Thankful for our Thanksgiving mythology

It is no myth that the Wampanoag tribe had a feast with the Pilgrims. They could have wiped them out. Instead they broke bread with them at the Pilgrim's tables. The hosts were the guests. After that, the relationship got complicated. Eventually, the guests became invaders and land thieves and the hosts hit back violently and almost drove the guests all out during King Philip's War, see my previous report here. It's not our proudest moment. But what I like about this holiday of Thanksgiving is that we remember our neighborly time and not our victory. For all the accusations of belligerence made toward our country, the veracity of which I am not commenting on, one of our national, non-religious holidays is in honor of peace. It's non-religious in that even the non-religious can celebrate it without some counter expression and it is not derived from a feast on any religious calendar. Certainly, it's religious for me, and many other Americans. I'm thankful to God for all He has blessed me with. But I'm also thankful to be a citizen of a country that has a feast day to celebrate gratitude and hospitality.

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