It should come as no surprise that the cancel culture mob was out in full force just prior to many Americans gathering around the table to give thanks for the blessings enjoyed over the last year.
After all, any holiday or observance that promotes the celebration of this great nation and its exceptional beginnings must be erased. It will be difficult to convince the current and future generations to embrace socialism as long as history teaches us the wonderful benefits of freedom. So Thanksgiving needs to go.
What better way for the left-wing radicals to disparage turkey day and cause people to have disdain for it than label it, you guessed it, racist.
Regressives have done just that.
Just a few days ago Fox News reported that several American universities were participating in a webinar entitled “The Thanksgiving Dilemma: Reevaluating Our Annual Celebration.” The event description said “The myth of Thanksgiving is powerful and ubiquitous” and noted that beginning in the 70s, “…Indigenous protesters believed Thanksgiving should be rededicated as a National Day of Mourning,” and wondered, “Should Americans reconsider Thanksgiving…” as well.
On November 20, MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross, host of The Cross Connection, welcomed a friend of the show Gyasi Ross on to share an essay detailing his thoughts about Thanksgiving. Ross said, “The mythology of Thanksgiving closely mirrors the mythology of America,” and believes the only thing the early settlers brought was “genocide and violence,” and claims “that genocide and violence [are] still on the menu.”
As just one more example, a petition was recently launched at change.org with the hopes of convincing The Wall Street Journal to cancel their annual Thanksgiving editorials that have run every year since 1961. The author of the petition, which has garnered more than 50,000 signatures, wrote, “Every year for Thanksgiving, the Wall Street Journal features a passage from a pilgrim detailing what colonists perceived when they arrived in the 'New World.' The passage is full of disdain and racism towards indigenous people, and it’s time to stop publishing it.”
Fortunately, I believe most have ignored the lunacy of the Left, have eaten their turkey and sweet potato pie, and will continue to acknowledge that we live in the greatest nation on earth and enjoy abundant blessings.
Regardless, I want to offer a reminder to us as believers that being thankful is not a concept that originated with the first Thanksgiving celebration.
The command to reflect on and acknowledge what God has done with a heart of thanksgiving is found multiple times throughout Scripture.
In fact, as early as the book of Leviticus where we read about various kinds of sacrificial offerings, we read about a peace offering given as an expression of thanksgiving.
Leviticus 7:12-13(KJV), “If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer [for] his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.”
Though the passage in Leviticus may be a bit more obscure and unfamiliar to many, God’s Word is replete with verses concerning gratitude that most believers will instantly recognize.
James tells us in James 1:17 (KJV), “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
With that in mind, I want to offer a few familiar passages with the hopes of turning our gratefulness toward God this Thanksgiving season.
Psalm 107:1 (KJV), “O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.”
Psalm 100:4 (KJV), “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name.”
Psalm 69:30 (KJV), “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
Psalm 9:1 (KJV), “I will praise [thee], O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”
Psalm 107:8-9 (KJV), “Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
Hebrews 13:15 (KJV), “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV), “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV), “But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is no question this list could continue and fill multiple pages, as the instructions to praise and thank God are numerous, and the reasons to do so are even greater.
I’m reminded of the hymn "Count Your Blessings," written by Johnson Oatman in 1897.
Part of the first verse reminds us to “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
Then part of the third verse reminds us to “Count your many blessings, money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.”
I don’t think the Leftists will be successful in their attempts to cancel or reimagine Thanksgiving.
But even if they could, I leave you with this: Though we should be grateful and ever mindful of what the Pilgrims did 400 years ago, the source of our thankfulness does not originate with their success. The source of our thankfulness lies with what Jesus Christ did for us 2,000 years ago at Calvary.
His sacrificial death on our behalf will never be canceled, and that is something we should be eternally thankful for.
