I never intended to start a twitter war when I wished everyone happiness, but noted that I personally couldn't find it in my heart to celebrate Thanksgiving. I wrote this on Thursday but decided to let everyone's food digest before posting it, because this is not about one holiday, it's about support for every individual's journey inside to the place where all answers reside. Many of these are either covered up completely or they hover just below the surface. Because we often are unable to tap into some of these truths, instead we make decisions based on the actions of the masses, rather than our own heart. I personally don't celebrate Thanksgiving because I don't cherish the invasion, killing, enslavement and impoverishment of indigenous Americans, and the ritual annual slaughter of millions of innocent animals at the alter of our great nation's founding, and the madness of "Black Friday" that our founders, both political and spiritual, would have detested.
As an act of kindness and friendship, in the beautiful New England autumn of 1621, members of the Wampanoag tribe, who for thousands of years had inhabited the land around Plymouth, Massachusetts, offered a thanksgiving feast to the newly arrived Pilgrims who had come to "settle" the Americas. It was a bond that quickly developed as the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims tools of agriculture which enabled them to survive in their new found homeland. Unfortunately, history would not remember this friendship well, and the suffering of our native people is a deep scar our country has yet to heal. For the tribes who were "lucky" enough to survive the massacres, killings and hard dirt reservations we have placed them on, I write this piece for you.
We must remember that although the convenience of a national day of Thanksgiving gives us the freedom to come together, relying on convenience is never the answer. We have to make it convenient on a daily basis to check our consciousness and give thanks not just on the third Thursday of every November, but on everyday. We have to be constantly awake and aware of our history and make decisions based on an acute, enlightened awareness of reality. The Buddha reminds us not to follow the masses but instead to check deep inside ourselves and see if what our teachers tell us is true. Christ turned over the tables in the Jerusalem Temple that included burnt offerings that were desecrated by commercialism and hypocrisy.
Slaughtering innocent animals for a communion that was a false homecoming is no way to celebrate our common heritage as spiritual beings who share this earth with other deeply important beings, be they human or animal. More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished, yet over 70 percent of the U.S. grain harvest and 80 percent of its corn harvest is fed to farmed animals. The grain consumed by animals could feed 800 million hungry people, according to Cornell University research. This is why I am proud supporter of PETA and the work that they do.
Nor is the "Black Friday" orgy of consumerism anything close to resembling what our austere fathers, who understood better than future generations the perils, as the Buddha saw it, of being attached to physical things.
As we overpaid for our groceries to get the "free" turkey, gave "thanks" after stuffing ourselves with too much food and then lined up outside of the super-stores at 2am to get the "good deals," we somehow pushed aside the real answers we have been seeking in our collective journey towards happiness. We somehow pushed aside the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans since 2001. We somehow pushed aside the 9 billion suffering farm animals that cause more harm to global warming than all of our factories, cars and trucks combined. We somehow pushed aside the death of Haitians from cholera, Africans from malaria and Cambodians from drowning. We no longer can afford to push these harsh truths aside, as our world becomes more connected everyday, we must stand together not with just our countrymen and women, but citizens from all countries.
I hope that this inspires us to not only give "thanks" during these times, but also remember what others have lost.
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Bruce Friedrich: An Advent Reflection on God and Animal Cruelty
I was not there to know what actually occurred and don't think any of the rest of us here were there either. While it's true about "those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it," it's also true that all history the world over is frought with inaccuracies, lies, falsehoods and bias. So it must be taken with a grain of salt. I am of German descent but the Gestapo doesn't make me ashamed of my German family. I am white and I am not ashamed of how I got here. I agree that much of history is terrible. But it's not my fault. I am only responsible for my part and what happens while I am here so enough with the blame game from all these whiney op-eds. Celbrate what you want to, for the reasons you want to, in the way you want to. If you don't want to then don't. But don't preach ii to everyone else.
And in this case, the Indians? They're not responsible for what their ancestors did either. Only for what occurs on their own hand. They owe us nothing. We owe them nothing. Except to be decent in our lifetimes.
Thanksgiving has come to be a big happy celebration often with giving little thought to the idea of giving Thanksgiving for our blessings, even one little thought while watching football and stuffing our faces.
At our table it goes around the table to share a short thought about what we each are thankful for.
Nothing hokey or too flip. It gives an example for kids to follow at their own family tables when they have kids.
Blessings, all!
It's simply a day to see family we only get to see once a year, enjoy some yummy food (many of us are vegans so we skip the turkey), and think about and be thankful for the many blessings in our lives.
As a family, we are all of us involved in our own ways with volunteerism, activism, work in our communities both close and far from home - on a daily basis.
I like Thanksgiving for giving thanks - not because of it's sketchy origins.
I see it as a day of appreciation and to reflect on what we have. Our blessing sez it all~
The Spirit of Thanksgiving
O Generous Spirit
We thank you for food, and remember the hungry
We thank you for shelter, and remember the homeless
We thank you for health, and remember the sick
We thank you for friends and remember the friendless
We thank you for plenty, and remember those wanting
We thank you for freedom and remember those enslaved
We thank you for Life, and remember those who have passed on
May these remembranc es stir us to service
May your gifts to us be shared with other
Amen””
without the turkey, of course.
1.) Americans are different than the rest of the world. Our birth was unique. A combination of Adventurism, Exploration, Challenge, Courage, Spirituality, Hope, Greed, Investment, Imperialism, Conquest and Success.
Did the Colonials EVENTUALLY change their perspective of native tribes people over years to believe they were the enemy ? To be feared and confronted ? Yes. But for a brief moment in time, neither competing culture were at war. The tribes people against their better judgement against their instincts shared food production and food with their eventual enemies to save them from a certain death.
Together with or without war they forged a nation whose basic tenants are founded on Justice, Courage and it's People's efforts. No other nation existed at that time dare take on such a radical view of a new world.
We pause in our daily struggles to be the best people we can be and endure the hardships life burdens us with to remember, who we should be thankful for and why.
To ignore the tradition of giving thanks around a large table of food with family and friends is no more than denouncing America.
We don't always get it right, we're not the most righteous nation but had we not been successful in tailoring this land to European Law and Justice most would be conquered by the Spanish or the Russians. So be thankful. Things change.
Well said. F&F.
A vow of poverty is one most could not live up to; do not hate the monetarily rich, hate the greedy tendency -- which may be associated with the rich -- but not necessarily so. Besides, in a world of money you need money to get things done.
To be thankful every moment is the call, but it is also a difficult walk, for most find selfishness at some intersection of pity and regret. One day does not a thankful person make, nor does a single day bring peace on earth and goodwill towards all people -- the other three hundred and sixty four.
If you take a watered down approach to solving a problem then be not surprised when that same problem continues to manifest right along with any progress to be acknowledged. If the past horror does not matter then neither does the past glory. Let the record be stricken of all and let us start anew, or, shall we take the radical step of true healing of heart, mind, and nation?
The ritual of love is not love.