Thanksgiving's Interesting History And Christian Message Of Love

by qua 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  qua

  THANKSGIVING'S INTERESTING HISTORY AND CHRISTIAN MESSAGE OF LOVE Thanksgiving is celebrated in the Phillippines, Liberia, Canada, Guam, South Korea, some of the Carribbean region etc, and there were forerunners of it throughout Germanic and Slavic speaking nations. The Bible records that God told the people of Israel to celebrate an annual harvest festival. (Exodus 23:16) So it is false when some religionists claim Thanksgiving is unbiblical or a nationalistic holiday for the U.S. alone. Actually, although various colonies had Thanksgivings and George Washington made it into a national holiday, it was not regularly celebrated in the U.S. until Abraham Lincoln. As to the first Thanksgiving by English persons in North America, about 1608 English traders sailed to what we now call Plymouth, Massachusetts. When some Wampanoag Indians came out to trade with them, the English captured and took them to Spain to sell as slaves. One named Squanto was bought by a kind monk who taught him Christianity then freed him. Squanto went on to England and worked in stables for John Slaney who sent him home to North America in 1619. Squanto found his village wiped out by disease. A year later when English Pilgrim families arrived in a ship, he greeted the startled Pilgrims in English and taught them how to survive. When he lay dying of a fever, the colony's Governor wrote that Squanto had him pray for him and give his possessions to the Pilgrims "as remembrances of his love." Sadly, the Pilgrims, although having had the first Thanksgiving celebration in North America and valuing religious tolerance for themselves, were so know-it-all, judgmental, rigid and unloving in their beliefs that later arrivals to their colony soon moved away to found other colonies. In time not even those who had been raised in the church cared for the religion so that it eventually died.

  Those who build their homes with love will see them grow, those who do not will see them transferred to where there is greater love. Jehovah is the God of love, not unreasonableness. Let us look to Him and His real Kingdom instead of some mock imitation called a human Watchtower. Fellowship at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/churchofjehovah http://groups.yahoo.com/group/churchofjehovah/chat
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  Room 215

  Very interesting; thanks qua. The historical precedent of the Puritans and their fate is sadly lost on the leadership of the WTBTS; the saga of Squanto is fascinating. This thread merits much more attention than it's gotten thus far.
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  Yerusalyim

  Make no mistake about it, the pilgrims didn't come for religious freedom or tolerance...but to set up a government that matched their theological views. Funny too that it's estimated that in Puritan New England at least 1/3 of the marriages were that of Necessity thanks in large part to that great little item the "courting bed".

  It was actually a Catholic Colony that had the first Religious Freedom laws on record in what is now the US.
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  SheilaM

  Yeru: Actually they called it Bundling two ways one in which the guests wrapped the groom and bride to be in sheets and threw them on the bed and discreetly left the room. The second way was they were wrapped nude in sheets. The premise was of course that the couple couldn't extract themselves form the sheetsLOL My Prof. gave me some interesting information on this. LOL Also anyone that reads The American Holocaust by Stannard will have a whold diffeerent view of the history of America.:(
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  avishai

  Sadly, the Pilgrims, although having had the first Thanksgiving celebration in North America and valuing religious tolerance for themselves, were so know-it-all, judgmental, rigid and unloving in their beliefs that later arrivals to their colony soon moved away to found other colonies. In time not even those who had been raised in the church cared for the religion so that it eventually died.

  They were also persecuting &$$*#@*%#. They tortured quakers & burned them at the stake!