I am blessed, but not by some fantasy figure .. life has blessed me.

"I am blessed." "You are blessed." Those words make me CRINGE. I do not want to be blessed by some deity that ignores the basic needs of millions of its supposed creation.

And, I certainly don't need to feel any connection to such a being, or give any such being "thanks" for what I have. I am thankful for, and grateful to, others. I feel more connected to other beings, and the universe itself, as an atheist than I ever did as a believer.

Mother Earth is a more logical recipient of our gratitude...I agree 100% with the author of this piece.

Thank you for posting this; it was a timely reminder of what I personally believe.

Hope you will be blessed with great sex for thanksgiving! Lol

I'm usually on the couch when grace is said. I tell them not to ask why.

I am thankful that my teammates are such wonderful people and have invited me to their Thanksgiving feasts even before they knew I had no family Thanksgiving festivities to attend. I'm thankful that my mom is a kind and understanding person and is comforting me while my life I've become accustomed to crashes and burns around me. I'm definitely not blessed and everyone that says they are (by god) makes me want to puke. I will be truly thankful if I escape today without having to hear any prayers or god talk.

Love this!

To state you don't believe in a God, is to admit you're an atheist.

I'm shocked at the resistance there is on this site to atheism. It's not even logical.

Agnosticism answers the question of knowledge, so one can be an agnostic atheist, defining the lack of belief in a God, or knowledge as to whether a god exists.

This has been debated over and over here about the differences. That debate is of no concern to me.

What I object to is the commentary of those I've blocked here recently, who've referred to atheists as the enemy, because some people, who identify as atheists (beliefs aside), are attacking others for their place of disagreement regarding faith or certainty. Attacking people for their beliefs has nothing to do with how you identify. You can be an atheist jerk, an agnostic jerk or a Christian asshole.

I don't wish to attack anyone. I respect that people have a right to their beliefs. However, I'm not required to respect the content of what they believe. That also doesn't provide a license for attacking that person.

I love this article, as it defines the essence of being a good and decent person in the world, without the need for a deity, or religion. Atheism, to some, even who define themselves as agnostic, is an admission of belligerence. This is an illogical comparison.

And to say all atheists are bad people, really makes yoU the jerk.

I feel grateful. As an atheist since age 13, I never say "I'm blessed."

NPR this morning about the so-called holiday we celebrate as thanksgiving (for whom).[npr.org]
"We've been hearing from a lot of people — especially parents and teachers — who are a little queasy about passing on the celebration of Thanksgiving to the youngsters in their lives. And that makes sense. Many people grew up loving the chance to get together with friends and family over a lovely meal and share what made them grateful. But as they got older, they started to feel less sanguine about the holiday's roots."

This!!!

I'm so blessed that my pizza had too hard of a crust today. Next time I will know more about how to place the rack and get better at what I am doing.

I am thankful for the people in my life that participate in making it so wonderful. I'm not "blessed". I worked hard to get where I am, financially secure and stress free. I chose who the people are that are in my circle and which I let go of. I am Extremely happy with a fantastic life and amazing friends and I made that happen, not some invisible friend in the sky. My choices have landed me where I am today and not some pre-ordained mystical working in mysterious ways deity. I am also responsible for the failures along the path to get here and I accepted that and learned from my mistakes and corrected bad behavior and attitudes. So yes I am grateful, thankful and lucky, but not blessed.

It's interesting: people seem to have the feeling that their good fortune may have been provided to them, and being unable to repay or return the fortune feel and intense need to thank whatever entity provided for them....but it's all done just to make themselves feel better.

"I've thanked whoever or whatever entity that may have been responsible for the good fortune in my life. That's all I'm willing to give, and I'm gonna assume that's all they want: a brief thanks. I'm safe! Pass the turkey!"

I'm keenly aware that I'm in the luckiest less-than-1% of humans that has so far existed. The only people I'm directly overtly thankful for are my parents and friends. They truly make my life a pleasant ordeal, lol.

I'm thankful for anyone who pursues utilises and guards the truth, especially scientists, engineers, historians and journalists.

I'm deeply thankful for the unnamed and unknown people all around the world and throughout time that helped make the world better without intentionally harming someone. I imagine it's a short list, lol.

That's about all I am thankful for.

Nope

I am thankful that I do not believe in god

Ive never thought of the word as specifically religious. Like, if the queen blesses a boat. But i guess shes acting on behalf of god? Or if someone is blessed with good fortune? And of course theres arguments about native american blessings (or aboriginal etc...) and if that religious or social. It seems like a word thats gotten mostly taken over by theistic religion, but isnt ultimately a religious word. Ie it existed thousands of years ago, in a non religious way, to describe feeling like luck was on your side.

Blessed is one of those words up there with luck. I prefer gratitude.

A very well written piece.

The term , "bless ," means , to make happy . So , I'm sorry you aren't happy . That said , if you're having a big fancy meal with family , perhaps it would make sense to thank the people who prepared the meal and the people who grew the crops and those who brought it to the market and those who bought the food ?

Me either