On Being Thankful for America at Thanksgiving

Articles by George Weigel

T his Thanksgiving, no one living in the United States should be anything but profoundly grateful for the privilege of living in this country. No one.

That’s not necessarily a popular sentiment today. The country is amidst one of its periodic spasms of self-flagellation, amplified by political hucksters and charlatans of right and left (nothing new) and by social media demagogy (something new and ominous). And no doubt there’s a lot to ponder, and repent of, in the American past and present. But that’s true of every human society and will be until the end of time. What is worth giving thanks for in America—what demands our gratitude and our prayers of thanksgiving—is that the United States has built-in resources of renewal, as it has shown time and time again. 

This Thanksgiving, think of the American story as an epic of ever-expanding inclusion: a country of flawed human beings that nonetheless strives, generation after generation, to give real effect to its birth certificate’s assertion that all human beings are created equal. Concretizing that credal affirmation has never been easy. Irish and German immigrants had to fight for inclusion, as, later, did the Italians, Jews, and Slavs. To vindicate human equality against the ancient practice of chattel slavery, Americans fought a civil war that cost three quarters of a million lives. Women were enfranchised by the Nineteenth Amendment, the great Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts of 1964 and 1965 were passed, and the physically handicapped were afforded easier access to public spaces by federal law. Each of our national achievements in widening the circle of common care and concern involved struggle. But inclusion won, time and again. And the victories helped create a society that few want to leave (including those who constantly decry it) but millions want to join. 

Sadly, there was one moment of drastic inversion in this historical process of expanding the boundaries of the American community of the commonly protected. That was the Supreme Court’s odious 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade , which summarily declared an entire class of human beings, the unborn, outside the circle of common care and concern. So we should pray, at Thanksgiving 2021, that the Supreme Court will consign Roe v. Wade to the dustbin of history next year when it decides Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Then, as over the past half-century since Roe , it will be our obligation to provide ever more effective service to women in crisis pregnancies and their unborn children. By doing so, we will demonstrate yet again that those who take seriously the right to life celebrated in the Declaration of Independence believe that All Lives Matter—and act on that belief, thereby expanding the circle of mutual protection in America…..

…And then there’s that paean to faith from Carousel :

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone.
You’ll never walk alone.

At Thanksgiving 2021, America should rediscover hope in its heart. Doing so is not fantasy, nor is it something unnatural to us as a people. A hopeful heart is a truly American heart. Because as the Declaration of Independence affirms, we never walk alone, but in the care of the God who gave us life and liberty at the same time.          

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Woke police have so captured higher education and corporate America that most people are now scared to speak their minds in the classroom and at work. And forget about a president mentioning the “Most High God” in a proclamation; that simply is no longer acceptable. The First Amendment has never been in greater danger.

Indeed, the entirety of the Bill of Rights is under attack as Democrats seek to undermine the very structure of our constitutional republic. Packing the court, musing over how to add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states, abusing executive authority to pass vaccine mandates, abandoning the rule of law to enable a mass illegal migration. We are teetering close to no longer being a country of laws.

This November, however, has ushered in a season of hope. The scales are falling from people’s eyes. Parents across the country are pushing back against the hateful lies told about our country in public schools. Majorities now say they want illegal migrants turned back at the border. Prosecutors who have refused to send criminals to jail are facing recall elections in the bluest of cities.

The public is awakening. People know there are still many reasons why we should be thankful to live in this glorious country. Focus on those reasons and have a wonderful holiday.

thenewstalkers

The other day I wrote an article with the question "Should Thanksgiving Be A Nationalistic Holiday"?   Of course some of the right wingers here were offended or otherwise dismissive of the question. "Thanksgiving is a day for family only", they say.

Completely unsurprisingly, someone seeds a Thanksgiving article with a nationalistic premise.

"Still Thankful For The Best Country On Earth"

"On Being Thankful For America At Thanksgiving"

Who da thunk it? lol. 

Are you embarrassed by the concept of giving thanks to God on Thanksgiving Day for the country that we live in? I am not.  The issue here is not nationalism but being grateful to God for an important thing we share here, our country.  

I dont think of God as caring about countries. 

He does!  History has shown that he has blessed and cursed, saved and destroyed nations based on their behaviors and actions as a people.  

I think you can be grateful for the place (and time) in which you were born. That doesn’t make it nationalism (not that nationalism is necessarily a bad thing).

I’m glad I was born in America. I feel blessed for it. There are other places I would happily live, but I can also think of many other situations I could have been born into that would have sucked by comparison. There is nothing wrong with being thankful for that.

I’m glad I was born in America. I feel blessed for it. There are other places I would happily live, but I can also think of many other situations I could have been born into that would have sucked by comparison. There is nothing wrong with being thankful for that.

That is really not what this seed is about and I think we both know that. 

Actually it is.  It’s the progressive left both secular and believer that seems to be embarrassed at expressions of love of country or gratefulness for it

That is really not what this seed is about and I think we both know that.

I said what I think on the topic. If you have a different point of view, or think you need to clarify your remarks, try expressing it instead of vague nonsense that impugns my character.

[deleted]

Comment 3.2.4 is the height of hypocrisy.  What a load of rank bullshit.  Disgusting.

Really?  Then what are you making it about?  

Actually it is exactly right and I stand by it, meant every word of it, and make no apologies whatsoever for saying it.  

Actually it was so fucking idiotic it was an insult to everyone's intelligence.  

you have a different point of view, or think you need to clarify your remarks, try expressing it instead of vague nonsense that impugns my character.

I too am interested in his view point about America and Americans expressing pride in our country or gratitude to God for our blessings we have here….

That those who share a secular progressive political outlook and belief system that what you do about what I said only validates it all the more.  America, what an exceptional country!  

Comment 3.2.10 is typical of the babbling incoherency that passes for "discourse" among Trumpist reactionary extremists.

Love of America and being thankful for living in this exceptional nation is anathema to the secular progressive left elites.  

Trumpist-Fascists HATE America and seek to destroy it with every breath they take.

Brandonista communists and their supporters try to destroy everything America stands for and hate all that we are as an exceptional nation.  

It wasn't Trump supporters that said that they wanted to fundementally change America

Indeed.  The one openly stated he was going to transform us as we knew ourselves five days before the election to his first term and many other times…

XX, why is it so desperately important to you that everyone declare that the U.S. is the "best country on earth" ? 

And dont say you are not obsessed, you seed the premise incessantly. 

Do you think people who live elsewhere really care if the US is best?  A small fraction do of course, they try to come here. But the rest of the billions of people on earth have no interest in the question whatsoever. 

It is extremely, fantastically, unlikely that almighty God has set this world up as a competition for nations to try and prove they are "the greatest".  That would not be a godly thing to do. 

why is it so desperately important to you that everyone declare that the U.S. is the "best country on earth" ?

Most often when someone is desperate to be recognized as better than everyone else its evidence of how truly weak and insecure they are.

If one believes in a God you would think they would believe all people are their Gods creations and just as valuable and important as themselves. I guess there are some who are so self-centered and arrogant that they believe only they are 'special' or are some 'chosen' people who get to lord it over others.

I wish that those on the left like the members of AOC squad and those like her that want to bring down this great nation would leave and never come back. 

If only we could all be granted that blessing tomorrow!  

why is it so desperately important to you that everyone declare that the U.S. is the "best country on earth" ? 

It is the truth! Of course you aren't interested in the truth. You along with your left wing liberal cohorts are interested in is bringing this country down and destroying the things that made this country strong and great. 

Do you think people who live elsewhere really care if the US is best?  A small fraction do of course, they try to come here and 

Seeing as how many try to sneak in to the country illegal and how many come here by legal means, seems to me many people do. 

I couldn’t have said that any better.  Thanks!  

You along with your left wing liberal cohorts are interested in is bringing this country down and destroying the things that made this country strong and great. 

This is what I think

Do you think people who live elsewhere really care if the US is best? 

Yes, they clearly do.

A small fraction do of course, they try to come here. But the rest of the billions of people on earth have no interest in the question whatsoever.

We currently are estimated to have around 20 million people who are present in the country illegally. 20 million people with the willingness and the opportunity to break the law just to be here.

Millions more have come legally. Still more probably want to come, but can’t. This has been going on for two and a half centuries. That is no accident.

It might be a small fraction or a large fraction of the world’s population, but it’s way more than any other country. There are a lot of delightful countries in the world, but you’re in denial if you think the USA isn’t at the top of most people‘s lists for countries they would want to emigrate to. It’s also at the top of the list of countries they hope for help from.

You won’t implode if you thank God for that.

Well said! 

It is always interesting on a seed like this article to see progressives come and deny that America was ever a great nation or that we are an exceptional nation.  It’s a study in how uncomfortable such sentiments and expressions that are positive about America, our traditions, values, 1776 history, founding documents, and divine Providence make them.  My more recent seed about progressives protesting where school boards have repealed CRT and 1619 propaganda and replaced it with 1776 commission materials is telling.