Is Thanksgiving A Christian (Or Theists') Holiday?

[arwalden]

Or is it simply an American holiday? Must one be giving-thanks to a supreme being in order to properly observe Thanksgiving?

-- Allen (just into it for all the food and visiting)

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I think it is what I make of it...It's just me being thankful...not to

any higher being...just reflecting on what is right and good in my life.

[thom1102]

2. I don't think that you need to actually "give thanks" to a deity...

but I think that at thanksgiving time, we should all recognize the things in our life that we are thankful for. I wish it was a worldwide holiday.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Isn't it about thanking the Native Americans...

...for telling English settlers they could use turkeys as food and therefore saving them from starvation? Or am I completely off my rocker?

[amazona]

6. that's what I thought

Wasn't there a story about how Squanto taught the Pilgrims to fertilize with fish-heads or something so their squash would grow? Squash is a New World plant, and the European settlers didn't know it was food or how to grow it. Turkeys are New World only also but I suspect anyone could recognize a turkey was food on the hoof without all that much assistance. Oh, and corn. Our corn is New World, and can be a bit tricky to grow if you're not used to it.

Or is the whole story a complete invention? I heard elsewhere that squashes including pumpkins actually came from Peru. In that case, seems unlikely the Native peoples would have been raising them in the Northeast.

I'm thankful for Pumpkin Pie but don't know who to thank!

I learned so many tall tales in grammar school -- we were probably the last generation to be taught straight-faced that George Washington cut down the cherry tree -- that I don't know what's true and what isn't true.

[Maple]

4. Europe always had

Harvest festivals. So apparently did the First Nations... native Americans.

Canada's was last month.

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. The first one most certainly was a Christian one,

but a Christian to which non-Christian pagans were invited, so let the rightwingers "We're a Christian nation" bullshit fall it where it will.

It was the Pilgrims giving thanks to Almighty God for a year of survival and the Providence which brought them to this new land that they might be a beacon on the hill, etc. etc. etc.

Over the years, definitely secularized, as is appropos IMO, to be an "in-general" giving of thanks to whoever your God might be, or if you don't have one, a day to appreciate whatever it is we have and be thankful that, Rightwing nutcases aside who are trying to destroy the country, we still live in a free land.

[cosmicdot]

7. cold weather, poor growing seasons, a little scurvy ...

... neighbors dropping like flies ...

along comes a buffet ...

Thank YOU!

[jobycom]

8. As I understand it, it's a Native American holiday we stole

The way I've heard the story, the whole first thanksgiving feast was a tradition of the native Americans the Pilgrims met. The "indians" invited the Pilgrims to the feast, not the other way. In the mid to late 1800s, as Christians and rabid American patriots were rewriting history to create our founders' myths, they turned the story.

This was the same era that gave us the myths of our "Christian" forefathers, of George Washington and the cherry tree, of Columbus as a hero who conquered the fear of the Earth being flat rather than a child raping slave merchant who had been told by other sailors that there was a continent out there, and who decided to exploit it. Most of our mainstream ideas of our "history" come from that era, not from the events themselves.

[AntiCoup2K4]

9. Historically, Pilgrims were considered religious people

...who left England because their beliefs were in conflict with the Anglican church. So, by implication, they were probably thanking God for surviving the horrible winter, as well as thanking their Native neighbors who helped them out.

Of course a lot of really bad shit was done to the Natives after that, a lot of it by people who claimed to be "Christians", so that kinda kills the whole official story as far as I'm concerned.

I don't boycott it like I do Columbus Day, because.... Hell, I like the food. But I just condsider it a day to be thankful for whatever you feel like, and leave the guys from the 1600's out of it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Why leave them?

Turn it into "Native American Appreciation Day".

[SmileyBoy]

20. No, that's what you turn Columbus Day into.

I don't understand how a lot of people will boycott Thanksgiving out of anger towards the slaughter of native Americans, but will completely ignore Columbus Day in that regard. It's like they're boycoting the wrong holiday. Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are completely different in that case. Columbus Day is a day that advocates a man who initiated the genocide of Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere, and Thanksgiving is a general day to give thanks, at least according to the official US government definition.

At least I live in North Dakota, where Columbus Day is not observed in any way except as a day off for federal employees. Schools, state offices and everything else don't observe it. State employees and everyone else works on that day.

[cade]

11. for a different view check here

http://www.wintercount.org/archives/texts/tnxgivhs.web

[flamingyouth]

12. In our house we're just thankful, period

My husband is an agnostic and I'm pagan, so I do feel thankful to the Goddess but I don't push it on him or on anyone else. He's also Canadian, so I think more than anything, he's just grateful that he doesn't have to work on a Thursday & Friday in Thanksgiving! LOL

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - I've had great times with family, but some of our best holidays have been when we have had people over who couldn't go home for the day. Even if we barely knew them, we always found an instant connection over food. And since I love to cook for people, I'm grateful that I can do that.

[Cheswick2.0]

13. I am sure it is perfectly fine to thank the random chemical reaction

that caused the universe. It's more an american holiday than religious I think.

[Snow]

14. It's a harvest festival....

just about any culture that has fall harvests and winter has harvest feastivals (unintentional typo that looks appropriate, so I'll leave it). Prime example from my experience - Korea has a harvest festival on the 15th of the 8th month, lunar calendar - harvest full moon. Involves visiting the old folks and lots of eating. Sound familiar?

[Blue_Chill]

15. Feel free to thanks the big bang if you wish

As for me I don't care, I just want some frickin turkey.

[Kamika]

16. It's a christian created holiday but isn't based on religion

The pilgrims were christians but theres nothing saying jews or muslims or whatever can't celebrate it.

It's definetly an American tradition though

[SOteric]

17. Thanksgiving is not a Christian Holiday

in spite of the fact that some Christians were the early participants, not all Christians were.

Think of it in the global perspective: Do All Christians in every country celebrate Thanksgiving? No, they do not. Do all Americans celebrate Thanksgiving? Yeah, they pretty much do, even the transplants living in Europe or Asia...

Ergo, Thanksgiving is an American holiday, and some Christians and some American Indians were there at it's inception. Neither the Christians or the Indians lay claim to the holiday.

[Kamika]

19. your sig

It´s 'do or do not, there is no try'

[SOteric]

21. So what?

[BritishHuman]

24. Jedi toilet training

"Cry? Poo or poo not. There is no 'cry'."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Who cares where the gratitude is directed?

I just think it's important to recognize how fortunate we are to have anything on our plates and a roof over our heads let alone the sort of feast most of are accustomed to at Thanksgiving.

It's a time to think of how we can pass our good fortune along to those who aren't as lucky.

[opihimoimoi]

22. It was finally made an official Holiday by Congress in 1941

Not a religious Holiday.

A chance to be grateful for our many blessings. What can we think of to insure future Thanksgivings? Its Under FAMINE PREVENTION 101

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. The Pilgrims were ill-prepared

as were most of the European settlers. Many had never planted crops before, let alone hunted; and what little knowledge they carried with them was virtually useless in the New World. They were coming from a society which depended on butchers and bakers.

We, with our fast/convenience meals would do well to learn from their ignorance. Those accustomed to luxurious lifestyles will find themselves floundering in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster.