Thanksgiving 2003
A vegetarian grace, suitable for a Thanksgiving dinner:
We remember today, O God,
the slaughter of the holy innocents….
Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy
all innocent victims; and by your great might
frustrate the designs of evil tyrants
and establish your rule of justice, love and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.– from the collect for the Holy Innocents
Overheard on the radio this morning:
“Americans will eat 4 1/2 billion pounds of turkey this year.”
Also on the radio was mention that turkey consumption rose over 100% (higher than that, but I didn’t write it down) since 1975. And food companies are trying to come up with ways to promote increased turkey consumption all year round…. There are currently over 269 million turkeys being raised on turkey “farms” in this country (mostly in confinement like the picture above) — roughly one for every person in the country. I am amazed by all the “turkey talk” I’m hearing this morning. It is as if these dead animals (whose remains have been violated with stuffing, conjuring up certain sexual connotations) at the center of tables across the country, are some misdirected “eucharistic sacrament” honoring some unknown idol on this pseudo-religious holiday. Why?! If that isn’t what it is, why don’t we choose a different kind of centerpiece to express our thanksgiving to God? After all, our Thanksgiving liturgy for the day is all about the harvest. (And I need to get to church soon, to counteract the rest of the day.) I won’t apologize for saying any of this. I try to “keep it light” on this site. But this is what the day brings out in me. If we want to consider this “National Day of Carnage and Gluttony” to be a religious holiday, let’s replace this idolatrous secular tradition of “Dead-Bird-Worship”!
(It isn’t just about what’s at the center of our celebration at home. It’s what pervades the media, greeting cards, decorations, etc….)
May the souls of all the departed rest in peace.
The resurrection of the “left-overs” from the Sketches page.
“Behold, I make all things new.”
– Jesus
Check out the print and billboard ads at http://www.pardontheturkeys.com.
P.S. On 11/28/03, I heard on the radio that the average American household throws away about 470 pounds of food in a year’s time, a substantial amount still edible. Not all of that waste is meat, of course. But our waste of meat is something to be aware of, if we want to reduce unnecessary animal suffering and death.
(I wonder how much food is thrown out in a year’s time by institutions, retailers, and because of recalls!)
I don’t know how many households there are in the U.S. But according to the U.S. “Pop-Clock” at this particular moment, there are an estimated 292,704,263 people living in the U.S. Let’s just say there is an average of 4 people per household. That would mean 73,176,065 households X 470 pounds of wasted food = 34,392,750,550 pounds of total waste. (The World “Pop-Clock” shows an estimated human population of 6,322,698,989. My calculator doesn’t accomodate numbers that large….)