I stumbled upon the fact just now that the fork was first brought to this side of the Atlantic ocean on this day in 1630. It reminded me of some of the arguments the Church (Catholic especially) have been offering against gay marriage legislation which just passed in the New York Legislature. It reminded little old me of the old saying that if God wanted us to fly he would have given us wings. But on to the history
It turns out the fork is a relatively new invention. Although the first forks were used in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the two-tined instruments were used only as cooking tools at the time. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that a smaller version was used for eating by wealthy families of the Middle East and Byzantine Empire.
Enough dry herstory. On to the good stuff which only gives further evidence that evolution is a very slow process.
the seemingly humble instrument was once considered quite scandalous…. In 1004, the Greek niece of the Byzantine emperor used a golden fork at her wedding feast in Venice, where she married the doge’s son. At the time most Europeans still ate with their fingers and knives, so the Greek bride’s newfangled implement was seen as sinfully decadent by local clergy. “God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks—his fingers,” one of the disdainful Venetians said. “Therefore it is an insult to him to substitute artificial metal forks for them when eating.” When the bride died of the plague a few years later, Saint Peter Damian opined that it was God’s punishment for her hateful vanity.
Remember what Pat Robertson of the 700 Club and former Presidential candidate had to say after the bombing of NY on 9/11.
"We have insulted God" with legal abortion and restrictions on religion in public places. "Then we say 'why does this happen?' Well, why it's happening is that God Almighty is lifting his protection from us."
Some say that Love makes the world go round. Why is it that religion so often relies on hate?
Crowds celebrate vote by New York state lawmakers to allow same-sex marriage. http://www.newslook.com/...
NY Senate Backs Gay Marriage
New York becomes the sixth state to say "I do" to same-sex marriage. http://www.newslook.com/...
