Should Atheists Give Thanks?

A few years ago, as Thanksgiving was approaching, I began to wonder if an atheist could really celebrate the holiday and be consistant with his/her worldview. Feelings of gratitude and thankfulness are emotions that all humans experience. Whether it be for gifts received, a job, a home, family and friends, there are many things in life for which we are and should be grateful.

For the Christian, gratitude and thankfulness is expressed to God. Scripture teaches us that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17 ESV) We know that there is nothing that we have that God has not granted us by his grace. Every breath we take is granted to us by God and it is "in him all things hold together." (Col. 1:17) Paul commands Christians to "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thes. 5:18) Thankfulness is not only something that we naturally feel inclined toward, but it is a command that we should obey. Thanksgiving seems to be a natural holiday for Christians to celebrate. We can enjoy family and be grateful for all that with which God has blessed us. Above all, we give thanks because we have been given the greatest gift of all, life in Jesus Christ. However, if this is the case for the Christian, what does this mean for the atheist?

The atheist worldview is Darwinism--survival of the fittest and natural selection. The atheist believes that the world came from nothing and humanity has survived by its own efforts and adaptation to the surrounding world. The Darwinistic worlview is one which looks inward--claiming to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. If the atheist lives within the confines of his worldview, he cannot and should not give thanks for anything. For all that he has was something acheived by his own hands and work. If he has a job, it was his effort, his intelligence, and his self-motivation that got him there; all things that he did. If he has a home, it is because he worked hard and saved and built that home. Family? For the atheist, a spouse, parents, and children are just natural out-workings of biology. If he has good parents, it was just chance. If he has healthy children, it was just the luck of the draw. A consistent atheistic worldview allows  no room for gratitude or thankfulness.

Why then do atheists work so hard to have Christmas removed from the public square and simply accept and celebrate Thanksgiving? For the Christian, Thanksgiving is natural and special. However, for the atheist, Thanksgiving should be just as offensive as Christmas. Thanksgiving flies in the face of all that the humanistic, Darwinistic, atheist says he believes. Tomorrow, if the atheist feels grateful, he must ask himself why. The answer is found in Romans 1:

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,7 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:19-25)

To the atheist who is celebrating Thanksgiving, you are right to do so. Not because your worldview allows you to, but because God Almighty has granted you another day. As you war against him and his people, he grants you mercy and lovingly offers you eternal life. Repent, believe, and give thanks.