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Give Thanks in a Real Way and Skip Presidential Decrees
Let's keep our eye on the ball, shall we? The real issue for many people isn't legislation about Thanksgiving, it's how we give thanks in hard times. I don't think any President should legislate about giving thanks to God, but we really do need a time set aside to think and to act on what it means to give thanks.
A national day set aside for giving thanks is very important. The roots of this fall tradition go very deep in human history, back to harvest festival rituals that are thousands of years old. Indeed, the more people are separated from the land and its fruits, the more we need this harvest remembrance. We need to remember the way in which the earth provides for the means to sustain life. We need to stop and give thanks for that bounty that returns again and again.
And we need to be clear that this bounty is not available to all, and to all in the same way. It is especially important in these hard times that we keep that point front and center.
At Thanksgiving, many communities and religious organizations give food to families who are in need. While that's a good thing to do, people are often hungry all year. If you want to give thanks in a long-term way this year, give a gift to Feeding America , the nation's largest domestic hunger relief charity. It is a network of more than 200 food banks and serves all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Feeding America works by securing and distributing more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products each year. It also supports 63,000 local charities that get the food directly to hungry Americans. There are Kids Cafes and Community Kitchens and even BackPack programs for kids.
My advice to any President would be, don't try to legislate prayer. Instead, use the occasion to call citizens to the crucial work of caring for each other in real ways.
Feed a hungry child? That's prayer-in-action.
By
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
|
November 24, 2008; 12:01 PM ET
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Posted by: alphadominance | November 25, 2008 11:44 AM
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Yes, this holiday is about saying thanks for this life and giving the fruits of our labor to friends and family. Celebrating it in a national way binds us together.
It's not about what we mean when we say god or no god...
Posted by: FRIENDENEMY | November 25, 2008 8:55 AM
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Feed a hungry child? That's prayer-in-action.
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Absolutely.
In addition to the organization mentioned in the column, many supermarkets also serve as donation points for local food banks.
You may not be able to write a check for a big donation to a national organization, but surely most of us an afford to buy an extra bag of rice and one of red beans, or a few extra cans of vegetables and drop them in the donation barrels. If everyone in the supermarket would buy just one or two extra items every time they fill their grocery lists, and donate them, the food banks would never have empty shelves.
Posted by: lepidopteryx | November 24, 2008 9:25 AM
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Yes, please spare us your personal religious convictions Mr. President. It is presumptuous to make references to a particular religion or even to god in general, as we have a constitutional right to freedom of religion, which means freedom from religion to those so inclined. People of other faiths and those without a faith are disenfranchised by the coddling of Christianity in America. Unfortunately so many are close-minded about this issue that I hardly expect anyone to be elected if not a Christian. We've just reached an amazing milestone in the election of Obama, by electing a minority, but if he had not been a vocal Christian I don't think he would have had a chance. Since beliefs are by definition, non-verifiable, we should not hold them against others, nor should we fight and anklebite about who's right in a contest of opinions that nobody will ever win. Let's just be tolerant of others and admit that nobody has the definitive answer and leave it where it belongs, in church, not state.
http://alphadominance.com