War
Date: November 22, 2007 | Author: Jon BlumenfeldCategory: Religion/Faith, Skepticism | Comments: 8 » |
We are at war, and we have been for a long time. It’s not just the war on terror – oh, no. There’s the war on poverty. The war on drugs. As skeptics, we’re clearly on one side of the great ‘culture war.’ There are wars on everything, from tooth decay to heart disease. For the last few years, Bill O’Reilly has been ranting and raving about ‘the war on Christmas.’ Now, Michelle Malkin informs us, there is a war on Thanksgiving (http://michellemalkin.com/2007/11/13/the-war-on-thanksgiving).
It seems that the Seattle public school system is worried that glorifying Thanksgiving may be causing hurt feelings among native Americans, and teachers ought to try harder to be even-handed, or something. As laughable as that sounds, it provides perfect fodder for Malkin and her ilk to feed their anti-secular frenzy machine.
According to these culture warriors, we need to acknowledge the religious – and specifically Christian – origin of Thanksgiving. Check this article on slate.com (http://www.slate.com/id/2178076/) to see how cheesy these claims really are, but that’s not what I really want to talk about.
I want to talk about how secularists, skeptics, atheists, non-theists, pastafarians, and religious people of all stripes can and should all be thankful for their lives, families, and even, if they like, for the enlightenment-inspired liberalism of the countries they live in, if they do. Let me point out that by liberalism I don’t mean left-wing politics, I mean the political philosphy of the modern world that has given rise to liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, whigs, know-nothings, liberal democrats, etc, etc.
Moreover, I want to say that there IS a culture war, and we should not shirk our responsibilities for fighting the good fight. Michelle Malkin wants more Christianity in the public square, with acknowledgements about the supposed Christian origins of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Declaration of Independence. Okay, I’ll concede that Christmas has some Christian origins, even if it was stolen from pagan winter solstice celebrations, but we have so much outward display of Christmas – why does it need to be on the lawn of the town hall, too? Why should Thanksgiving be Christian?
The answer is intimidation by a faction of culture warriors who may or may not even care very much about Christianity. What they care about is power, and they will use any weapon they can lay their hands on to get it. They use religion as a smokescreen to give themselves the power to define morality, to be the arbiters of right and wrong, to tell you and me what to think and how to think it.
Its too easy for us to say that a little religion doesn’t matter. Christmas displays are pretty and fun to look at. Don’t be Scrooge, join in the fun! Well, you know what? I’m tired of conceding ground in this battle. I’m tired of hearing my kids sing Christmas songs year after year after year in the public school ‘winter’ pageants. Throwing in a Hannukah song or two does NOT make it better, it makes it worse. I don’t want my town to have a Christmas tree, a nativity scene, or a Hanukkah bush. If there’s no municipal display, will that really shut down Christmas? It’s in every store, on every street, and practically every house. The government just does NOT need to get involved, even if the courts say that Christmas has become a secular holiday. I’m not buying it.
It is the separation of church and state that has made the United States a great country, and weakening the separation weakens the whole country. So give thanks – you don’t need to give them to anyone in particular, just be thankful. And remember – there’s a war on, and our side needs every soldier.
8 Responses to “War”
By Tressa on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
I am happily giving thanks for Ness/SGU.
By Muero on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
While I would greatly disagree with Malkin when it comes to religion, there was not one word about religion in her “The war on Thanksgiving” post, and I don’t see anything obviously wrong with her argument. She never mentioned making Thanksgiving a Christian event. She quotes a Native American, and his (and her) basic position is that we shouldn’t emphasize to 6 year-olds that the Wampanoag were fearful during the original 1621 feast or that settlers eventually committed atrocities against Native Americans. The spirit of Thanksgiving is a positive one, and because it is not a religious holiday, I have no problem celebrating it in schools. We should not cover up what happened between the natives and settlers all those years ago, but making little children feel guilty during Thanksgiving doesn’t do any good either.
By imnotbusyatall on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Last night at the family dinner I did not participate in the “grace”. Being an extremely Catholic family, my parents were confused. They asked me why I didn’t thank god for the good food and safety of my family. I told them (very respectfully) that I will thank them for the food until I can’t speak, but god had nothing to do with the good food.
Thanksgiving should be interesting…
By able-x on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
The problem is that for most people Thanksgiving has long since lost it’s religious connotations, and is rather a day to gather with the family and give thanks to whoever you want for the chance to be with them, since we’re so often apart. Why should we make it a political issue at all. The school system is absolutely wrong to freak out about it.
As for Xmas, I’m an atheist myself, but I don’t see anything wrong with saying merry christmas, or schools having christmas plays, or nativity scene for that matter. The fact of the matter is, these are parts of our cultural heritage, whether you are religous or not. I don’t feel like I’m being attacked everytime someone has a holiday, because the fact is that atheists are in the minority.
The fact that so many push our MINORITY view on the MAJORITY, makes little sense. It simply shows to others a lack of respect for them, when we constantly complain about a lack of respect to us.
Who are we to say “No you can’t have Xmas in this town. Not Yours.”
And how does it effect you if they do, seriously? The “seperation of church and state” was part of a guarantee of Freedom OF Religion, not necessarily Freedom FROM Religion.
By able-x on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Also, Happy Thanksgiving..now take the rest of the day off with the family
By DLC on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
I see nothing wrong with having winter holidays, or with giving thanks one day a year — even if it’s only giving thanks to your friends and people you respect for being who they are and doing what they do. So, Thanks to all at the SGU for being who they are, and doing what they do.
By Jon Blumenfeld on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
A couple of points:
1. The ‘Christian Thanksgiving’ may not have been in the Malkin post I linked to, but that is the gist of what the Malkins and O’Reillys of the world are saying in other places.
2. Who is saying ‘you can’t have Christmas in our town?’ Christmas is everywhere. Every home (almost), every store, every radio station, on TV… I have no problem with any of that. My question is, why does the government have to participate? This is the tyranny of the majority in a nutshell. ‘We know the government isn’t supposed to get involved, but if you don’t like it, tough. We’re bigger than you are.’ I am not pushing my MINORITY view on anyone. Get if off the lawn of the municipal building.
3. As to the ‘Freedom OF religion’ rather than ‘Freedom FROM religion,’ I find this old canard appalling. I damn well do feel entitled to freedom FROM religion when it is the government getting involved. It does effect me, because I believe that it shows how our government and our culture are being hijacked by people with a power agenda – and they’re pushing it right into my face. Check out what kind of judges get appointed, investigate how fundamentalism permeates (for example) the Air Force Academy and the rest of the military, and then tell me that it doesn’t affect me.
Finally, the point is that Thanksgiving NEVER HAD religious connotations, despite Abraham Lincoln’s overtly Christian sentiment about it. We don’t need to put the religion back into an event that never had it, please.
Finally finally, I love Thanksgiving. I think we should all be thankful. I’m certainly not attacking this – or any other – holiday. I love holidays! I grew up on ‘The Year Without a Santa Clause’ and ‘The Grinch.’ I’ll be lighting candles with my family on Hanukkah, and I enjoy Christmas decorations and the whole bit. I just think its bad for our society to get the gov’t involved – and I think it erodes something that is essential to our country’s greatness. That’s what I want to fight against.
By skepkid on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
At thanksgiving dinner my sister said that we should say grace,now my brother,dad and me are all atheist and she knows this. I just looked her dead in the eye and said “what family do you think you’re in?”