Thanksgiving when there’s no god to thank


Today is a holiday that isn’t really a holy day. It was invented by the government after the Civil War as an attempt at unity and peacemaking. (It failed - as any look at history, or at the conversation around most Thanksgiving tables, can tell you - but it was a nice idea). It’s not a religious holiday like Christmas or Easter or Hannukah – no origin in any religion’s scripture, no mandate from anyone’s god to celebrate it. But still, baked right into the name of the day is the assumption that we’re giving thanks to someone or something for what we have. And in this country, “giving thanks” means giving thanks to a god (and specifically the Christian god as worshipped by white Americans). Less so than in Lincoln’s day, but still very much so.

 

But why do it that way? Why thank an invisible friend who clearly did jack shit to provide any of the things we have? Why not thank the people who ACTUALLY made it possible for us to have what we have?

Why not thank farmers (and all the undocumented immigrant workers who make it possible for us to have food cheaply) for our food?

Why not thank carpenters for the table the food is on?

Why not thank factory workers for the fridge that kept the food fresh and the appliances that turned raw ingredients into an edible and tasty meal?

Why not thank public utility workers for the electricity or gas that allowed us to cook the food and heat the house?

Why not thank the people at the table who labored for money to exchange for all these things, and who put in the work to prepare the food?

Why not thank the scientists who designed things like refrigeration and roads and factories and vehicles and modern agriculture that made it possible for people to have a turkey dinner with potatoes, wheat bread stuffing, green beans, yams, cranberry sauce, etc – at times of the year when those things aren’t available in nature, and in parts of the country where those ingredients don’t live in nature?

Why not thank the doctors and epidemiologists and virologists who developed, in record time, the vaccine that made it safe for us to gather today (assuming everyone at the table isn't a complete dumbass and therefore got the vaccine and booster)?

Why pretend we owe thanks to someone who doesn’t exist, rather than acknowledge the great debt of thanks we owe to everyone who DOES exist?

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