</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
alexandra_k said:
i think people should be allowed to celebrate whenever they wish and i'm certainly not suggesting that people not be allowed to celebrate christmas or whatever.

what i was suggesting, however, is that the statutary holidays be more neutral both with respect to between religions and whether it is religious at all.

because currently the statutary holidays (in the US, Canada, the UK, Australasia) seem to be based around christian religions. as there is more diversity in the world however (and as we get better at acknowledging that) i thought it might be a nice idea to have a neutral statutary holidays and of course people could still celebrate when they wanted...

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

alexandra_k . . . interesting thread. i do hope you keep active in this forum.

i agree with the statutary holidays being not fair to others of different faiths.

but it takes more than a majority to get laws passed. it takes money, lobbying, and grassroots effort, etc. until the other faiths unite and put enough money into the pot, more than the Dec. 25th followers, then nothing will change.

i tend to view Christmas more of a custom than a religious holiday. i wish Christmas would go away.

about the solstice . . .

Would a statutary solstice holiday be more neutral to all the faiths?

I don't think so. For there are some faiths that believe celebrating anything but their god (or their god's or religion's holidays) is forbidden.

I doubt there is such a thing as a neutral statutary holiday. (I'm thinking about the U.S. statutary holidays of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. Those are two holidays that honor shameful historical events of genocide of the native, non-Christians.)