How this Atheist gives Thanks

I’ve been asked a lot over the years about how, or more often why, an atheist celebrates holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Considering they are big social events in the US, I didn’t really understand the question until this year.

Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I might focus on that holiday. The current vibe of thanksgiving in the US is to give ‘thanks’ for what we have, who we are with and all of our ‘blessings’. Now, I obviously don’t feel there is a creator or an all controlling master of the universe. So this current culture of needing something to thank is difficult for me. But this year I think I figured it out. I don’t need to be thankful to a god for the things I have I need to be thankful for things and to the people I have. So, to keep it short because I know we all have family we would rather be spending time with than reading my blog, here is my list of Thanks.

Thanks to the people who have supported me, I couldn’t go on without you.

Thanks to the people who have doubted me, as you have strengthened and educated me.

Thanks to the people I work with, you have made the time I spend at my job better each day.

Thanks to Amy and Summer who have shown me how to be me just that much more.

Thanks Mom and Dad. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you.

Thanks to the soldiers who have volunteered their time and possibly their lives for doing the best they can in protecting this nation we call home.

Thank you to m Ex’s. That one sounds odd I know, but without my ‘failed’ relationships, I would not have been able to grow into who I am today.

Thanks to my ‘family’. Tom, Michael Shane, Monkey, Todd, Frank, Angie/Mark, Anthony/Stacy, Jack, Shane, et al. You are too numerous to mention you all, but please know I am so thankful for you all.

Thanks to those in the humanism and atheism movements who have help myself and so many countless others to shed the cloak of religion, you are my heroes and I hope to give back what you’ve given to me. Too many to name again, but a few I would like to call out are Matt Dillahunty, David Smalley, Russell Glasser, James Randy, Chase Littlejohn, Ben Schuldt, Jennifer Zuniga, Hitch (we miss you hitch), and so so many others…

Lastly, I am thankful in general for this world/universe/life. I have a chance to be, in a time I mostly love, in a universe that fills me with wonder and astonishment daily. I’m thankful that I get to meet, love, help, and learn other people. I’m thankful that I have a house that isn’t being bombed. I’m thankful that MOST of the people I come in contact with aren’t trying to kill me.

I’m sure there is more, but I hope after reading this that you can see what is important to me. What makes me thankful, and how I can just as easily celebrate this holiday as anyone else.

Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving.