Several of the Biblical holidays have a giving thanks to God emphasis for a successful harvest. Jewish antecedents. Hallowe’en is a blend of paganism and All Hallows (All Saints) Eve. A church holiday in some churches. How can anyone celebrate Thanksgiving without giving thanks? And how give thanks, if not to God?
It’s secular enough that until this thread it never occurred to me that it might not be considered a secular holiday. It’s a feast day where the family gets together and stuffs itself.
To your family, to good fortune, to nothing in particular.
No, thanksgiving is not a religious holiday.
Thanksgiving, unlike Easter and, yes, Christmas, is completely secular.
I was taught throughout elementary school (early 1970’s) that the colonists were giving thanks (by holding a banquet – to which most of the provisions were brought by the indigenous ‘guests’) to the natives who had helped them survive their first few months in the New World.
And during those same years, I was taught that Easter was about the Spring equinox, winter fading away, flora and fauna blooming, the symbolism of eggs and rabbits relating to reproduction, etcetera – all very pagan. [Still religious, but decidedly not Christian.] It wasn’t until much later that some of the kids started talking about some guy getting tortured, and I never understood why that was cause for celebration of any sort.
–G!
Hah, yes. I don’t think I realized that Easter was a religious holiday until after I became an atheist. Religion?! No, it’s about bunnies, chocolate and colored eggs!