On Sep 5, 5:42 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
So if some mechanics have had a particularly tough time on an aircraft and
have a hankering for goat curry, a quick sacrifice on the tarmac wouldn't
surprise me one bit. Our driver when we lived there sacrificed a goat to
our Mercedes once a year.

It's always surprising to me that there are still people in the world
who believe that killing an animal will help...anything, outside of
hunger.


I believe it is standard practice to eat the goats after they have
been sacrificed.

I wonder what they think is holding the airplane up, so high in the
sky?

I was reading the September issue of National Geographic where a
college professor in Pakistan (trained in nuclear technology at MIT)
attempted to explain to *graduate* students the forces behind the
Kashmir earthquake. Hands went up all over the room: "You are wrong,
professor. It was the will of Allah." This is modern science as it is
taught in most of the world. Earthquakes are not caused by moving
tectonic plates; they are allowed by Allah to punish the wicked.

Why wouldn't you expect people to sacrifice goats to ensure that the
maintenance was good? We still hit ships with bottles of champagne. In
America, there are thousands of astrologers for every astronomer. I
would like to think we are better or more enlightened than some of the
darker corners of the world, but if we are, it ain't by much.

Of course, this is all written by a guy who sincerely believes that
Jesus Christ appeared to the American Indians 2000 years ago... I am
well aware that people make fun of my religious beliefs, too. That is
fine with me; I am well aware of how ridiculous they seem. That said,
I am not inclined to make fun others' religious beliefs -- until those
beliefs start to interfere with my right to worship as I please and my
right to gain enlightenment through scientific investigation.