November 19, 2006

Thanksgiving = happy and innocent?

No need to apologize for Thanksgiving mythsNo American holiday better symbolizes our national character than Thanksgiving. While the Fourth of July celebrates America's proud spirit of independence, democracy and patriotism, Thanksgiving is a spiritual holiday commemorating gratefulness for our prosperity, freedom and collective thankfulness to a beneficent God.

"Thanksgiving is one of the most innocent and happiest of American traditions," Hodgson writes. "There is absolutely no harm in that, but it is a prime example of what historians have come to call 'the invention of tradition.' "

1 comment:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Interresting that a few other nations in the world also celebrate the American 'tradition' of Thanksgiving, including Turkey where the main meal has 'the American bird' as its main course. No word available if those other countries also share such celebrations and traditions with their own oppressed minorities...
All Best
Russ Bates