Ask the Native Americans. I doubt any of them celebrate it. Maybe we can ask the Cheyenne if they celebrate Sand Creek.

I celebrate the day known as Thanksgiving as a day to be grateful for diversity (diversity is life), for friends (friends are comfort), for family (family is (hopefully) unconditional love), and for being vegan and not harming another being so I can exist (vegan is compassion).

I completely agree.

I totally agree. I am thankful for the people who have and continue to shape me. I am constantly growing ad learning and I have everyone who have come and gone in my life to thank.

On Thanksgiving:
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I really like Thanksgiving! I haven't thought of the historical nonsense since primary school, so we focus on friends and family enjoying good food and company. Sure, we stand in a circle holding hands for the prayer before dinner but it's usually a neutral "we're thankful for each other" so it's not a big deal. Then we play games. We always include some people who don't have family locally so it keeps the conversations interesting.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it's mellow and without all the consumerist gift giving BS entailed. I also learned how to "kick a turkey" off the chart by myself a few years ago so that was a thing, discovering my inner Martha stewart for a minute. /still challenged on the stuffing though
That said my maternal side of the family not openly religious, no weird juju, great senses of humor so those were especially great.
My late husband's otoh was stressball city with everything having to be ~just so~ and of course the saying of grace before any meal was a thing with them. I simply kept quiet.

I guess I don't place any real significance on Thanksgiving itself, but I do like holidays when people have time and the inclination to get together — assuming people can remain civil. (I have some family that can't seem to let an opportunity pass to grill me about being a godless liberal, which can get a little tedious.)

Thanksgiving is a family event for me. That means my kids cousins are coming. And the table is amazing with a lot of family members kicking in with their specialties. Just a family feast with almost zero religion talk.

Well-said!

I feel the same way you do. Some folks make it into a religious holiday; I don't. It's a time to celebrate friendships over some nice food and drink. I used to teach overseas, and I have fond memories of Thanksgiving in South Korea and the UAE. In Seoul, the school bought the faculty a wonderfully prepared turkey from a 5-star hotel downtown, and then we had nothing but chopsticks (and ultimately, our fingers) to eat it with. In Al Ain, UAE, faculty friends rotated Thanksgiving each year, and it was often held up on the rooftop of somebody's villa overlooking copper-colored sand dunes that stretched out into the Empty Quarter.

Now, here in Kentucky, following the death of my wife in 2010, I have been "adopted" by my best friend's brother's family, and that's where I'm going on Thursday. They're a bunch of old stoners like me, so no religion will be involved.

I've never looked forward to holidays. They've always made me anxious/uncomfortable (the majority of my family are very religious, especially the older family members & my parents - my father being the worst). This is the first year that I'm feeling ok about the upcoming holidays Because its just my kids & me and only a few family members. And as My brothers and I have gotten older, our family holidays have become a lot less about religion and just about getting together as a family.