An Incompatibility between Leftism, Happiness, and Thanksgiving Day

After watching the 2017 movie, “Spider-man: Homecoming,” I couldn’t stop thinking about the importance of happiness and Thanksgiving Day. This is because the movie had two scenes that had nothing to do with its narrative, and everything to do with moral divisiveness and the ideologies of Leftism. The scenes took place in Washington D.C., where Peter Parker’s high school decathlon team was competing. The scenes involved one of Peter’s teammates, named Michelle.

In one scene, she says to her teacher, “Excuse me. Can we go already cause I was hoping to get in some light protesting in front of one of the embassies before dinner.” At which the teacher replies, “Protesting is patriotic. Let’s get on the bus.” Another scene takes place while the team is visiting the Washington Monument. Here the teacher asks if she is taking it all in, and she replies, “I don’t really want to celebrate something that was built by slaves.”  

Now why did the screenwriters have to insert these scenes in what is a fun little movie about a teenager who fights crime by spinning webs? The answer is quite simple: to spread the ideologies of the secular religion of Leftism. In this movie, the words “protesting” and “slaves” are used to do this.

People doing much of the protesting we see on the news these days espouse Leftism. They are generally unhappy, and often angry. If anyone opposes their views - they shut them down immediately. They avoid argument by smearing people as SIXHIRB, an acronym created by best-selling author Dennis Prager, which stands for “Sexist, Intolerant, Xenophobic, Homophobic, Islamophobic, Racist, Bigoted.” Unlike liberalism (Leftism is not liberalism) and conservatism, Leftism is not compatible with happiness because it is contrary to the Catholic virtues of gratitude and prudence.

Gratitude is Key to Happiness

This is where Thanksgiving Day comes in. On this special holiday, we should all practice the virtue of gratitude by acknowledging, interiorly and exteriorly, the gifts God has given us. We should also seek to make at least some return for such gifts. The Quid Retribuam prayer that we pray along with the priest as he consumes the Eucharist at Mass comes to mind: “What shall I render to the Lord for all He hath rendered unto me?

Gratitude is the basis for happiness and goodness.  One cannot be happy or good without it. Those espousing leftist ideologies, such as the idea that America is the most racist and oppressive country in the world, commits the sin of ingratitude.  Rather than being grateful for America, they have more contempt than love for her. To them, America is essentially the most racist and oppressive country (among other bad things) in the world.  In truth, America is the least racist in the world. Dennis Prager often points out that the left’s view of America was encapsulated in then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s statement in 2008: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Prager usually follows this by saying, “Now, if you were to meet a man who said that he wanted to fundamentally transform his wife, or a woman who said that about her husband, would you assume that either loved their spouse? Of course not.”

We should therefore strive to be happy this Thanksgiving Day by being grateful.

Prudence is also Key to Happiness

Living the kind of happy life that is pleasing to God requires us to act accordingly. This is why we need the virtue of prudence. St. Thomas Aquinas defines prudence in two different ways, but the two definitions convey the same meaning, viz. “the application of right reason to action” and the “right reason of action.”[1] It is the first of the cardinal virtues because it is the ability to look at a concrete situation and know what ought to be done. It is the ability to make right judgments by taking moral principles and applying them to concrete things. In essence, prudence is about truth, the truth of what is and what must be done. We have to know what is true before we are free to do what is good.

If Michelle had this virtue, she wouldn’t have made the wrong judgment about the Washington Monument.  Instead, she would’ve been happy visiting it because prudence would have provided her the knowledge that it isn’t the oppressive slave-built monument that Leftism wants us to believe.

David Barton, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Jefferson Lies” and well-known critic of how leftists abuse history, points out the following key facts about the Washington Monument in a WorldNetDauly article:

• The construction of the Washington Monument began in 1848 and stopped in 1854 due to lack of funds. The monument had reached a height of 152 feet, or about 27 percent of the full height of 555 feet it would later attain.
• The initial construction occurred at a time when Washington, D.C., had slavery, and so some of the work could have involved slaves, but likely not much since that type of work required a particular type of skilled masonry craftsmen, which most slaves at that time were not.
• In 1879, after a 25-year hiatus, work resumed on the monument and was largely finished by 1884. That work involved not only the new construction but also a reworking of much of the work previously done (such as a reconstruction of much of the foundation, which was unable to support the heavy structure) as well as the internal work needed to be able to accommodate tourists/visitors. So perhaps some 80 to 85 percent of the entire monument, counting inside and outside, was constructed after 1879.
• Since slavery ended in 1865 through the addition of the Thirteenth Amendment, none of the work that occurred from 1879 to 1884 involved any slaves – not one.

The Washington Monument is just one of a plethora of examples of how Leftism tries to keep us from being grateful. Another glaring example relates to the ongoing attacks on Thanksgiving Day. We think we understand everything there is to know about this wonderful national holiday, but it would surprise you just how little we do. I would even go so far as to say you have a miniscule chance of hearing the following truths about it at school or church.

The truth about Thanksgiving Day is featured in a recent press release from PragerU titled, “PragerU Counters Revisionists History of Thanksgiving.” It reveals key truths that Leftists don’t want us to know. It reads:

“Thanksgiving was established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to remind Americans to be grateful for our prosperity, blessings, and freedoms – even in the midst of the Civil War. Unfortunately, this uniquely American holiday has been distorted into “a time for mourning” by many. In 2007, Seattle public schools officials instructed teachers that Thanksgiving should be considered a “bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal.”

In PragerU’s latest video, What’s The Truth About The First Thanksgiving, nationally syndicated radio host and bestselling author Michael Medved corrects these mistaken claims by setting the record straight about the first Thanksgiving.

Medved asserts that the revisionist narrative of Pilgrims as “arrogant oppressors” is wrong on every count. First, the Pilgrims did not flee persecution. They had been living for over a decade in the tolerant nation of Holland, free from the religious restrictions of the Church of England. Instead, they sailed to America to prevent their children from being “seduced” by the materialistic Dutch culture of the time.

“[The Pilgrims] risked their dangerous 1620 voyage to a wilderness continent not because they were running from oppression but because they were running toward holiness – fulfilling a fateful mission to build an ideal Christian commonwealth,”says Medved.

The Pilgrims planned to relocate in modern-day Manhattan, but strong winds blew the Mayflower 250 miles northeast to the coast of Massachusetts. After a giant wave deposited their flimsy scouting boat safely on land within sight of an ideal settlement location, they credited divine providence for their safe landing.

Secondly, Medved points out, the Pilgrims never invaded an Indian settlement. Instead, they stumbled upon a previously deserted Indian village with stored food supplies and a fresh water source. In fact, the Pilgrims wanted to pay the natives for the corn, but all the village’s inhabitants had died from a plague—most likely smallpox—before the Pilgrims’ arrival.

Within a few months, the Pilgrims encountered Squanto, one of the few survivors of the devastating plague. Miraculously, Squanto, spoke English and had already embraced Christianity. Pilgrim leader William Bradford called Squanto “a special instrument sent of God for their good.”

Squanto had grown up in the village but was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Spain. When he finally returned home, his friends and family had been wiped out by disease. After meeting the Pilgrims, Squanto helped them plant crops and negotiate trade agreements with Massasoit, the region’s most important Indian chief.

The celebration of the “First Thanksgiving” was actually a three-day harvest festival in October, likely inspired by the Biblical holiday of Sukkot, or The Feast of Tabernacles. Ninety Indian warriors joined the remaining 53 English Pilgrims who had survived the brutal New England winter, breaking bread together and competing in shooting sports. The Pilgrims provided vegetables, fish and perhaps a few wild turkeys, while the Indians brought five recently hunted deer.

While the Plymouth colony was overshadowed by the nearby Massachusetts Bay colony within a few generations, the Pilgrims left a legacy of unshakable confidence in God’s protection – not for special privileges, but for special responsibilities. “They saw themselves as instruments, not authors, of God’s mysterious master plan,” says Medved.

“The only reason to treat this beloved national holiday as “a time of mourning” is that some foolish Americans actually think that’s a good idea,” concludes Medved. “The Pilgrims knew better: they understood that people of every culture and every era can gain more from gratitude than from guilt.”

Pray for our Youth

Towards the end of the Spider-man movie, Michelle is appointed the new leader of the decathlon team. The thought that many of our youth can become encouraged by this scene to accept the identity politics of leftism should concern us. It should also be very concerning that the indoctrination of leftism that has been taking place in almost all universities is now taking place in high schools and elementary schools. We need to offer up more prayers and Masses for the protection of our youth.

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[1] ST II-II, q. 47, a. 4 and 8: “applicatio rectae rationis ad opus.”