The week before Thanksgiving, Allen Stephenson wrote an article for the Greenville Advocate in which he discussed what we ought to be thankful for:
Abel on the other hand, remembers that even the very air he breathes is a gift from God. He knows that if there is anything good in his life, it is directly from the hand of God. So his focus this weekend is take the energy he would normally devote to school and/or work, and direct it towards thanking God and serving others. So he is quick to help set the table and clean up afterwards, he is intentional in listening to others, and active in participating in the family traditions. At the end of the day he makes a list of all the blessings of God and thanks Jesus for each and every one of them.
At the very end of his article, he asked “And by the way, whom does an atheist thank at Thanksgiving?”
That was all the inspiration atheist Doug Beville needed to respond to Stephenson’s article:
I thank science for the vast improvements it has made to our lives, how virtually no person is willing to live without the comforts and health benefits it has provided, and how more of us are accepting the knowledge of science as fact.
I thank the sound logic and reasoning, and the changing morality that has allowed equal treatment of all people regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation (almost). I thank our founding fathers for the wisdom that guaranteed every American citizen his or her freedom to worship or not to worship, and that the government would not show prejudice to either group.
I thank bold, freethinking atheist authors who trumpet the fact that nonreligious people can and do live moral, altruistic, meaningful, purposeful, joyful, fulfilling lives. Finally, I thank the progressive strides we have made even in small town Alabama that allow me to write this letter without fear of a cross being burned in my yard.
Beautiful 🙂 And that’s not even half the response. You can read the full piece here. It’s a powerful piece with the unintentional consequence of completely showing up a “man of god.”
(Thanks to Sackbut for the link)
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