Thanksgiving: Truly Interfaith?

Thanksgiving is about as American as it gets.  We get together with family, eat a lot of food, and conveniently forget our collective history about destroying nations and tribes of the native peoples of this land.

My Pakistani-American family has consistently celebrated Thanksgiving since we moved to the United States.  Sometimes, we add in some biryani with the turkey, but it is still as American as ever.  As Muslims, we use it as a time to thank Allah for all the blessings he has given us: for our family, for our health and happiness, for our fortune in all these things.

But ever since I was introduced to the interfaith movement, something about Thanksgiving really began to bug me.  I know I use it as a time to think about Allah a little more – and to think about my family even more.  Therefore, it holds some sort of spiritual value for me.  However, it felt strange to think about what this holiday means to someone who does not believe in God.  Who would they thank? 

I remember asking my friend Mary this question a few years ago.  Mary is a devout Buddhist, and an atheist.  She said she didn’t even think of Thanksgiving that way.  She thought of it as a tradition long passed down in a Judeo-Christian society to uphold an idea that doesn’t really exist.  The idea was that there was eventual peace between Native Americans and the Pilgrims who settled here – an idea that is spread throughout grade school textbooks to this day.

At the time, this answer sufficed.  However, it comes up again now - especially as I feel I have a better grasp on the theory of pluralism and the ideas on moving it into action.  In exclaiming Thanksgiving as an American holiday, are we upholding this Judeo-Christian notion of thanking God after a harvest?  And if we are, then does it matter?

I think this question is often raised in interfaith settings.  How much of our traditions hide a past?  And how much of that past are we really willing to show on our sleeves, open for everyone to see?