Is Thanksgiving a Religious Holiday?
By Tom Barrett
Thanksgiving is a national holiday. But long before it was recognized as such by President Lincoln, Americans understood clearly that it was a special time for a Christian nation to set aside time to thank their Heavenly Father for His many blessings.
103 Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower on the shores of Cape Cod in November, 1620. 51 of them died that first terrible winter. Yet even in the face of such great loss, they set aside a day for prayer and Thanksgiving after their first harvest. Although it was not recognized as such at the time, this was the beginning of the yearly Thanksgiving celebration.
Over the years Americans celebrated Thanksgiving informally without benefit of any governmental proclamation. After all, God's children have never needed the approval of government to offer thanks to Him.
In 1817 the State of New York adopted Thanksgiving as an official holiday. Many other states followed suit, until in 1863 Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of Thanksgiving
Since then, every President has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation for the fourth Thursday in November. These proclamations, even when uttered by the most immoral of presidents, always mention gratitude to God. This is because they know that most Americans still acknowledge that God is the source of every good thing we receive.
If you would like to know what God thinks about all this, look at I Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you." In Philippians 4:6 the Apostle Paul says, "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
But Paul also says, "In the last days people will be ungrateful." (2 Timothy 3:1). We see a lot of that these days, don't we? As a nation, we have been blessed with abundance unknown in many parts of this world. In fact, the poorest American would be considered wealthy in many nations. Yet many refuse to even acknowledge the God Who has blessed them.
So, is Thanksgiving a religious holiday or a national holiday? In many places it is simply another opportunity for a long weekend and a chance to get together with family. In millions of homes this week people gorged themselves with delicious food and watched sports. No one said a blessing over the food that God had provided. No one took a few moments to share the things for which they should have been grateful. In these homes, they didn't even understand Who it was they should be grateful to. For these people, it was just another holiday.
In other homes, it was a religious holiday, as it has been from its inception. The family members and guests honored the Lord. They thanked him for the food he had provided. Many took time for each family member to share something for which they felt especially grateful. These homes were blessed. I feel sorry for those which missed this experience.
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION
President Abraham Lincoln, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.
To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.
Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
Some Presidential Proclamations to note:
THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION (Excerpt)
President Andrew Jackson, 1867
"Let us remember that He has covered our land with greatly needed and very abundant harvests; that He has caused industry to prosper, not only in our fields, but also in our workshops, in our mines, and in our forests. He has permitted us to multiply ships upon our lakes and rivers and upon the high seas, and at the same time to extend our iron roads to far into the secluded places of the continent. He has inclined our hearts to turn away from domestic contentions and commotions and to walk more and more in the ancient ways of loyalty, conciliation, and brotherly love."
Thanksgiving Proclamations
THANKSGIVING DAY 1863
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
...In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union...
...I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THANKSGIVING DAY 1898
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
...The skies have been for a time darkened by the cloud of war, but as we were compelled to take up the sword in the cause of humanity we are permitted to rejoice that the conflict has been of brief duration and the losses we have had to mourn, though grievous and important, have been so few, considering the great results accomplished, as to inspire us with gratitude and praise to the Lord of Hosts...
WILLIAM McKINLEY
THANKSGIVING 1917
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
It has long been the honored custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. That custom we can follow now even in the midst of the tragedy of a world shaken by war and immeasurable disaster, in the midst of sorrow and great peril, because even amidst the darkness that has gathered about us we can see the great blessings God has bestowed upon us, blessings that are better than mere peace of mind and prosperity of enterprise.
WOODROW WILSON
THANKSGIVING DAY, 1943
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
God’s help to us has been great in this year of march towards world-wide liberty. In brotherhood with warriors of other United Nations our gallant men have won victories, have freed our homes from fear, have made tyranny tremble, and have laid the foundation for freedom of life in a world which will be free. Our forges and hearths and mills have wrought well; and our weapons have not failed. Our farmers, Victory gardeners, and crop volunteers have gathered and stored a heavy harvest in the barns and bins and cellars. Our total food production for the year is the greatest in the annals of our country...
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
THANKSGIVING DAY, 1953
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
As a Nation much blessed, we feel impelled at harvest time to follow the tradition handed down by our Pilgrim fathers of pausing from our labors for one day to render thanks to Almighty God for His bounties. Now that the year is drawing to a close, once again it is fitting that we incline our thoughts to His mercies and offer to Him our special prayers of gratitude... Especially are we grateful this year for the truce in battle-weary Korea, which gives to anxious men and women throughout the world the hope that there may now be an enduring peace.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THANKSGIVING DAY, 1967
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
...Over the years, we have made Thanksgiving a unique national occasion. Thanking God for His goodness, we thank Him as well for the promise and achievement of America. Our reasons for gratitude are almost without number.... Much as we are grateful for these material and spiritual blessings, we are conscious, in this year, of special sorrows and disappointments. We are engaged in a painful conflict in Asia, which was not of our choosing, and in which we are involved in fidelity to a sacred promise to help a nation which has been the victim of aggression. We are proud of the spirit of our men who are risking their lives on Asian soil. We pray that their sacrifice will be redeemed in an honorable peace and the restoration of a land long torn by war...
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
THANKSGIVING DAY, 1991
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
...As we continue the Thanksgiving tradition, a tradition cherished by every generation of Americans, we reflect in a special way on the blessings of the past year. When this Nation and its coalition partners took up arms in a last-resort effort to repel aggression in the Persian Gulf, we were spared the terrible consequences of a long and protracted struggle. Indeed, the millions of people who prayed for a quick end to the fighting saw those prayers answered with a swiftness and certainty that exceeded all expectations. During the past year, we have also witnessed the demise of communism and welcomed millions of courageous people into the community of free nations.
GEORGE BUSH
THANKSGIVING DAY, 2003
By the President of the United States : a Proclamation
....America is a land of abundance, prosperity, and hope. We must never take for granted the things that make our country great: a firm foundation of freedom, justice, and equality; a belief in democracy and the rule of law; and our fundamental rights to gather, speak, and worship freely.
These liberties do not come without cost. Throughout history, many have sacrificed to preserve our freedoms and to defend peace around the world. Today, the brave men and women of our military continue this noble tradition. These heroes and their loved ones have the gratitude of our Nation.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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