Many Americans struggle to even imagine celebrating Thanksgiving without a deceased turkey on the table. Most don’t realize that in fact it’s a completely invented ‘tradition,’ woven from thin air about 200 years after the colonial celebration this holiday commemorates. The idea (surprise!) caught on like wildfire among industrial turkey producers; and the rest, as they say, is history. Modern Thanksgiving customs show clearly how we make up our own ‘traditions’ to follow – so why not create new ones, better suited to our own values of compassion and nonviolence?