November 24th, 2010

Thanksgiving and Atheism…

                Why are atheists and agnostics “thankful”? I suppose it sounds a bit flip but in all seriousness; “Thankfulness” is directional towards an object or person that is capable of bestowing things greater than I can manufacture. For example; I’m thankful to God, someone higher than me, for my family. I can’t be thankful for my wife, to my wife. She had no say in her existence, only in the type of existence she’s lived, and who she has chosen to live it with, marriage, friends, and other such things. Thus, at best she can only be the “target” of a portion of my thankfulness. And since I didn’t create or make her, I have no right to take credit for the rest of my thankfulness. So, as flawed as that logic may be, the question remains; if you don’t believe in God in any form, there’s no real purpose for the function or action of being thankful.

                I’m fairly certain that just about any and every atheist and/or agnostic will argue with me, and that’s not my point; I’m not interested in picking a fight. But as I understand the Bible, being thankful requires an object to which to be thankful – God; the author and finisher of my faith (according to the Apostle Paul), the Creator of the Universe, and someone bigger than me on such a scale I cannot fully comprehend. Remove the object of thankfulness (God), insert “me” as the creator of all that is good in my life, then from that point on isn’t Thanksgiving at its heart, reduced to nothing more than a fancy meal?

                Me? I believe in the God of the Bible and all that He claims – I see no logical reason not to. Therefore, Thanksgiving has deep and profound meaning to me because I can freely admit that all that is good in my life; my job, my family and friends, were put there by that very God. My prayer is that every reader will be likely convinced during this season. Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted: 1 year ago