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SO I was surfing on the 'Net tonite for something profound and suitable for an atheistic perspective on Thanksgiving. Did not find much, though some aspects of the traditional theistic Thanksgiving struck me as amusing "Oh Dear Lord, Thank You for our Material Excess while non-Christians in Africa and Asia are starving. Than you for all the opportunities to ship for more material goods to satisfy our desires and provide meaning for us in our lives etc etc" (Paraphrased from here http://livinglifewithoutanet.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/thanksgiving-what-it-means-for-this-atheist/ With add-ons)
So where does that leave us who are non-theists ? We do not need to Thank some non-existant deity for providing these material excesses for us. Perhaps we should think our employers who are paying us so that we can afford these things? Or should we think our college professors who taught us the things we use daily on our jobs? Something like Hi Professor so and so? This is large Cat from your Microbiology class, thank you again for inspiring me to pursue a degree and work in medicine...yes..that's right...it is thanksgiving..OK just giving thanks where thanks is due....
OK SO I am Thankful, Not to any deity, or religion, but maybe to life in general for givving me talents and opportunities and enough intelligence to pursue them. Should I be thankful to a deity for providing food? NO, I bought that food. I worked hard to get the money to BUY that food. (I have also bought food for others on Thanksgiving, more on that later) Thank ME for sending in the food to others as I did. Or thank the food growers for growing the green beans we are eating and the wheat which is made into the flour we make for bread. Or thank the truck driver who delivered it.
Maybe it is not so much as Thankful, but satisfied. Or accepting. I accept that I do not need material goods to bring me happiness. I hope I am not so shallow that I would come across as such.
But Thankful? Maybe I should thank the wife, she works too makes very good money. Maybe thanks should go to her, without here, we would have no family.
Maybe I should think our nations deistic founding fathers, those who formed a nation for religious freedom, So I am not forced to bow dofwn to someone elses concept of a diety. Or be fined for celebrating some holiday I choose to celebrate, like they used to do in massachusetts......
Where does a deity fall into all of this? And where does having a Thankful Disposition require belief in, or gratitude towards, a deity?
My answer is Nowhere. Without a Deity, I clearly have appreciation and respect for those for whom have provided positive guidance and inspiration to me in my life. Thus, it cannot be said that Thanksgiving is for "Christians only". I am Thankful for my life. I am happy, content, accepting and pleased to ahve a day to spend eating , relaxing, playing games, watching football, drinking, or whatever I choose to do with my family. Maybe we will all go down and help serve meals to the homeless. That would be fine too. (Maybe when the kids get a little older) Or just relax and do nothing. After all, a thankful person has those choices.
Oh and THANKS to all of you for reading this and putting up with my occasional frequent rants here on CD Forums.
Same here....if anything, there has been a sociopolitical movement to reject the myth of pilgrims & Indians living in harmony.
In San Francisco, there is an American Indian powwow on Alcatraz Island every Thanksgiving morning.
I associate Thanksgiving with the good cheer of a family gathering.
Catching up with family members not seen in months, and enjoying the company of others that I see more often. Good food and a few beers. The ubiquitous football game(s).
I don't associate Thanksgiving with thanking the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity anymore than I associate it (or any other Thursday) with Thor.
I no longer associate any holiday with religion. Christmas is about being with friends and family, giving, and graciously receiving gifts not necessarily desired. I think back about being a little girl and storming into the living room on Christmas morning and seeing all the wrapped gifts, and watching It's A Wonderful Life for the 20th time. Easter is about hiding chocolate Easter eggs from kids, and/or adults who are young-at-heart.
One ca n be thankful without being externally thankful TO someone or something.
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