Meanwhile, for most post-moderns, American Indians are able to have carte blanche when it comes to portraying their ancestors as the pure, sinless, perfect bearers of love and peace, and the pilgrims as racist, imperialist, Nazi genocidal murderers. That the pilgrims actually established a peace treaty that lasted almost 50 years (not a bad record for a peace treaty), and should be used as an example of what could have, or should have, happened between the Indians and settlers is ignored. Nope. They were white, European, Christians and that's as guilty as it gets.
So we have a day that
But like everything else in our country now, it's not sex rights, abortion rights, or equality. It's money. Money, plain and simple, that drives us. And Walmart, Target, and any other consumerist juggernaut doesn't give one rip about families, traditions, meaning, nothing. They serve one god, and I'll let you guess which one it is. Those who take advantage of it for cheap prices? Welcome to the society you are building.
Dave, where did you get the idea that Catholics "sneer at Thanksgiving?" I have never seen anything remotely resembling sneering in my long life as a cradle Catholic. I love Thanksgiving, both for the opportunity to publicly acknowledge that God exists and is worthy of gratitude, as well as for the family togetherness.
ReplyDeleteExamples of sneering, please. -Rosemary
Hey Rosemary, thanks for stopping by. The first article I saw after I became Catholic was written by Marcus Grodi. Being a former Protestant minister, I thought he would take time to sing the praises of his Protestant heritage. Instead, he took the sort of post-Christian/secular critical approach of dismissing the whole Plymouth narrative as inconsequential. I thought then it might have been a convert thing, trying to show how Catholic we can be by kicking the dust off our shoes. But over the years, I've noticed a tendency of some Catholics for downplaying the Protestant/Puritan/Pilgrim aspect of the holiday. I have no doubt that most Catholics lift a drumstick and quaff a glass of pumpkin juice with their loved ones while giving thanks to God. But I've been taken by the number of times I've read things reminiscent of the post-modern criticism of all things Christian, simply because of the puritan/protestant nature of the Holiday. To me, it's all part and parcel of the whole Thanksgiving package, and one as a Catholic I'm still happy to celebrate. Maybe instead of many, I can change it to some.
ReplyDeleteRosemary is correct. If only some Catholics do as you say, it hardly justifies the word 'many'. And one example from a Protestant convert does not make a good case.
ReplyDeleteTLong, thanks for stopping by. That's why I changed it to 'some'. Marcus' article was just the first I thought of. Truth be told, it's something I've seen several times through the years around Thanksgiving. I get Catholics not wanting to be puritans or pilgrims, I just find it odd when some can't focus on the good there, but tend to cozy up with the more anti-Christian take of the post-Christian secularists.
ReplyDeleteWhen it all comes down to it. The holiday is based on an event that took place between "pilgrims" and "Indians". The pilgrims were Christian. They were doing something that was so very hard. They came, many died, and yet the country did eventually come into being.
ReplyDeleteWe have them to thank for that. Their sacrifices, their hopes and dreams.
So Thank You Pilgrims for being so willing to sacrifice so much so that we can all live in a country that allows us to have a discussion like this.