GUEST COLUMN: The balanced history of our Thanksgiving celebration

Christians love Thanksgiving because it is a pure and simple giving of thanks for what God has blessed us with in this life. Thanksgiving is thanks toward God, not toward man. That may explain, in part, why it is minimized in our culture. It is also not as profitable for retailers and advertisers like Black Friday and other materialistic shopping days. We are blessed with prosperity and freedom in America. American colonists primarily came to the new world to escape religious persecution. They learned the government should stay out of enforcing religious rules but, at the same time, the people were very religious and Bible oriented.

The Plymouth Colony had written into its charter a system of communal property and labor (communism). Everything was owned by the community equally. There was no incentive to work hard because all would share equally in the food regardless their effort. So some of the people got lazy. One cannot redistribute lavishly what has not been produced as in the case of the vast communist empire of the 20th century. It became so impoverished that they had to put up a wall, "The Iron Curtain", to keep their people from all fleeing to capitalist nations.

As William Bradford recorded, the people who had been known for their virtue and hard work became lazy and unproductive. Resources were squandered, vegetables were allowed to rot on the ground and mass starvation was the result. After two-and-a-half years, the leaders of the colony decided to abandon their socialist mandate and create a system which honored private property. Capitalism worked! The colony survived and thrived and the abundance which resulted was celebrated at that iconic Thanksgiving feast in 1622, when they feasted for three days. Profits are good for productivity, period. So in a nutshell the experiment of socialism, collectivism, had to be abandoned in order for the first Thanksgiving to take place. Funny how we were never taught that in school. This is a case of academia political correctness imbalance of history. The PC culture wants to diminish the contribution of Deity and capitalism. Naturally, anyone going to a strange land would, if possible, ask the natives how best to plant, hunt and fish on those lands.

First and foremost, God gets the credit for the pilgrims' success. The entire purpose for the celebration is to acknowledge the blessings of Almighty God. We must remember that pilgrims laid the foundation for the No. 1 economy in world history. Within a few years, Plymouth Colony was expanding at an incredible rate. The 13 small colonies thus created within a few years swept across the continent to create the world's greatest super power and preeminent economy. Even in the days of Lincoln, that was becoming obvious to all the world. America's most common agricultural problem through the years has been too high a crop yield. Most nations would love to face the over abundance problem continually. Who supplied the translator for the pilgrims? God did that miracle. Squanto had been taken prisoner by a fishing boat and sent to England as a slave and learned the King's English. He returned to the Plymouth area just as the Pilgrim's need for information was crucial. It is believed that only one or two men on the whole planet could speak the local tribal language and English at that time. What a blessing. What a coincidence.

Secondly, hard work, profits and capitalism created prosperity. This would include a belief in the Godly principles of taking care of one's family using hard work and honesty. Thrift and planning are Christian principles that helped as well. These colonies were so successful that thousands from Europe poured across the ocean to join the prosperity. Their investors in Europe helped also.

The third factor in this initial success were local natives. Squanto returned from about 14 years of slavery in England. Christian missionaries helped free him. Now a converted Christian, he gave this account of his return to Plymouth Rock, "I wasn't sure I could trust them, but I went along. They sure were surprised to find that we spoke English! Before we left, Gov. John Carver asked me to stay with his people and interpret for him whenever he wanted to talk to "King Massasoit," as he called our chief. I agreed to stay. The pilgrims were hungry and had no idea how to survive in our great land. For the first time in years, I felt like I belonged. Could it be that God's purpose for my life was now unfolding"?

Some may ask, can the awesome success of America be solely a matter of luck? Could it be solely a matter of smart, hard working, brave people? The obvious answer is no! One cannot deny that America has been blessed far above other nations. Very Blessed! But to put any factor ahead of God is PC folly. So this Thanksgiving we should all be thankful and pray for each other, and pray our country can turn back to God and reap reasonable harmony once again.

Additionally, we should teach our children thankfulness. Actions which automatically work are called laws. They cannot be denied. Gravity is a law, so is thankfulness. The first observable law is that "Spiritual blessings come to those who are thankful." Therefore it is assumed that law observation No. 2 is the opposite of law No. 1: "Spiritual Decadence comes with a lack of thankfulness or ingratitude." Those who are not grateful or thankful seem more vulnerable to evil influences.

Dr. James Ricks is a retired Southeast Missouri State University business professor. He resides in Cape Girardeau. Ken Hartbarger II, of Woodville, Ohio is a businessman and amateur historian.