New-York tribune., 1906-11-25
THE PROPRIETY or THANKSGIVING.

|
| Some public criticism of the long established
practice of appointing national THANKSGIVING
| Day has recently been offered on the ground
| that 1t betrays an OminOus tendency toward the
injection OF religious SectaTan influences into
our civic life; and it has been offered strangely
| enough, by member of that faith-the Jewish
which has been. perhaps most conspicuous
| for its cathocity of view Of such matters
| We cannot believe that such objections to the
| custom are numerOuSly shared or widely prey
| alent. but il they are held at ALL as they seem
| 10 be' lhey are worthy of at least a passing
word of correction
IN the call TO THANKSGIVING there Is obso
| lutely no trace OF discrimination among relig-
| ious faiths. The people are exhorted TO assem-
| bic IN their respective places of worship and
give thanks. 1t may be church or synagogue
meeting house or cathedral. There is no pre-
ScIlpllon Tor one or against another Nor can
we regard 1t as an fnvidous imputation to rec
ommend the giving of thanks since that is an
essential and conspicuous feature of all faiths
| We are not acquainted with any important re-
| llglous BODY which does not practise the civ
| ing of thanks to the object of its worship WHY.
| then, should it be regarded as in the least i'm
pertinent or uniting for the chief of the ma
ton TO suggest that on certain day all should
simultaneously repair to their chosen places Of
worship and give thanks according to the forms
and customs of their respective faiths? Tha
| fitness OF 1t Is rendered in the last degree i'm
| peccable by the identity of the day which is
invariably selected. If it were a Sunday the
Jews might we'll object to being asked TO wor-
| ship on day specially identified with Chris
tiantty. If it were a Sa aturday Christians might
protest against being called to worship on the
Jewish Sabbath If it were Friday. there
might be objection to such countenance of Ma
hoIn oocv pIrt
with no sect or faith.
| We cannot for a moment accent, either the
| proposition which some have made that os
there is no state church or official religion in
the United States, any official recognition OF
God or practice Of worship is uniting We
need not go so far back as to recall the fact
that most of the colonies from which this na-
| ton grew were planted on distinctly religions
foundations But it should be sufficient to re-
member that the Declaration of Independence
expressed reverence for Natures God" and
recognition of the Creator and professed "a
| firm reliance on the protection of Divine
| "Providence while the Constitution In which
some have declared there is nc God" at least
dates itself not merely in the twelfth wear of
the independence of the United States but also
'in the year Of Our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty seven" In addition TO
these things, the inscription upon our coinage
the invariable formula of official oaths. tho
practice Of the Presidents in public documents
and many other Details all attest the eminen,
proprety of regarding the United States not
as, officially, Q Christian land or Jewish land
not as Protestant or Catholic, not as ecclesias-
| tical or evangelical but as q land in which
God is worshipped in which human dependence
upon. the Creator Is officially as well as ind-
vidually recognized. and in which 1t Is emf
nently fitting, and is agreeable to the senti-
ments of the overwhelming mass of the clt-
zenshp that there should be occasional rec
concentrations, official and national, to general
supplication and thanksgiving