Thanksgiving 2008

November 27, 2008, 7:32 am by dc-agape.

Thankfulness is one of those qualities that christian claim atheists do not have the capacity to feel.  I am sure that many atheists are looking at and posting what they are thankful for on this day.  Contrary to that opinion, we atheist have nearly all the same things to be thankful for as the christians.  In this post I will let you know some of the things that I am thankful for the most.

First, even though some of you may think this not worthy, I am truly thankful for the love of science that my parents, my brother, and Star Trek instilled in me at an early age.  Both of my parents believed that learning was important.  Even though this did not specify chemistry, this allowed me to explore all the aspects of school with some degree of interest.  Chemistry just happens to make sense to me, and yes to many of you that makes me a freak!  My only sibling is an older brother, and as older siblings do have either a positive or negative impact on the other siblings, my brother also influenced me.  If your old enough to remember not having cable (here in the US) or having only one television without a remote, you will know that only the strongest have power over what is on television.  Well it was my brother who exposed me to Star Trek, Dr Who, and Monty Python.  Even though MP does not contribute to my love of science, it may be responsible, in part, for my atheism.  Star Trek was, without a doubt, responsible for both my love of chemistry and my atheism.  So yes, I am thankful for both my family and for the love of chemistry that they gave to me (even if unknowingly).

Second, I am thankful for the 8 years I spent in Hawaii.  This is the place where I became an adult.  I learned that what I was taught as a child was colored by cultural influences.  In Hawaii, I was exposed for the first time to a blue state mentality and to the closest thing to a non-christian majority.  Until I was 18 I lived in the Bible Belt, so this was an eye-opening experience.  I began to see things from other peoples perceptive.  I also had the pleasure of not having to worry about what my family would think about what I was doing.  As a result, I learned who I was and I learned to accept who I was.  Family can be the biggest reason for any one not to learn this lesson.  And yes, Hawaii is beautiful, and I will always treasure the experiences of seeing Mother Nature at her best! 

Third, I am thankful for the friends that I have made in the last 7 years.  Three friends from Philadelphia have impacted my life more than many from other places.  Rarely, have I been able to keep in-touch with friends after moving away.  But these three friends have not only kept in touch I have visited them on a number of occasions since moving to Tennessee to get my PhD.  Barb had recently requested my presence as part of her wedding party, if that tells you what my relationship with her is like.  Josh is flying down from Philly to spend Thanksgiving with me here in Knoxville, which should give you some idea of our friendship.  And Lisa, well she’s the one responsible for me being here in the first place.  It was her that I made the promise to that if I could find a PhD program, which was related to my interests in chiral chromatographic purification of pharmaceuticals, I would get my PhD there.  Well, UTK is the not quite that but Prof Guiochon has allowed me to pursue that topic.  I am truly thankful for the friends that I have been able to keep over the years.  I am also thankful for those friends that I am making right now here at UTK, but I will leave that for another post.

Fourth, I am thankful for the opportunities that are available to us in this country and in this century.  Without both, I would not be getting my PhD in chemistry at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with Prof. Guiochon.  UTK has its problems, no doubt, but the opportunity to do the research of my choice with one of the top doctors in the field, is an overwhelming experience.  The cost of living here has got to be one of the best in the nation.  Working with Prof Guiochon in chromatography is indescribable (in later post I will get into this).  So yes, an atheist can be thankful for living in a country where we are the most hated minority.  But that is what makes living in the US something to be thankful for, we can live here, we can say what we want, and we only have to look over our shoulders in fear of the christian majority’s bigotry every once in a while.

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