by Jason Stotts
In case you haven’t seen it yet, Craig Biddle of The Objective Standard has a really nice little essay up about “saying grace” at Thanksgiving dinner called: “Don’t Say Grace, Say Justice.“
One thing I’d like to point out to my more rational readers is that if your family still doesn’t know that you’re an atheist or Objectivist, and you are not dependent on them, Thanksgiving is a good time to come out of the closet. You don’t have to make a big production out of it, it could be something as simple as saying “I am not going to participate in the Thanksgiving prayer” and simply leave until it is done. You don’t have to make the case against religion to your family, just tell them that you are not religious and therefore you don’t want to participate.
You need to always be true to yourself and your beliefs, no matter what your family says, what your friends think, or how you think it “will make you look.” At the end of the day, you have to look at your own face in the mirror and you will know whether you have been true to yourself: whether you still have your integrity. However, this does not mean that you should run screaming atheism from the hills. Just subtly make it known and if someone wants to talk with you about it great and, if not, even better. Pick your battles wisely, but never misrepresent yourself.
And on this Thanksgiving Day: don’t say grace, say Justice.