Thanksgiving

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Tomorrow is a day set aside in the U.S. for giving thanks. The Canadians have a day also, but it's a different day (figures) and I'm not really sure what it represents.
At any rate I have three questions:
1) Do other countries (we have many represented on this forum) have a similar day?
2) Despite the fact that it seems to be more of a day for turkey and football; is there too much of an underlying religious aspect to it (in America)?
3) Leaving aside the idea of God, should we even be thankful?

In regards to #3; seriously, why should I (or anyone) be thankful for taking advantage of their situation and/or opportunities in life and doing something with them? I mean if it's all just the "luck of the draw" I suppose we could be thankful to "random chance".

Me personally (and in keeping with the monthly topic) I think it's a conspiracy to take our minds off of how bad things really are.

Comments

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

I agree - it will be religious to the religious and not to the not. I do think some churches will have a Thanksgiving mass, but it's not one of the "big two" days that really pack them in (Christmas and Easter).

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

Thankfulness is a good antidote to hubris. People who take full personal credit for their achievements are ignorant, doomed and toxic.

[vnsplshr.livejournal.com]

This.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Interesting, when you are not being demogogic and when you preach (your sermons I've read) I find I agree with you at least 99% of the time :D

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, here I am being thankful for my hubris... crap I messed it up again.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Words of a sage.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

I don't care what anyone says, I love Thanksgiving.

Re: 2, I'd say that at this point Thanksgiving is effectively a secular holiday. How many people go to church on Thanksgiving? How many do anything more religious than saying grace before the big meal? I mean, I grew up in a religious family who observed Christmas in a more or less predominately religious fashion (presents were definitely not the focus, however much we kids wished otherwise!), but Thanksgiving? Nah, it was all about food, family, and football.

As for 3. I'd say, absolutely. I think fallen human nature leads us more often than not to be selfish and self-centered, and one's upbringing and personal values act as a counterweight to this. Giving thanks is a statement that, no, I am not in this life alone, and others have helped me along the way. It's not only good, it's a necessary part of being a civilized human being.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Canadian Thanksgiving is basically the same except for the date(in October) and though it lacks the feel-good 'Natives share feast with the white devils' narrative, still works out to be the same turkey-pumpkin pie sort of deal.

I've never experienced the holiday in either Canada or the U.S. having much in the way of religious overtones. Leaving aside the idea of God(which is how I roll anyway), I'm thankful for the usual things - family and/or friends who love me, having food to share, and this year, two excellent NFL matchups.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Thanks, #1 is the only one I really cared about, the rest was filler to justify a proper T_P post :D

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

should we even be thankful?

It's up to you if you want to be, I suppose. Thinking about the things you're thankful for can be a positive exercise. Instead of focusing on what's going wrong and what I don't have in life (which I do probably more often than I should), I try to think about what's good in my life, what's going well and what I do have. There's always bad and good, and reality isn't just with the bad, it's somewhere in the middle.

I think that Christmas (as we celebrate it today) is more likely to take our minds off of how bad things really are. Thanksgiving is no more of a conspiracy than, say, organized religion. (Have we done that one yet?)

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

1) Because Canadians have a northern climate, the harvest comes early, and therefore so does our Thanksgiving.

2) It is a thanking for a bountiful harvest. But since most folks eat food from overseas nowadays, I think the term "harvest" can be used metaphorically. I think most folks just harvest a nice christmas bonus.

3) As an affirmed, reaffirmed and confirmed atheist, I don't believe in fate either. We can be thankful to luck but also to good choices and hard work. I mean it's pretty lucky to be born "here" as opposed to "there". We made choices for better or worse but our choices were best (when viewed in certain light). And our hard work is self evident, even when it doesn't pay off.

Here is my favourite Thanksgiving Day prayer.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

I finally listened to this....you are kidding, right?

[kurtvonnegut.livejournal.com]

The only part of Thanksgiving I have a problem with is the warping of American history that often plays a role.

Other than that, it's great. It brings families and friends together. Who cares if it's manufactured, or if we don't *really* have anything to be thankful for? And even saying we don't have anything to be thankful for is so privileged. I just don't see anything fantastic about being overly cynical about it.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

But cyncism makes you cool, aware and not like the rest of the sheep!

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

I went to my in-laws church tonight and the pastor had a somewhat interesting message using Deuteronomy about how we don't live by bread alone.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

1. n/a
2. I don't think there's any underlying religious aspect to it.
3. It doesn't hurt.

I think it's a conspiracy to take our minds off of how bad things really are.

It's actually a conspiracy to sell turkeys and cranberries. Plus it's the source of tremendous social angst by forcing us to deal with our families that we're able to avoid the rest of the year.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

"it's the source of tremendous social angst by forcing us to deal with our families that we're able to avoid the rest of the year."

So much truth to this, in recent years (for me) this has been eased quite a bit by the acquisition of numerous grand-kids...unfortunately none of whom will be "there" this year....I'll need to take a book ;)

[kayjayuu.livejournal.com]

Recovery groups use gratitude lists all the time to take the focus off of the problem and onto the solution. It helps to consider all the good things you have, no matter how small those things may be, when all you can seem to see is the darker side of your life.

Those in recovery tend to be the kind of people who can get lost in what's wrong and slide even further down the inevitable path.

Being thankful is a good thing.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

We don't have Thanksgiving day here or in Netherlands, but curiously, there's a commemoration held each year in a small town near Leiden in NL, to note that many of the pilgrims who had moved to America came from that area. They commemorate the hospitality the pilgrims got in Leiden before they set to the New World. Anyway. Happy Thanksgiving!

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that, that is really cool. (I knew a bit about the time they spent in NL)
Thank you!

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

We have something like a thanks giving family day here in Bulgaria, but on a different day (I think in summer). We also have a forgiveness day, where people ask their close ones to forgive them if they have hurt them in the past. Also promises day, etc.

A nice word game here says something like "That we're loafers, that doesn't mean we don't have holidays!"

Delnik = weekday (as opposed to weekend day)
Bezdelnik = loafer
Praznik = holiday
Bez Delnik = without holidays

So, being a loafer doesn't mean you're without holidays! Har har har.

Dammit, we really have a lot of holidays here. A recent statistic put us on #2 in Europe after France in terms of numbers of off days. What can I say, we just love holidays!

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

1) Here in China, we're going to cook turkey and watch rebroadcasts of football... oh, that's not what you meant.

2) What is this false distinction between football and religion you are trying to draw?

3) Yes, of course, but I can't add anything to what the good pastor said.

I think Thanksgiving was a conspiracy to get the first Americans out to the mall for the start of the Christmas shopping season, setting the stage for our sell-out to capitalism and materialism. We all know the history around this event was completely falsified... just ask yourself, who benefits from Thanksgiving?

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

2) Football IS religion!!!

Well, it certainly isn't the turkey, not to mention the yams who hid underground, and cranberries trying to escape to the bogs.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I think it's a conspiracy to take our minds off of how bad things really are.

It is a way to give thanks to the American consumer by allowing them four continuous days to focus on what they do best.

[brockulfsen.livejournal.com]

1) Australia. Nothing that even comes close.

2) From the outside, the USA looks like a Theocracy

3) Not in the current US Economy.
Here in Australia we had Keating's Recession We [Had] To Have, and are doing OK.

[oportet.livejournal.com]

As far as politics and conspiracies go, today I'll hear shit crazier than we'll ever discuss here.

Bush blew up the towers and Obama's a Muslim Kenyan Spy - ha - that's old, undisputed news. The leftiest of the left, the rightiest of the right, add beer and who-knows-what medications - and I'll come back with a renewed appreciation for all of your opinions, even the ones that are wrong.

I'm thankful for Turkey - that shit is great - and I'll go on and throw in an advanced thanks for the Cowboys and Dolphins going under 45.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

I don't know man Turkey seems to be turning into some kind of Islamic Republic.

[ghoststrider.livejournal.com]

I'll be honest--I don't see the point of Thanksgiving. It's never been a really big thing for my family; I come home, my grandfather visits, and we have a Turkey dinner. Maybe it's different for others, but it's never been that big for me. (I would say the same thing about Easter, too.)

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Thanksgiving seems pretty straightforward. Black Friday is something else entirely. Do other countries have a holiday dedicated to shopping? Is this the most vulgar holiday in the world? Is trampling retail clerks taking things too far?
I admit I was intrigued by the call to Occupy Black Friday, though I think it won't amount to much. Skirmishing with riot cops is one thing; standing between a frenzied mob and the bargain bin is something else entirely.

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

While I doubt that there would be enough protesters to occupy "black friday" I'm thinking I would rather stand up to riot police.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

There was an article in our paper yesterday (from AP) that giving thanks is psychologically good for you. Not even about religion, jut about recognizing the positive things in your life even in negative times.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guOO5M6_mBQBomPhyrzmfmk90skg?docId=ee29570e16704b7f93dfe8e8a57db29a

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

1) I believe Canada does.


2) No. The actual holiday was in thanks for Gettysburg, the Vicksburg Campaign, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Pilgrims' "new-found Golgotha" they so gleefully celebrated with the guy whose hometown that was (I find the reality behind that delightfully Gothic horror-esque).

3) Ah, yes. If nothing else the USA has yet to have the shit hit the fan as badly as the 1960s for all the whining from all sides. And as far as the *1860s* from whence the holiday came....

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Strangely enough I knew all that :D
Altho it din't become an official yearly holiday til after that....not having your memory and being as how the paper I wrote on it was over 30 years ago... (altho tbh if I had looked it all up last week I prly wouldn't have remembered the details :D)

I will assume you took a few days off (hope they were enjoyable) since there was a lot of stuff I thought you would weigh in on. Now I will have to go back over a few posts and see what you stirred up ;)