The Holidays

Michael Anchors, MD, PhD

 I don’t understand the holidays. To me they seem like an excuse for severe overeating and snacking on candy. What is Thanksgiving all about? Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to give thanks for the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. It had nothing to do with pilgrims or turkeys. (I looked it up on my cell phone.) The pilgrims and the Indians didn’t eat together. They committed repeated mutual genocide.  Read the American Nations by Colin Woodard.
​And what is Halloween all about? 
How about Christmas? Luke 2 recounts that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed. We know that occurred in April, for the same reason that we collect taxes in April. So Jesus must have been born in April. The reason the persecuted Roman christians celebrated Christmas in December was to coincide with the Roman holiday of Saturnalia, so the christian celebration would not be noticed. During Saturnalia the Romans lighted candles and played a game where the masters were temporarily the servants and the servants temporarily the masters–you can see the appeal to the christians. The lighting of candles around Dec. 21 was universal, to bring back the sun. Dec. 21, the winter solstice, is the longest night of the year.
I will see a wave of patients who regained a lot of weight during the holidays. It shouldn’t be. The Ten Orders are in force all year.