Any leads? Some damn fundie told me its not in the Bible.

Thanksgiving is a secular holiday? Sure, secular people celebrate it, but only in the way they celebrate Christmas. I mean, exactly who are you supposed to be thanking?

Each other?

“Thank you farmers, for growing the food.
Thank you Grandma, for cooking the turkey.
Thank you Uncle Steve, for traveling to be with us today.”

Or you can just feel a general sense of appreciation for the good things you have in your life.

I grew up atheist, so I really didn’t have any idea that people considered Thanksgiving a religious holiday when I was young. My impression was that the Pilgrims threw a big feast to thank the Indians for helping them with their harvest. I seem to have totally missed (or my school did not emphasize) the “giving thanks to God” part.

I thought you might find it amusing.

My own reason for disliking the institution is that the kids who consider themselves entitled to candy are, on the other days of the year, by no means fellow-members with me of a community. They don’t think of themselves and me as fellow-beings either; I’m just this wrinkly who comes and goes from the apartment block. We don’t have a Norman Rockwell-type community any more, if we ever did: what we have is age-cohort apartheid. So what’s to open the door for? I dislike anyone who only recognises my existence when they want something. I think the kids should be encouraged to celebrate among themselves and leave us householders out of it.

As for religion, the Halloweeners’ notion of the spirit world is so tediously parasitical on Christianity. No, boys and girls, the spirit of Uncle Fred isn’t coming back to give you a scare: there is no Uncle Fred, he never had a soul, he was a process, and the process you used to call Uncle Fred is no longer running. So a dead person is no more to be scared of than a crashed app.

http://tinyurl.com/hallowscandy

[T]he real threat we face this season: Demons may be lurking in our Halloween candy.

Oh, well. The demons are probably all in the chocolate. I’m a vegan, so I’m probably safe.

And making up their own definition of ‘halloween’. Yes, hallowed can be understood as holy or sacred but, in this instance, hallow e’en is simply shorthand for “all hallows evening”…the day before all saint’s day. A construction of the church itself.