BETWEEN THE LINES: Praying for forgiveness this Thanksgiving

Although Thanksgiving is not particularly considered a religious holiday, it certainly has strong Christian roots, even though that fact has been downplayed of late.

The celebration of gratefulness for a plentiful harvest dates to 1621 when the Pilgrims honored God for his faithfulness to them. The members of the English Separatist Church who disembarked in North America at Plymouth Rock were elated just to have survived those early years.

However, it would be President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 who would make that day a national holiday.

Today, Thanksgiving is more noted as the kickoff for the Christmas shopping season. The holiday is immediately followed by Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Retail sales that day are analyzed and compared to previous years to determine the financial outlook for businesses in the current year. The giant retailer Walmart even announced it would be open Thanksgiving evening to give consumers a head start on the season.

This year, there are clouds of economic uncertainty on the horizon. Europe is in a quandary as Greece, Spain and Italy face serious problems. Their rising debt and threat of default is causing lenders to raise interest rates on future bonds. This action makes it even more difficult to become solvent.

Our congressional leaders have once again failed to enact any remedies as partisan politics prevail. Politics was once defined as the art of compromise. Not any more, as both major parties are unwilling to give any ground. Such inaction has negatively affected the stock markets, as the Standard & Poor’s 500 continues its decline.

Republicans continue to hold dear to no tax increases, while Democrats remain steadfast in their opposition to true reductions in spending. Gridlock is king on Capitol Hill. This unfortunate scenario is reminiscent of Roman Emperor Nero fiddling as Rome burns, oblivious to reality.

It is human nature to be overly optimistic during the good times, and overly pessimistic during the bad. Socionomists would refer to this phenomenon in terms of social mood, in which the herd instinct determines society’s direction. The problem centers on the belief government and regulatory bodies such as the Federal Reserve and the Food and Drug Administration have the power to alter social mood. It would be like someone commanding ocean waves to cease.

One day voters will realize these institutions are powerless and mistakes have consequences that cannot be avoided regardless of how painful they might be. Bailing out large financial institutions at the expense of taxpayers was a foolish endeavor because it rewards the guilty at the expense of the innocent.

So this Thanksgiving day as Americans sit around the dining room, we need to pray, not for prosperity, but for forgiveness for being foolish enough to think God gives us a free pass for our sins. We must learn as did the Israelites in the wilderness to place our trust in God, and not in man-made idols that only have the power to corrupt and not save.

Laughlin is a Christian Libertarian. He is an economist, teacher, father, husband and most recently a grandfather. He has written a weekly column for The Tribune for 12 years. He and his wife Gina reside in Meadowlakes. To contact him, email ablaughlin@nctv.com. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company.