RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving?

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/26/2012 6:38:42 PM

fucktoyprincess

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I realize that historically, Thanksgiving was more closely associated with religion, but that is not how I grew up celebrating it, and it is not how anyone I know celebrates it either. I don't know of a single family in my circle of relatives and friends that attends special religious services on this day. Not one. (I'm not saying that some people don't do this, I'm just saying no one I know does). Most of the people I know usually invite anyone to their home to celebrate if they do not have special plans (i.e., independent of what their religious background, or lack thereof, is). To me, being thankful for what I have in my life does not actually translate into thanking a particular deity of any variety for that. I don't see acknowledging what I have to mean that I must, therefore, believe in god.

I don't deny the origins of this holiday as the OP, and others, have pointed out. But it is not tied to any one religion, and I would argue, has evolved over time, to not necessarily even be tied to any notion of god.

I am sure religious families pray to their respective gods on this holiday. In my family we usually go around the table and simply announce what we feel thankful/grateful for in our lives - each of us free to invoke god, or not, as we see fit.

Not being a believer has never caused any problem for me in celebrating this holiday. And certainly, no one has ever turned me away from a Thanksgiving celebration for not being a "believer". I mean this isn't like trying to participate in Eucharist at a church when one has not been baptized in that religion, or trying to sneak into a Hindu temple in India (where the inner sanctum is generally not accessible to non-Hindus).

However the holiday started, it has evolved into what I would consider a secular holiday that is centered around family and food.

And those who feel that atheists should not celebrate the holiday, well, perhaps they should look into their own hearts and think about what generosity of spirit means. It never ceases to amaze me that those who are most religious are often the least generous of spirit. I'm happy to continue celebrating this holiday in the secular way that I do. Those who feel this is some form of travesty are entitled to their opinion, but I'm not losing sleep over their attitudes.

< Message edited by fucktoyprincess -- 11/26/2012 6:39:10 PM >

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/26/2012 8:06:37 PM

TheHeretic

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quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: cordeliasub
Ah yes, I agree with you there. I am not an atheist, so I would be displaying my own ignorance to try to tell someone who is what is going on in their heads. Heck, I hate it when other Baptists try to tell me what is going on in MY head.....of course I did read Harry Potter, so maybe I am really a witch........lol

Rotfl did they actually tell you that?

Potterphobia is widespread in the evangelistic community, GotSteel. I'm married to a preacher's daughter and was warned twice to avoid the subject of the latest movie, the first time I attended the Thanksgiving dinner with her.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/26/2012 8:21:46 PM

Hillwilliam

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: cordeliasub
Ah yes, I agree with you there. I am not an atheist, so I would be displaying my own ignorance to try to tell someone who is what is going on in their heads. Heck, I hate it when other Baptists try to tell me what is going on in MY head.....of course I did read Harry Potter, so maybe I am really a witch........lol

Rotfl did they actually tell you that?

Potterphobia is widespread in the evangelistic community, GotSteel. I'm married to a preacher's daughter and was warned twice to avoid the subject of the latest movie, the first time I attended the Thanksgiving dinner with her.

I have a relative who is afflicted with "Potterphobia"

I just looked at her and said "Sooo, Good vs Evil...With tremendous effort and at great physical and mental cost good prevails in the end......and that's a bad thing?"

Bitch never liked me very much anyway.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/26/2012 10:05:06 PM

TheHeretic

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Well, I've been to enough of these things now that I know which uncles to avoid getting cornered by, and which cousins will show off the new addition to the garden.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 12:09:07 AM

Edwynn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

Now we know that atheists get their panties in a bunch over Christmas, but shouldn't a holiday established specifically to give thanks to the Divine bother them even more?

This is like asking if Libertarians should drive on roads paid for by the government, because roads are expressly ('specifically') socialist in nature, or if Republicans are hypocrites if they ever visit a public park, or ...

If Thanksgiving is 'specifically' and, to your warped mind, exclusively a Christian event, ignoring millenia of history in process of such claim, then we can easily likewise assert that almost every interstate highway should be named 'Karl Marx I-80,' or 'Karl Marx I-15.'

No shortage of answers as to why the country is going to hell in a hand basket, but thanks for yet another not-actually-needed further answer provided in this nihilistic utopia OP.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 11/27/2012 12:42:12 AM >

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 12:19:02 AM

metamorfosis

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Edwynn, that was a really good post.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 12:47:37 AM

Edwynn

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At your pleasure, Ma'am.

And yes, I remember gungadin, and if I recall, one whose input I always admired.

I am not here for express purpose of finding agreement, but rather for finding others who have thought things through in their own way.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 12:53:49 AM

meatcleaver

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Religion is outmoded irrationalism in a rational world.

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 1:39:14 AM

metamorfosis

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Edwynn
And yes, I remember gungadin, and if I recall, one whose input I always admired.

You called me a racist once, so no. However, moving on...

I thought of another example of a questionable activity. I've attended Midnight mass several times. The first year I went because my sister was performing (she plays viola). But after that my family and I just got in the habit of going. They're Mormon, and I'm atheist. We never took communion, of course, and I always assumed that there must be other non-Catholics there as well. But I can see how our presence might give offense.

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< Message edited by metamorfosis -- 11/27/2012 1:47:04 AM >

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RE: Should atheists participate in Thanksgiving? - 11/27/2012 5:35:48 AM

Edwynn

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Having grown up in that environment, in the SE US, where we had Blacks and Asians, Lumbee Indians, and a couple of Latinos, etc, in the mix (in the '60's), it's not as though 'other people,' of whatever sort, were a surprise worthy of mention, showing up in either Catholic school or Catholic Mass.

To my knowledge, Catholic schools never had as prerequisite that the child or her parents be Catholic, as in any event I knew that there were always at least a couple of classmates who were not, as did others.

But that mentions only to this region of the country.

I have since come to learn that not all regions of the country, or those in other countries, feel likewise.

If you felt uncomfortable or threatened, as you seem to have been, in that situation, I would hope that it was not due to any overt or even implicit indications from others at the Masses you have attended.

BTW, there are always some number of Catholics at a given Mass who do not partake of Communion, at least not every Mass, and for some few, almost never. And no small number of Masses I have attended had the Priest welcoming the guests and visitors, actually becoming a weekly welcome by the '70's.

You'll have to seek another gauge as to who are the 'outsiders' or otherwise.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 11/27/2012 6:33:01 AM >

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