The Fourth of July is about one group NOT dominating another group.
Our temple is in a part of town with a lot of Iranians and for the last few years our Purimspiel has referred to the “Shushans” rather than the “Persians” to avoid accidentally giving offense to our neighbors.
how soon we forget about the Loyalists :mad:
Well, however much you think Thanksgiving is or isn’t about the conquest of North America–I say it isn’t, and not functionally about history at all–I don’t see how having a similar gathering and meal on a different day around the same time could change that.
Goddamnit, Anne, stop being smarter than me!
I don’t really feel as strongly as the options you’ve given. But I would probably say: I’m celebrating on Thursday, with or without anyone else.
Mmmm… Tofurkey Day!
This cannot stand.
I’d fight it. Have to reschedule because of a conflict? Fine, I’ll work with you. Making everyone rearrange around your disapproval when you’re not hosting? No go. Of course, Causehead has nothing to do with it. Standing my ground would be to hopefully show Causehead’s fiance, whom I presumably give a crap about, that this kind of bullshit is exactly what they’re in for, forever, if they go through with marrying someone who would insist upon such a thing. Now, maybe fiance fine with that, but if they’re not they should at least realize what they’re in for.
Is Causehead your future sister-in-law? If so, I’m really excited to see further threads about her 
i like this one!
perhaps causehead could just fly in for leftover friday? peanut butter and jelly in the shape of turkey sandwiches?
at one time or another one of the kids in the family will go through what we call the “won’t someone think/care about squanto?” phase. it usually hits around 5th or 6th grade. followed by the “my family is lame” phase.
i’m sorry that you have a late bloomer joining the family, or is it a midlife crisis?
Don’t give in.
As was pointed out above, danegeld … she is a poopyhead about this, who knows what else she is going to try and pressure people into in subsequent years? Besides, they aren’t married yet, he may get tired of poopyhead and dump her.
That being said, we normally celebrate T-day on saturday … mrAru kept having duty on pretty much every holiday of the year no matter which damned command he was assigned to at the time :smack: [though honestly that never particularly bothered me, He always switched with someone with kids for Christmas and Easter]
Most Native Americans east of the Mississippi supported the British in the American Revolution. The British had tried to restrict settlement by colonists to areas east of the Appalachians (though that was probably intended more to keep their defense costs down, than to benefit the Native Americans).
**Achtung! Achtung! **
I was mistaken. Causehead’s objection to Thursday is not because of native american historopolitical events, its because… get this…
It’s a day/feast/celebration/etc. that revolves around the killing and eating of an animal.
fuck. me.
How does eating the turkey the next day address this?
Plenty of vegetarians have Thanksgiving, on the usual day and in the usual way, excluding actual turkeys.
… So you can kill an animal and celebrate that another day, and that’s A-OK?*
That’s bullshit. Then again, I’m also an ovo-lacto vegetarian who makes the best Thanksgiving turkey out of any of her in-laws, so apparently I’m a heathen or something to militant vegans, so I doubt that matters. Tell your family that you aren’t moving the holiday just because someone’s upset that turkeys get eaten.
*Wait until you find out that no, having turkey will not be OK.
Down the road, there might also be an uncomfortable cost to being walked over.
I think Northern Piper has it right. Don’t get anywhere near a discussion of the history of Thanksgiving, or veganism, or anything else. Simply say the same to her as to the others: We’re having a family get-together, you’re invited, hope you can make it - if not, sorry.
No. fuck. him. If he doesn’t like it, he can not participate.
Seriously, if someone tried to take turkey away from me on Thanksgiving, well, shit would go down.
As is practically every American family/holiday meal. I’m vegetarian and I think she’s being a dick.
I’d follow the advice above - advise that you’ll still be having the meal, you’re happy to make dietary accommodations for her (supply something vegan to eat, or a clean place for her to prepare something herself) - but if she doesn’t want to join, you’ll miss her very much. I reckon you’ll be pandering to her over a whole lot of things in the future if you let this go now.
So Cadfael nailed it, then. 
Yeah, the answer to that one is “so sorry you won’t be able to make it”.
Just cut it off before it starts, trust me. Otherwise, you’ll be sorry!
(I would be willing to make sure there’s plenty for a vegan to eat - but no one I know would dream of trying to impose their dietary choices on every one else. And they’d be laughed at if they did.)
I’d say his polite options are to decline the invite, or to come and eat side dishes (in which case you, as a good host, should make sure there are vegetarian or vegan side dishes available, and make it clear to him which dishes are OK for him). I’ve done this at Thanksgiving at my parents’ house (they’re not Jewish, and had a non-kosher turkey). He should not try to draw attention to what he is and isn’t eating, and neither should anybody else. He could even bring a vegetarian or vegan dish for other people to try.
Of course, neither of those options lets him control other people, or makes him the center of attention. I suspect at least one of those two is what he really wants. If he can’t stand having a family get-together where he isn’t the center of attention and doesn’t get to control what other people do, fuck him. He’s a dick and a spoiled brat.
Passover is much more about killing and eating an animal than Thanksgiving is. We commemorate the sacrifice of a lamb in the Jewish Temple by having something (most people use a bone, some vegetarians use a beet or yam) on our seder plate. There’s no ritual like that involved in most people’s Thanksgiving. Would he object to a Passover seder, even if there were no meat involved, because of that symbol of the sacrificial lamb?