I think I must be an antiestablishmentarian at heart. It was probably passed down to me from my parents... who, as they age are less rebellious in action, but still 70's children, free-thinkers at heart. Which leads to this discussion.
Holidays are just a date, unless meaning is applied to them. Ceremony, remembrance and dedication are made on certain days to commemorate something important in life or history.
Birthdays for example are slightly ridiculous. You didn't choose to be born on that day, but as children you are bamboozled by society into believing you should be rewarded on this day for just living (no designation on how or to what purpose you live, you just didn't die this year... go you!). I have nothing against celebrating birthdays. Unless you decide to turn your child into a greedy self-centered monster, by inviting everyone he knows to some outlandish party. Therefore asking each of these children to cater to your monster with gifts... I could go on but you see where I'm headed. You told your child that on this one day of the year you can be a selfish greedy little wildebeest and everybody else has to be okay with this and pay him homage. So when these little dears grow up they are either A) selfcentered big wildebeests or B) self pitying people who don't understand why the world doesn't spoil them like mommy and daddy did.
I'm sure there's a middle ground between not celebrating it (which makes your child feel left out when compared to his fellows) and the spoilt-y adult failure scenario. Please find it, for the sanity of the rest of us!
So... when traditional holidays come around I tend to want to be with my family, but generally Holiday's are just that... excuses to see family. Some holidays I like better than others & some have more value to me than others. For instance: Easter... without the bunnies and baskets, and Christmas, but Santa's not on my good list.
I love the fall and the family time of Thanksgiving. However I can't get behind the ridiculous story of the pilgrims and the Indians sitting down together to enjoy the fruits of their combined labor, because my friends (historically speaking) that is not at all the way it happened. Even with this bogus legend surrounding this holiday I still appreciate that Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by President Lincoln in an effort to bring together a torn nation during the civil war. That's admirable. However, it was originally supposed to be a day that we give thanks for the "union" or government. Not a day set aside to give thanks to God and remember his many gifts to us alone. This doesn't mean that I don't do that... but I'd rather do that every week, not just during the third one in November.
I also really like St. Patrick's day. A) Of all the St.'s Patrick is one of my faves (and no I'm not catholic, but I do have a healthy respect for the saints that have come before me). B) The holiday was declared in an effort to stop prejudice against the huge influx of Irish immigrants that came to the US in the 1840's. C) I'm a sliver Irish. So it's in my blood. And frivolously D) I love green!
So earlier this month when I made a comment on a networking site about St. Patrick's Day being more legitimate than say Thanksgiving, I caught some flack about it. People commenting that St. Patrick's Day was just an excuse to get drunk and wear green. Or saying that evidently I'm not walking with my savior by stating that the historical legitimacy of Thanksgiving is bogus (not verbatim). I decided not to be argumentative on the site, and instead state my side here.
A holiday may have spiritual validity because you, as someone of faith gives it such. Just as a person without said faith base will give a different meaning to the same holiday i.e. Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, etc. We live in a society where the world is the way you see it (another rant is gurgling forth, but I'll save it for another day). However, the historical basis for the creation of said holiday is not relative. This day was set aside as a holiday for a specific reason years ago. And so to say that some holiday's have more historical legitimacy than others does not mean that they have more or less spiritual validity. In other words, back off my Christian brothers and sisters! Read the actual words that are written, without the connotation gleaned looking down from your high horse.
That's all for now folks!
The Cool Factor
10 years ago