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View Full Version : For thanksgiving, I plan to fast in mourning



ScottHughes
Nov 18th, 2006, 05:37 PM
For thanksgiving, I plan to fast in mourning for all the human beings killed during European expansion, namely the genocide of the natives in America.

In the 8th century the Muslims (Moors) conquered Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for over 700 years. These people threatened European Christians, meaning Western Civilization.

It was not until the late 15th century that in Spain on November 25, 1491, Santiago defeated the last Muslim stronghold in Grenada. On this day King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for this victory and the Pope of Rome declared this day to forever be a day of Thanksgiving for all European Christians.

Thanksgiving in the United States is a part of this tradition that celebrates the subjugation of non-Western people for colonial purposes. Its roots are more directly connected to the events that occurred in the Northeast in the year 1637, when 700 men, women, and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their “Annual Green Corn Dance” in the area that is now known as Groton, Connecticut.

While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercenaries of the English and Dutch. The Indigenous people were ordered from their ceremonial structures and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in their homes. The next day, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 Pequots.

I do not give thanks to any god for these murders and genocides. I just mourn peacefully.

howdawg
Nov 19th, 2006, 01:07 AM
Well put Scott.. You are quite right.. Thanksgiving is not much of a jolly holiday afterall..

HappyVegan
Nov 20th, 2006, 02:29 AM
My husband and I will be fasting as well to protest both what the "holiday" originally was (the mass murder & enslavement of the Native American people) and what it is today (the mass murder & enslavement of animals). I was thinking as I read though the thread that I would be alone in this until I got to your post Scott!! Good to see someone else doing this as well!

focus
Nov 25th, 2006, 04:33 PM
My husband and I will be fasting as well to protest both what the "holiday" originally was (the mass murder & enslavement of the Native American people) and what it is today (the mass murder & enslavement of animals). I was thinking as I read though the thread that I would be alone in this until I got to your post Scott!! Good to see someone else doing this as well!

You're not alone. My husband and I hold a fast/vigil/letter writing campaign every thanksgiving, we've done so every thanksgiving since we've been vegan. We also protest and leaflet the day after.


I do not give thanks to any god for these murders and genocides. I just mourn peacefully.

agreed, thanks for sharing.....I read your whole post to my husband, his response was 'right on'.