OPINION:
More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving reflects the American spirit. Unfortunately, the day’s significance is lost in a sea of giblet gravy, Black Friday sales and gridiron contests.
The Fourth of July celebrates our independence. Veterans Day and Memorial Day honor those who served our country in our armed forces. Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays recognize the unique contributions of these great men who helped shape our republic.
Thanksgiving is more than just dry history about people who dressed in black, landed on a rock and hunted turkeys. It affirms our religious roots and the beginnings of our national identity.
The Pilgrims, who had the first Thanksgiving in 1621, were among the most pious of the American colonists. Few were more Bible-literate. They followed the commandment in Deuteronomy 26:2-3, where the Jews were told to make an offering to God from the fruits of their first harvest.
The Pilgrims had a lot for which to be thankful. They endured a perilous 10-week ocean voyage, escaped the tyranny of the English king and his church and survived a New England winter.
Throughout our history, presidents declared national days of thanksgiving, often during crises. Washington did so during the Revolutionary War, and Lincoln did so during the Civil War.
On Dec. 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. There was a time when even a liberal Democrat could acknowledge our dependence on God.
The most disturbing trend in our society is the decline of religion. In 2001, 42% of Americans said they attended religious services weekly, according to Gallup. By 2011, that number had fallen to 38%. Today, it’s 30%. The loss of religion affects everything from fertility rates to crime rates.
Our civilization was founded on a belief in God. It’s what binds together a diverse people.
But powerful forces in our society are intent on eliminating any connection between American identity and God.
The secular assault started when school prayer was banned in the 1960s. Since then, it’s gotten progressively more bizarre.
A high school football coach in Bremerton, Washington, was fired for kneeling to pray on the 50-yard line after games. The Supreme Court ordered his reinstatement.
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that a Louisiana law requiring posting the Ten Commandments in public schools is a violation of the mythical separation of church and state.
Under this interpretation of the First Amendment, posting the Declaration of Independence — which holds that rights are God-given — is also unconstitutional.
The Decalogue challenges the established religion of public education — the cult of reproductive rights, transgenderism, globalism and the green agenda. The two codes are mutually exclusive.
The other theme of Thanksgiving is liberty.
The Mayflower Compact was the first agreement of its kind to establish representative government on this continent. Massachusetts became the cradle of the American Revolution. The fuse that was lit in Plymouth exploded in Lexington and Concord 155 years later.
The truths that we held self-evident late in the 18th century were first dimly glimpsed in the early 17th century.
Along with the war on faith, there’s an assault on the republican government. Those who demand the rights of Americans — including fair elections and trial before an impartial judge — are labeled insurrectionists. Something called Christian nationalism is said to pose a growing threat to democracy.
Hostility to Thanksgiving isn’t a reaction to the treatment of Indigenous peoples. The Wampanoag tribe — which helped the Pilgrims to survive — shared in the first Thanksgiving meal. Rather, disdain for the Pilgrims is a revolt against America’s heritage.
It’s spearheaded by a variation of Marxism which has come to dominate our culture. The creed focuses not on economics but debunking our history and institutions — everything that makes America exceptional.
The theme of Thanksgiving is the unity of faith and freedom. In the words of the 19th-century hymn “America,” aka “My Country ’Tis of Thee” — “Our father’s God to thee, author of liberty.”
The Pilgrims came here to secure the freedom to practice their faith.
We’ve come a long way from wooden sailing ships, the blunderbuss and the Geneva Bible. But the cause is the same, and the war rages as fiercely today as it did over 400 years ago.
The Pilgrims left England to keep the elite of their day from forcing their beliefs on them. Now, we’re fighting to keep today’s secular elite from forcing its dogma on us.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.