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I received a rather long email from my brother the other day. It had to do with an extremely intelligent politician from Maine. The last section of the email is what caught my eye, and I am posting it here in the debate forum. I am sure many of you are on one side or the other regarding this.
Me personally, boy would I like to see this come about. Here is the section of that email.
Quote:
Since we can't pray to God, can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don't believe Government (Federal, State and Local) and its employees should participate in Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.
I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter. After all, it's just another day.
I'd like the" US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays."
After all, it's just another day.
I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the "Christmas Break." After all it's just another day.
I'm thinking a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be "politically correct."
In fact....I think our government should work on Sundays (AFTER ALL, It was initially set aside for worshipping God....) because, AFTER ALL, our government says that it should be Just ANOTHER DAY...."
What do you all think???? If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the "minority opinions"
Bob.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 10-25-2014 at 06:17 AM..
Reason: Changed title to reflect topic and fixed formatting
I'm an atheist and I celebrate Easter and Christmas completely devoid of any religious meaning, because it's cultural.
This is nothing but hot air and nonsense.
No one is prohibiting you from praying.
"In God We Trust" is still on our currency, and while I don't think it should be, it's current presence or eventual absence means little.
No, you shouldn't be able to have one religion's documents displayed on a government building. If you do so, you need to welcome all religions. If you're okay with statues of Satan and the Flying Spaghetti Monster on courthouse lawns, then hey, knock yourself out.
Then the line is immediately crossed from mixing government in religion to religion in personal lives. As stated, no one is keeping you from praying at home, but you'd prohibit government employees from celebrating their religious holidays due to their employer? That is discrimination.
USPS doesn't get federal funding, which puts them in a sorta-kinda-government position. As it is there's constant discussion about dropping Saturday delivery. I don't think you're going to convince them to add a day. You want something delivered on Sunday, find another company and pay their price.
A great deal of the rest of it again goes back to culture. In our culture we have certain holidays. Some are based on religion. Not all people who celebrate those holidays are religious, but those holidays are still part of our social fabric. The presence of absence of a god doesn't make a difference. You're going to be hard-pressed to do away with Christmas, whether you frame is as Sweet Baby Jesus' Birthday or Heathen Atheist Winter Funtime.
Actually, taxwise we'd be in a pretty good position if religious institutions were taxed like everything else. A quick glance at Google says we're basically subsidizing religious institutions--which I remind you are predominately Christian in this country--to the tune of at least $71 billion annually. That's a decent chunk of change.
And finally, we operate on a five day workweek that is usually Monday through Friday, with Saturday and Sunday off. This has more to do with the labor movement than with religion. Even if no one went to church on Sunday, the expectation that Saturday and Sunday are the weekend with no work/school is still going to be there.
So as I said: hot air and nonsense, complaining about persecution that doesn't exist.
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Well, Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, so things are not delivered that day because all non-essential federal personnel have that day off.
I'm a Deist (there is a God, but he is an "absentee landlord"; universe is 4.5 billion years old, evolution happened, multiverse happened if physicists say it did, etc.) and I agree with cephalopede; "In God We Trust" does not belong on our money but it is more a cultural statement. I guess that's why the Supreme Court allowed it.
Christmas and Easter are federal holidays because back in teh 1800s, people tried to ban celebration of Christmas. Back then, celebrating Christmas involved people getting drunk and engaging in uncivilized behavior. Source: When Americans banned Christmas - The Week
I'm not sure if making it a federal holiday was the correct response, but that's what happened.
I received a rather long email from my brother the other day. It had to do with an extremely intelligent politician from Maine. The last section of the email is what caught my eye, and I am posting it here in the debate forum. I am sure many of you are on one side or the other regarding this.
Me personally, boy would I like to see this come about. Here is the section of that email.
What do you all think???? If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the "minority opinions"
Bob.
Yes I agree. Ridiculous how non-believers try to spin it or stay silent when it comes to holiday bonuses and time off from work. They'll take our money though and all the other benefits that come with living in a Christian society.
I don't care if Christians take off for religious holidays, so long as I am allowed to take off for my religious (and or cultural, for those non-religious folks) holidays. Christmas began as a pagan based holiday and is also celebrated by pagans. My family practices many different religions(and there are some non religious members too) and yet we all celebrate Christmas in non religious fashion. America is a capitalist society before anything else, and plenty of Americans work on holidays that government officials get to take a break for. I say, the more national/cultural holidays the better for us all.
I don't care if Christians take off for religious holidays, so long as I am allowed to take off for my religious (and or cultural, for those non-religious folks) holidays. Christmas began as a pagan based holiday and is also celebrated by pagans. My family practices many different religions(and there are some non religious members too) and yet we all celebrate Christmas in non religious fashion. America is a capitalist society before anything else, and plenty of Americans work on holidays that government officials get to take a break for. I say, the more national/cultural holidays the better for us all.
I think you are missing the point.
The email was about a politician in Maine, and how he felt about taking God out of our lives, but yet celebrating days and events tied to him.
Christmas is in celebration of Christ.
Easter is in celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
Why on one hand are we not allowed to pray to our God, and make public displays having to do with God, while on the other, celebrate days that are important concerning God?
In God we trust is on our currency as a tribute to God.
Through government mandate, we are not allowed to pray openly in public places, nor show reverence to the almighty, yet we have these holidays because we are supposed to be celebrating Jesus Christ
So if we are not allowed to pray in public, show our reverence to God in the public domain, then why should we make a special holiday of Christmas, Easter, and Good Frida?
I received a rather long email from my brother the other day. It had to do with an extremely intelligent politician from Maine. The last section of the email is what caught my eye, and I am posting it here in the debate forum. I am sure many of you are on one side or the other regarding this.
Me personally, boy would I like to see this come about. Here is the section of that email.
What do you all think???? If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the "minority opinions"
Bob.
What a load of tripe.
OK, let's dissect that ridiculous email:
Quote:
Since we can't pray to God, can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don't believe Government (Federal, State and Local) and its employees should participate in Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.
You're free to pray to God, even in government buildings. Are you ignorant of this fact? Is your brother? You can trust in God (whatever that means). Not only can you, but every last government-issued coin and piece of currency in your pocket proclaims it. Now, I personallty think this is an Establishment Clause violation, but by what nonsensical notion do you or your brother come up with the inane idea that you can't do that?
As for the Ten Commandments, we cannot also post "There is but one true God, and Mohammed is his prophet" in government buildings. Or ones favorite quotes of Marx. Or Justin Biebur lyrics. So, what's the problem? Why is your religious faith so weak and fragile that you need to have it drilled into you yet again every time you go get your driver's license renewed?
Quote:
I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter. After all, it's just another day.
I'm an atheist, and it is abundantly clear to me that Christmas and Thanksgiving are clearly as cultural as well as religious holidays. Eating turkey, cutting down a pine tree and propping it up in your living room, stringing lights on your house - doing these things no more makes on a Christian than calling the day of the week on which Thanksgiving falls 'Thursday' (ie, Thor's day) makes one a Norse pagan.
The silly notion you're putting forth reminds me of the parents who complain at the elementary school where my wife teaches. You know, it's never nion-Christians. It's always the ones who want to limit Halloween (because it's all about worshipping Satan, dontcha know?). And if you can't see that unless an individual specifically imbues December 25 with religious trappings, it has no more inherent religious element than does October 31, than I truly pity you.
Good Friday? So you and your brother are cluelessly under the impression that mail is not delivered on the Friday before Easter? So? That's just a matter of your ignorance.
Easter? As opposed to every other Sunday? It is useful to have employment weekends. It has nothing to do with religion.
Quote:
I'd like the" US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays."
After all, it's just another day.
See above.
Oh, and as for the most Good Friday - which was April 18 of this year - the United States Supreme Court spent that day issuing multiple decisions and meeting in conference (this is where they consider petitions and choose which cases they will hear at a later date).
You know, by repeatedly making incorrect claims about what days are holidays, you make your argument look even more pathetic than it already is.
Quote:
I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the "Christmas Break." After all it's just another day.
I'm thinking a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be "politically correct."
In fact....I think our government should work on Sundays (AFTER ALL, It was initially set aside for worshipping God....) because, AFTER ALL, our government says that it should be Just ANOTHER DAY...."
Someone put a lot of effort into a remarkablty stupid email.
I'm not surprised that you didn't bother to fact check it.
Nor am I suprised that neither you nor the author of that nonsense really have the foggiest idea of the Establishment Clause and what it requires.
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