bacteria existing on the outer skins. This is exactly how animals get their B12, from grazing, as we also were designed to do with plants. The inhumanity of meat is absolutely a very, very good justification for not eating any animal products, it shows true compassion for those voiceless beings being brutalized and killed against their will.

I am not bashing vegans... I just think it is hillarious. Where do our fresh veggies come from in the winter? They come here on trucks. And we have all seen the carnage caused by trucks. How many animals died bringing your tofu and green leafy veggies to Maine? A deer? Two or three porcupines, a skunk or two, God knows howmany birds and insects. How about all the "Pest" animals killed in the fields and graneries to protect your grains? Animals die every day so you can eat. How can you sleep at night knowing this?

"bobbuntrock, we are actually evolving away from being onmivores"

That's just stupid. Evolution in mammals happens over centuries and as a result of stresses imposed by environment. there is no meat shortage in North America, and we are not eveolving to eat less. This may not hold true in poorer countries, but who cares? While it may not be nice, there's no way that Americans are gong to change their eating habits to feed a bunch of people living in an unsustainable environment. Sorry.

"There is no way possible to sustain the current earth human population with animal products."

Yes, that's why steak is not that common in Africa.

"Just the water aspect alone is staggering, something like 3,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of animal protein, in comparison to 300 gallons for 1 pound of plant protein."

Who cares? We have lots of water here, and it ain't gonna get shipped to Africa. Plus, where do you think the water goes? it doesn't disappear, moron. Water is a RENEWABLE RESOURCE. Don't believe me, wait until it rains.

"Many top athletes who consume only plant foods and thrive beautifully."

Ya, I'll bet there's maybe 1 or 2 NFLers who eat just veggies.

"Meat is definitely not a necessity"

neither is my big car, but I like it and it goes fast. I like to drive to the supermarket and load it up with T-bones and Pork Ribs. I can, and until the price gets too high, will not stop.

"Vitamin B12 is easily obtained from Nutritional yeast"

OK, I'm convinced! I'll definitley eat yeast over Beef!

"This is exactly how animals get their B12, from grazing"

I'm smarter than an animlal, so i'll just take thier B12. Thanks. Yummy!

Just 1 more point for all those veggie wackos that feel compelled to stuff their crappy lifestyl down everyone's back.

Given a choice, would a lion eat meat or a soy-based alternative in the wild?

Law of the jungle, baby. As much as you moron liberal elites don't like to admit it, we is just animals.

Sickntired, how many of those beings, if any did really die, were " intentionally" killed to bring any veggie foods to Maine ? NONE. But you better believe that every animal product that you eat is derived from an animal that was INTENTIONALLY chased down and stabbed, shot, sliced or beaten to death against his or her will. That's the difference buddy, intentional violence. Not to mention all the creatures that were killed along the way while raising that animal and growing all the crops needed to feed that animal. It's all about doing as little intentional harm as possible.

Bobbuntrock, that's the difference between you and I, I DO CARE about all those things, and I will try to do my part to contribute to as little harm as possible, and to as much good as possible, during my short time on this planet.

Chemaine, as I said earlier, it's not all about me, or you, nobody is trying to "stuff their lifestyle" down your back. It's all about the suffering and killing of the voiceless, and how we can cause less of it. You've got to look beyond just us and our selfish desires. By the way, when is the last time you bought "LION" meat ? We don't live in "the jungle." That is not a legitimate comparison you can make, we're talking about the butchered parts and fluids of cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, fish and such that you elitely buy neatly wrapped in your grocery store. All of those beings ate grains and plants. If you want to go chase down, kill and eat a lion by hand, with your teeth, since they are the "true" carnivores, then by all means give it a try, at least at that point it would definitely be a fair fight.

Sorry Bobbuntrock, I just noticed that was Chemaine who responded to my message to you. I just addressed that response to you by accident.

Chemaine those are both to you my friend.