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Archive: November 19, 2006 - November 25, 2006
It's Not For Me To Say
Whom to thank? To answer that goes to the heart of a free people in a free land, to the freedom of every human being to ask the deepest questions...Or not to ask.
By William Tully | November 24, 2006; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (20)
Thanksgiving Without A Giver?
The secular vision of thanksgiving feels empty and false. If there is no Creator and the universe is a cosmic accident, whom do we thank?
By R. Albert Mohler Jr. | November 24, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (106)
"Thanks-giving" Is Religious Act
Saying "thank you"...is being religious. Somehow.
By Martin Marty | November 24, 2006; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (24)
Thanksgiving's Basic Nature Is Religious
About the position of non-believers vis-à-vis Thanksgiving: it really depends on what kind of non-believers they are.
By Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz | November 23, 2006; 5:00 PM ET | Comments (57)
The View from Britain
I do not know how easy it will be to maintain the national, all-embracing character of Thanksgiving in the US, but I very much hope it will
By Julia Neuberger | November 23, 2006; 3:00 PM ET | Comments (448)
Interfaith Thanksgiving Services Made Jews Feel Welcome
The ritual of sitting at a holiday family meal at home fits comfortably with Jewish practices of such meals during the High Holidays and, of course, the Passover Seder.
By David Saperstein | November 23, 2006; 2:00 PM ET | Comments (10)
Gratitude Is A Powerful Motivator
There is something poignant about setting aside a time primarily to express unconditional thanks.
By Michael Otterson | November 23, 2006; 12:41 PM ET | Comments (4)
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Thanksgiving is a national civic festival when all Americans celebrate the triumph of theory over practice, word over deed, and promise over fulfillment.
By John Dominic Crossan | November 23, 2006; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (6)
A Thanksgiving Dream Come True
Why shouldn't nonbelievers partake of the turkey and...give thanks for the diversity of this life?
By Salman Ahmad | November 23, 2006; 10:22 AM ET | Comments (1039)
Thanksgiving As An Environmental Holiday
Let’s take our cue from the Wampanoag and John Calvin and Abraham Lincoln and make Thanksgiving THE environmental holiday
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | November 23, 2006; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
Thanks to Commenters
Since we're at the end of the first week of this new religion blog, I want to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to this thread....
By Michael Otterson | November 22, 2006; 9:01 PM ET | Comments (93)
Thanksgiving A Tradition But Not An Obligation
On Thanksgiving we are asked to thank God but freedom includes the right not to thank Him.
By Cal Thomas | November 22, 2006; 9:00 PM ET | Comments (9)
The Consummate American Holiday
Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday: religious without being sectarian, with room for the nonreligious to simply pause and celebrate our common humanity.
By Jon Meacham | November 22, 2006; 7:17 PM ET | Comments (10)
Saying Grace
I am sitting here looking at a beautiful picture of my family. My husband and son, my parents, my brother and sister and her family. We are all smiling. We are clearly having a wonderful time. We are sitting at...
By Sally Quinn | November 22, 2006; 6:33 PM ET | Comments (31)
Reinterpreting and Redeeming Thanksgiving
My goodness. No, Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday! And of course, “non-believers” can celebrate it. Just yesterday on our God’s Politics blog, a Native American leader talked about how they can even find ways to celebrate Thanksgiving, despite the...
By Jim Wallis | November 22, 2006; 4:47 PM ET | Comments (0)
An All-American Equal Opportunity Holiday
There is no shortage of secular entities for a freethinker to thank
By Susan Jacoby | November 22, 2006; 4:45 PM ET | Comments (16)
Gratitude Leads To Happiness
The solution to...unhappiness...is a reawakening in the human heart of the idea of gratitude
By William J. Byron | November 22, 2006; 4:15 PM ET | Comments (6)
Pagans Are Thankful for Religious Freedom
This year I’m also thinking about the empty chairs, the families whose sons and daughters will not come home from Iraq, the hundreds of thousands of families in that land who are left bereaved, shattered, homeless.
By Starhawk | November 22, 2006; 4:00 PM ET | Comments (11)
Thank Goodness Not God on Thanksgiving
We nonbelievers have no difficulty with Thanksgiving; we just Eliminate the Middleman
By Daniel C. Dennett | November 22, 2006; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (252)
Thanksgiving: It's Source and Meaning?
In American history, Thanksgiving has been a “religious holiday” at least in the sense that most people have understood themselves to be thanking God for his blessings. This was true with Jamestown’s “Thanksgiving service” (Spring 1610) when the supply ships...
By Richard Land | November 22, 2006; 11:46 AM ET | Comments (2)
Reflection on Thanksgiving
Thankfulness belongs to our human emotional equipment
By Gardner Calvin Taylor | November 22, 2006; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (2)
Hunger in the land of plenty
I am haunted by one of the great prophets of Israel, Micah, who wrote long before the British came to these shores: “and what does the Lord require of you, oh human, but to do justice, love mercy and walk...
By Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon | November 22, 2006; 10:32 AM ET | Comments (0)
A Day to Give Thanks for Blessings on Our Nation
Is Thanksgiving a religious holiday? Most certainly!
By John Bryson Chane | November 22, 2006; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (776)
Remembering the Mayflower Compact
Thanksgiving Day is not a religious holiday, it is a quintessential American institution. It’s a fine mix of revisionist history, outright myths, civic ideals, and religious trappings. But Thanksgiving Day is a good day....
By Welton Gaddy | November 22, 2006; 10:27 AM ET | Comments (7)
More on Belief and Diversity
I’ve been meaning to respond to some of the comments on the first week’s question, but it’s been such a hectic few days that I’ve barely had time to read them. However, I want to say thanks to all those...
By Starhawk | November 21, 2006; 3:03 PM ET | Comments (5)
Questions To Answer Before A Conversation
What we need to ask is what pressures generated each tradition's claims to monopoly, against whom such claims were made, and what is at stake in making them.
By Elaine Pagels | November 20, 2006; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (93)
