Muslims petitions the US government to declare Eid as public holiday

[Lonerandsad]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Oh, please. Judeo-Christian principles? Given the tenor of this thread, we Jews have no interest in being lumped with your "principles."

The "Judeo" principle in this situation is: Celebration? Let's eat and be merry together.

First of all you should appreciate and be glad that Christians are nice enough that they include Jews, hence calling it 'Judeo-Christian' rather than 'Christian' only (of which it should be and makes more sense). Also the reason why some say 'Judeo-Christian' is due to Christianity originated from Judaism, and the Torah = Old Testament.

I'm agnostic btw.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by Lonerandsad

First of all you should appreciate and be glad that Christians are nice enough that they include Jews, hence calling it 'Judeo-Christian' rather than 'Christian' only (of which it should be and makes more sense). Also the reason why some say 'Judeo-Christian' is due to Christianity originated from Judaism, and the Torah = Old Testament.

I'm agnostic btw.

NICE ENOUGH???? I can't believe you really said that.

You've already said you hate the Constitution, and I'm beginning to suspect one of the reasons - you are one of those who think only christians should have full citizenship rights.

Clue for you - when christians did run governments, they were not any "nicer" than anyone else.

[Lonerandsad]

Originally Posted by jacqueg

NICE ENOUGH???? I can't believe you really said that.

You've already said you hate the Constitution, and I'm beginning to suspect one of the reasons - you are one of those who think only christians should have full citizenship rights.

Clue for you - when christians did run governments, they were not any "nicer" than anyone else.

You're putting words in my mouth; I never said I hate the Constitution, but would like to see some changes on the first and second amendment. Christians do run the government because they are 90% of the people in congress, so technically they are in charge. If they want since they are by far the majority, they can change everything and do whatever they want but unlike Muslims they don't and believe in secularism. Jews don't believe in secularism either because they declare Israel officially a Jewish state.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by Lonerandsad

You're putting words in my mouth; I never said I hate the Constitution, but would like to see some changes on the first and second amendment. Christians do run the government because they are 90% of the people in congress, so technically they are in charge. If they want since they are by far the majority, they can change everything and do whatever they want but unlike Muslims they don't and believe in secularism. Jews don't believe in secularism either because they declare Israel officially a Jewish state.

No, they can't. They stay within constitutional bounds. Mostly because they actually *believe* in it, but all of them because they have to.

YMMV, but calling it "an archaic piece of paper written mainly by warriors" doesn't sound to me as if you have much respect for the constitution.

Changing the constitution to allow for religious discrimination is a very odd position for a non-believer to take.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Lonerandsad

You're putting words in my mouth; I never said I hate the Constitution, but would like to see some changes on the first and second amendment. Christians do run the government because they are 90% of the people in congress, so technically they are in charge. If they want since they are by far the majority, they can change everything and do whatever they want but unlike Muslims they don't and believe in secularism. Jews don't believe in secularism either because they declare Israel officially a Jewish state.

Whatever the merits of the concept (I refuse to go there), Israel was founded as a Jewish state in ethnic terms (though Israel's religious right has certainly tried, and had some success in, encroaching on this standard). Really, Israeli Jews are sharply divided between the unabashedly secular and the fanatically religious, with increasingly little in between.

Israel is one of the world's most atheist countries because, once again, Judaism is an ethnicity and culture in addition to a religion. Many disapora Jews have had fervent secular identities dating back hundreds of years. American Jews are less likely to believe the Bible is the literal word of God than people who self-identify as non-religious. Chew on that one for a minute.

And AFAIK, "public holidays" are meaningless designations. Things like National Hog Farmer's Day and Take Your Hamster to Zumba Week are passed in Congress by voice vote.

Federal holidays are another story, but there's no way any holiday but a select few Christian ones should be federally designated. Of course, states and localities with large religious minority populations are free to alter to suit, and when the number of celebrants exceeds a critical mass, it's stupid not to just give the day off. There are definitely places where giving off for major Muslim holidays makes sense.