Stop the Madness of Un-Thanksgiving

Tradition, Family, & Property Blog ^ | November 28, 2014 | John Horvat II

[Steelfish]

Stop the Madness of Un-Thanksgiving

John Horvat II 26 November

As we gear up for the Thanksgiving holidays, many are preparing to engage in a strange new ritual that is crowding out the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie. The ritual, of course, is the extension of Black Friday shopping into Thanksgiving Day. It is a practice so shocking that we might as well create a new holiday—un-Thanksgiving—since nothing could be more contrary to the intention of the real holiday than its present evolution.

This year, media will again report on frenzied shoppers mobbing retail stores in search of super bargains. People will camp out in front of giant box stores for hours on end to get the jump on their fellow bargain hunters. Indeed, there is the extreme case of some fanatical California shoppers camping out at Best Buy a full twenty-two days ahead of the un-Thanksgiving stampede.

Undoubtedly, such shoppers will find bargains. And retailers will also be making lots of money. But the new un-holiday is not about bargains. It’s about joining in the frenzy. It’s about the thrill of entering into a culture of unrestraint. ”Joining in the frenzy” has been with us for a long time.

It is a manifestation of a deeper problem that has long plagued our culture. There is what might be called a restless spirit of frenetic intemperance inside modern economy that helps destroy limits, break down traditional institutions (like Thanksgiving) and encourage instant gratification.

Un-Thanksgiving just takes this experience to new depths. In this new buying binge, we see more clearly the terrifying consequences of our extreme individualism that leads people to enter, to paraphrase Hobbes, into a veritable “war of every shopper against every shopper.”

We sense the frustrating burden of materialism that compels shoppers to buy the latest and...

[MeshugeMikey]

let us not forget the attempt to DEWHITIFY Black Friday...inspired by revrunt sharpton....

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

“...since nothing could be more contrary to the intention of the real holiday than its present evolution.”

From the time of FDR, thanksgiving has been an entirely mercenary affair. But in practical terms, it can be thought of as the end of the harvest season, with Halloween as its beginning.

[envisio]

Give it up.
Money talks. Money makes things happen. If someplace closes, someplace else will open to snatch that market.

[grania]

Mygosh, in how many families has Thanksgiving become a meal hurried up to be finished in halftime?

[knarf]

Life in the 50's was slow.
We made turkey pictures out of the outline drawing of our hands and they were taped on the 'fridge at least until Christmas.
We drew pilgrims and pilgrimettes and they were scotch taped to the school windows along with left over pumpkins from hallowe'en.

The air was crisp and clean and about half the time there had been some snow the day before

My father smelled like old spice and I never knew what Ma had on but it was mama pretty
The house smelled delicious and we spent an entire day with each other

[montag813]

Our family ate an awesome dinner and then watched two great football games and talked until 2am. I don’t care what other families do. It’s their loss

[discostu]

I find it funny that so many people think stores opening on Thanksgiving is something new. It’s why the Macy Parade exists folks (and used to be in a lot more places than NYC), to bring Santa and the parade fans INTO the store to start shopping. One of the oldest traditions of Thanksgiving IS shopping.

[VermiciousKnid]

Actually, Macy’s was NEVER open on Thanksgiving Day itself, parade or no parade. The first time it opened to the public on Thanksgiving was last year. In 2012, it opened at midnight on Black Friday.

However, Macy’s staff was hard at work. Some would work the parade, and MANY others were busy transforming the flagship store in NYC into the winter wonderland made famous in “Miracle on 34th Street.”

But the store itself was never opened. Here’s an article about this very subject (sorry about it being from CNBC): http://www.cnbc.com/id/102085903

Regards,

[Faith Presses On]

Thank you for posting this.

One thing that stands out to me when I see coverage on the trend of stores opening on Thanksgiving, is that on the side of the shoppers, at least, it seems like it may be driven more by women than men. I saw on TV some women interviewed about it, and they sounded like Eve, justifying their shopping because they saw “the good” in it. That “sin of Eve” isn’t limited to women, but as a woman myself I do wonder if we’re more prone to it.

“...instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus...” Titus 2:12-13

- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Self-Denial#sthash.4FKRvgyx.dpuf

53 Bible quotes about self-denial