"As no truth is more clearly taught in the Volume of Inspiration, nor any more fully demonstrated by the experience of all ages, than that a deep sense and a due acknowledgment of the governing providence of a Supreme Being and of the accountableness of men to Him as the searcher of hearts and righteous distributer of rewards and punishments are conducive equally to the happiness and rectitude of individuals and to the well-being of communities...For these reasons I have thought proper to recommend, and I do hereby recommend accordingly, that Thursday, the 25th day of April next, be observed throughout the United States of America as a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that the citizens on that day abstain as far as may be from their secular occupations, devote the time to the sacred duties of religion in public and in private; that they call to mind our numerous offenses against the Most High God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence, implore His pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions, and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to His righteous requisitions in time to come; that He would interpose to arrest the progress of that impiety and licentiousness in principle and practice so offensive to Himself and so ruinous to mankind; that He would make us deeply sensible that 'righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people'...And I do also recommend that with these acts of humiliation, penitence, and prayer, fervent thanksgiving to the Author of All Good be united for the countless favors which He is still continuing to the people of the United States, and which render their condition as a nation eminently happy when compared with the lot of others." (John Adams)
"In this year of liberation, which has seen so many millions freed from tyrannical rule, it is fitting that we give thanks with special fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies we have received individually and as a nation and for the blessings He has restored, through the victories of our arms and those of our allies, to His children in other lands....To the end that we may bear more earnest witness to our gratitude to Almighty God, I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. Let every man of every creed go to his own version of the Scriptures for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved." (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
"Although the time and date of the first American thanksgiving observance may be uncertain, there is no question but that this treasured custom derives from our Judeo-Christian heritage. 'Unto Thee, O God, do we give thanks,' the Psalmist sang, praising God not only for the 'wondrous works' of His creation, but for loving guidance and deliverance from dangers....Let us thank God for our families, friends, and neighbors, and for the joy of this very festival we celebrate in His name." (Ronald Reagan)
For a large collection of thanksgiving proclamations from the Continental Congress and American presidents down to our own time, see here. See, also, here.
And let us not forget the first official Thanksgiving Proclamation, whereby our founding fathers gave thanks to God for helping them slaughter the natives:
ReplyDeleteThe Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive dispensations in and by the present Warr with the Heathen Natives of this land, . . . It certainly bespeaks our positive Thankfulness, when our Enemies are in any measure disappointed or destroyed . . . that the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him.
Enchanted Naturalist,
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to explain what your point is and how you justify it within your naturalistic worldview.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteYour post is about historic Christian Thanksgiving proclamations, is it not? I simply highlighted one you chose not to--the very first of its kind, in fact. Why would this require any explanation or justification? What did I add that was not in keeping with the theme of your post?
It's not clear to me why Jason has any more obligation to rubberstamp everything said in this or that Congressional/Presidential Thanksgiving prayer than a Latino like Louis has to rubberstamp everything said and done by the Conquistadors, when they slaughtered the natives.
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't expect you to feel obliged to explore multiple sides of a story. It wouldn't be in keeping with the egocentrism and dogmatism you've exhibited in our previous interactions.
Neither am I surprised to see you draw such an irrational analogy. What's your theory about the connection between the Conquistadors' Latin descent and their actions?
ENCHANTED NATURALIST SAID:
ReplyDeleteSteve,
"I wouldn't expect you to feel obliged to explore multiple sides of a story."
I assume you're alluding to the story of Spanish imperialism.
"It wouldn't be in keeping with the egocentrism and dogmatism you've exhibited in our previous interactions."
I prefer my divinely revealed dogmatism to your blindly programmed evolutionary dogmatism.
"Neither am I surprised to see you draw such an irrational analogy."
I realize that you were never going to break any IQ records, but even by your dumbed down standards the comparison shouldn't be that hard to track. I'm merely addressing you on your own terms–given your irrational response to Jason. Try to follow the bouncing ball.
"What's your theory about the connection between the Conquistadors' Latin descent and their actions?"
What's your theory of the connection between the Pilgrims and Jason's actions?
Enchanted Naturalist wrote:
ReplyDelete“Your post is about historic Christian Thanksgiving proclamations, is it not?”
No, it’s about the holiday and some themes related to it, as the title of my post and the labels at the end of it suggest. The proclamations I cited are addressing larger themes.
You write:
“I simply highlighted one you chose not to--the very first of its kind, in fact.”
We have holidays honoring veterans, Martin Luther King, etc., even though some of the individuals and groups associated with those holidays have done things we disagree with. Do you go to blogs on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July and reply to positive posts about the military by citing examples of military actions you disagree with? Maybe you do, but the relevance of that sort of response would depend on details that you haven’t provided in this thread. If somebody quoting Martin Luther King on racial issues isn’t denying that he was immoral in other areas of his life, for example, then what’s the relevance of responding by citing some of that immoral behavior?
Telling us that you “highlighted one I chose not to” doesn’t tell us why you highlighted that one in particular and why you wanted to highlight something that I didn’t. I’m still waiting for you to explain your reasoning and to justify it within a naturalistic framework.
I don’t know much about the pilgrim era of American history. It’s not something I’ve studied much. I suspect that there’s a lot more to what happened than “slaughtering the natives”. But even if we assume the worst about the settlers and assume the best about the natives, I don’t see how your response has much relevance to my post. Especially coming from an atheist. Your response to Steve implies further moral judgments on your part, and I don’t know what you’re basing those on.
Boy, you guys sure do get your panties in a bunch over the meaningless comments of a blindly programmed, amoral automaton.
ReplyDeleteThe post was entitled "Christian Thanksgiving." I simply pointed out what Christians were thankful for in the very first proclamation of its kind: the destruction of the Native Americans. I don't fault Jason for a Christian proclamation written 334 years ago, but I do fault Christianity to an extent for encouraging the sentiments expressed in the proclamation and helping fuel the destruction of the American Indians.
Steve, to what extent should we fault Spanish blood for the Inquisition? What role do you presume the Latino bloodline played in the Conquistadors' actions? Help my diminutive intellect comprehend your analogy, I pray thee.
ENCHANTED NATURALIST SAID:
ReplyDelete"I don't fault Jason for a Christian proclamation written 334 years ago, but I do fault Christianity to an extent for encouraging the sentiments expressed in the proclamation and helping fuel the destruction of the American Indians."
i) What do you mean by Christianity? Do you mean you fault some dead Christians? Or do you mean you fault Christian theology? If the former, how's that relevant to us? If the latter, what's the connection?
ii) Do you also fault American Indians for destroying each other? Remember, many of these were warrior cultures who slaughtered each other.
"Steve, to what extent should we fault Spanish blood for the Inquisition?"
To what extent should you fault Christianity for what some Pilgrims said?
Colonial American attitudes towards the Indians were complex and varied. Consider Solomon Stoddard's, "Question Whether God is Not Angry with the Country for Doing so Little Towards the Conversion of the Indians?"
ReplyDeleteAnother example is Cotton Mather's India Christiana.
We could also mention the labors of men like Thomas Mayhew, John Eliot, Daniel Brainerd, Eleazar Wheelock, &c.
In addition to what Steve said, I wonder if we don't have to keep in mind Old World animosities between the predominantly Roman Catholic French (not to mention Spanish) and predominantly Protestant English in light of the later development of the Seven Years' War aka the French and Indian War? That is, I don't know whether many Native Americans sided with the French prior to or after conflict with the English was already a given, but, if prior, then it might be a significant point here. Of course, I'm no colonial or revolutionary historian so I could be way off.
ReplyDeleteEnchanted Naturalist wrote:
ReplyDelete"Boy, you guys sure do get your panties in a bunch over the meaningless comments of a blindly programmed, amoral automaton."
We don't consider you a "blindly programmed, amoral automaton". We're not responsible for being consistent with your worldview. You are.
You still haven't demonstrated that what the settlers did to the natives was wrong, how you justify that conclusion within your own worldview, and how you connect that alleged error of the settlers to me.
An emailer told me, earlier today, that there's a thanksgiving proclamation earlier than the one you cited, despite your claim that yours was the first. And that earlier one refers to attacks initiated by the natives. See the October 11, 1675 proclamation at the second web site I linked above, the one here. As I said earlier, I don't know much about the pilgrim era of American history. I don't know how the proclamation I just cited compares to others, how accurate it is, etc. But you need to defend your initial claim in this thread rather than just assuming that you're correct.