Good Friday - Keeping Our Founders Promise, Or Not?
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." George Washington
I support religious freedom. All of us should be allowed to worship, to congregate, to practice and teach whatever faith, combination of faiths or even non-faith we want. In our homes, places of worship, private schools, charities ... any and every personal, non-government venue.
No matter what President Washington declared, we all know that as a country, America was and is weighted toward Christianity. And each year I grow more concerned by an ever increasing shutdown nationwide on Good Friday.
That a Christian holy day has become a de facto national holiday, though unsanctioned by law, is a potentially dangerous precedent. It means the lines between Church and State continue to blur.
Hear me clearly: I am not anti-Christian. I am not anti-Good Friday. I am not anti-religion. I am not anti-God. I totally respect all religions. I proudly celebrate my own Jewish faith.
Whether Christian, Jew, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist or practitioner of any other belief system, faith can have a unique and positive effect on our lives. It can provide meaning, guidance, support, comfort, direction, strength, community, enlightenment.
It should never provide a way to divide. To hate. Or punish. Or even to judge. Certainly not to take over. On that I think we can all agree.
"...the loathsome combination of Church and State. Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone." Thomas Jefferson
That's why our founding fathers, while recognizing their own and their country's predominant Christianity, tried to remove religion from the governing equation. They wanted to abide by its principles but not rule America through specific religious precepts.
A very sane--and safe--view of separating Church and State. They guessed correctly, as we all learned during the last 8 years, that leaders with overly zealous religious beliefs might run the country with very narrow tunnel vision.
Not very tolerant, is it? Not very Christian, in fact. But I digress.
Yes, Good Friday is a day of profound significance to the Christian religion. I respect and honor that. I do. But what about the separation of Church and State?
If we're going to blatantly ignore that constitutional imperative in order to make Good Friday a national holiday, we give those Christian zealots yet another edge, an advantage, more power to repress those with whom they disagree. A very slippery slope.
And hey, if we make Good Friday a national holiday, why not all join in celebrating Passover too? It represents arguably the most pivotal role in the foundation of Western civilization.
Passover commemorates not only freedom from slavery but from polytheism. It celebrates belief in one God and in the Ten Commandments -- both seminal to the creation of Western religion, and ultimately of Christianity. The Last Supper was most likely a Passover Seder.
Christians, Jews and Muslims historically came from the same place after all. Our teachings aren't so very different. One God, adherence to religious laws, faith, conviction, love, tolerance.
It's that last one where the problems usually arise. Tolerance. The hubris of religious oneupsmanship. 'My religion's better than yours.' Or, "My religion says your ways are evil.' And worse, among fanatics, 'My religion tells me to kill you.'
No matter our common origins, our Constitution and the intentions of our founding fathers --no matter even the race of our current president-- America is a White, Christian country. Run by Christians in deference to Christian values and sensitivities.
Anyone who thinks otherwise should look at the Stock Market, dark on Good Friday. At Congress, not in session today. At many local, state and federal agencies, closed.
Because religious freedom is protected by the Constitution, private citizens and business owners can do what they please. But no government or any other public institution or taxpayer-supported industry should close--nor provide employees with a paid holiday--for a purely religious observance.
Jews are required to take an unpaid "personal day" for Yom Kippur, the most solemn and sacred of all Jewish holidays. Muslims, Buddhists and other faiths must do the same for their holiest days. So I respectfully submit that Christians should not be given paid leave on Good Friday at taxpayers' expense.
Yes, everybody gets time off for Christmas, but come on, regardless of religious observance, Christmas has become a worldwide secular and commercial holiday -- a retail bonanza that literally impacts the GNP of America and most other Western countries.
Our country's sanctioned national holidays honor tradition and history (Thanksgiving, President's Day), those who've fought for our country (Memorial Day, Veteran's Day), those who work for it (Labor Day) and our nation's birthday (July 4th.)
These national observances make sense. They're relevant to all of us, regardless of race, creed, color, original national origin or religion.
I say again, I respect Good Friday as the holiest and most meaningful Christian observance of enduring faith. But exactly by virtue of its religious significance, it should not be elevated tacitly or through government support to national holiday status.
Again, that's a very slippery slope.
If you choose to spend Good Friday in prayer, attending church services, reflecting on it's enormous significance to you, God bless. It's your right. But that should be a personal decision, not a nationally mandated one.
Our country has learned the hard way that allowing a single religious group to lead a nation is to give its zealots the power to deny basic freedoms.
America and the world has learned the hardest way that allowing a single religion to rule a nation is to give its fanatics a platform from which to launch unspeakable acts.
There's nothing about that which any God would approve.
Shalom. Salaam. Peace.
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Max Rivlin-Nadler
drlaura2
Kristina Lakes
mhold
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Jane Brogan
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Comments
Rated for taking on a sacred cow.
By comparison, closing schools in NYC in September for the high holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in the 50s and 60s wasn't for religious reasons, most of the teachers in the NYC school system were Jewish, and you'd have non-Jewish students with out teachers available in the classrooms.
Just presenting an alternative point of view to your well reasoned and well written essay.
But, conversely, I do bristle at the notion that freedom OF religion has somehow morphed into freedom FROM religion, But that is likely a point of divergence, so let's stop there....
For the record, I am a lapsed Episcopalean who stopped going at Christmas and Easter based on feeling highly hypocritical taking up space from well wishers to whom it meant more. I want to connect I hit a lake at night and stare at the stars. I channel my inner druid.
this is a beautifully presented argument, and i agree with you about church and state separation.
in this case, however, i think oe is on to something with an alternative explanation. the american worker does not get enough downtime---unless, of course, one counts the permanent, unsought for downtime from layoffs, but i digress.
i think of this day off as "adult spring break." and i think of it as a good day to travel the la freeways,too.
maybe I'm blind to the religious implications because my own life is lived so secularly.
And why, why, why is it unsurprising that Geoff's an Episcopalian? (Is there a kind other than lapsed?)
My busiest client at the moment is a Muslim. I figured the plant would be open today and I get work done, but in fact he is closed because the vast majority of his employees are Christian. That's tolerance :-)
So I am taking the day off too. Off to the beach soon.
I'm all for celebrating everyone's holidays. Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, etc.
Atheists don't celebrate many holidays. Though we like celebrating Darwin's birthday with all the other skeptical thinkers. So we'll take everyone else's.
I think Sally's argument isn't that it is a government holiday, but it seems to becoming more common for people to take off work. It's becoming a defacto national holiday albeit not yet a federal holiday.
Where I am, today is just like any other day - the Christians will be attending church after work, and the rest of us will just go about our business. Most everyplace I know of is open and waiting on customers.
On the flip side, though, I'll be happy to take off any holidays that the state will let me. I never look a gift horse in the mouth. ;-D
Thumbed. Shalom, Sala'am, and Peace to you as well.
~~~Delia's idea of recognizing all religions has great merit, seriously. But we're in such economic trouble, I'm not sure if a 4-day work week would help lower costs or hurt us more by lowering production.
~~~OES hits on the economy too, so do Maddie and others, but I think it's too broad to say 'nobody will show up for work' and therefore it's an economic issue and businesses should close.
First of all that's totally unacceptable business practice and it plays into what I'm talking about ... legitimizing a religious observance with a national day off. Teachers, for example, belong to a union, can and have negotiated certain specified days off into their contracts. Any other union can do the same.
~~~Stellaa noted a realistic practice, "...you took time for the service, 1-2 hours, but had to come back. You could not take the day off." Fine, but they shouldn't be paid for those hours off. And as Stellaa so helpfully provided, the Federal government doesn't pay if you don't show up. BUT,
many federal employees get an extra paid vacation day if the head of their department wants Good Friday off too. Including Congress.
~~~Derek's correct, I'm worried Good Friday is "becoming a de facto national holiday albeit not yet a federal holiday." I'm okay with the Federal Government passing laws that include one day of paid leave for at least the three major religions (not counting Christmas, as we all agree on it's secular evolution). Beyond Christmas, I don't want to see nationwide acceptance of yet another Christian holiday as more special than a Jewish or Muslim one.
~~~I want to thank Lea for noticing that I was also making a broader point by tying Passover and Easter together in back-to-back posts. (And Passover conveniently begins at sundown, so only night shift workers would be affected).
Religion has a place in our lives but not in our laws. GWB's over-the-top evangelical zeal --does no one remember he said publicly God told him to go to war in Iraq?-- and his appointments of right wing Christian justices to the Court put far too many of our freedoms in jeopardy.
President Obama didn't win a landslide. Sarah Palin and her cohorts are still out there trying to subvert our personal rights. A continuing national assumption of Christian rights over all others gives power and credence to their cause.
But on a personal note, Happy Easter to all who celebrate this weekend.
[AHEM: forgetting to Rate is also wrong. What does Geoff always say about little bunnies?....]
This is a little bit like becoming overwrought because New Years is a day off. The thing for almost all Americans is the three day weekend... it's uncommon for it to be thought of in religious terms at all.
So I agree with you, even though I am Christian.
And Happy Passover!
And the fact (the only actual real one in my response) is that mainline Christian's constitute 13% of the population of the US. That is TINY! And it gets less every year.
There is a heritage of Christianity historically---that runs counter to what the founders had in mind.
But that's played out on a much bigger stage than our young country Political groups have been propping up twisted versions of Christianity since Constantine.
And over time---it's never lasted.
I don't think it will here either
I am shocked to see that Ishmael led his flocks to Islam. My ignorance is no longer as vast, but I would like to see a little more detail about how he led to Mohammed, then Ali (Shia) and the Followers of Mohammed's friend (Sunni).
Somewhat amusingly, your opinion about Good Friday mirrors mine about the proliferation of holidays honoring veterans. When did everything get to be about war?
~~~Well, Emma, the Stock Market is closed. Many state, local and federal offices and services are closed. Banks are closed. Some schools are closed, many close at noon. Maybe in some locations it's not noticible, but the aggregate is.
~~~Steve, excellent point, which I didn't make. I would also hate to see another holy religious day become just another commercial spree. Look at Easter... what, could someone please tell me, do chocolate bunnies or jelly beans have to do with Jesus or Christianity? At least it's on a Sunday, America's recognized Sabbath day.
Thank you and Happy Easter to you!
~~~Roger, I don't fully understand. And I don't know your source but Wiki tells me a 2008 survey shows the Christian population to total 76%, with 25% Catholic, 16% Baptist, your noted 13% Mainline and about 22% identified as Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., not including Mormons at 1.5%.
A Harris poll of registered voters confirms that Catholics and Baptists are at the top of the list, which follows the same pattern found in Wiki. That's still a majority of Christians, whose individual or collective beliefs we can't possibly really know.
You say the impact of their "Political groups have been propping up twisted versions of Christianity since Constantine." And you don't think it will last. I ask you only to look at today's Supreme Court and the impact their personal beliefs could have on many of our futures. The more we allow religion of any kind to trump personal freedoms, the worse it is for everybody.
I do wish you and your family a very Happy, Healthy, Peaceful Easter.
~~~Zuma, anti-Semitsm does apply to all semitic races but there were far more Jewish imigrants to America than Muslims in our nation's early days, many achieving success and high profiles as well, which hmm, angered other non-Jewish immigrants. Then Hitler made anti-Semitism universal against the Jews. At least that would be my interpretation. As always, I could be wrong.
And I have to ask, why would you worry about a proliferation of holidays honoring veterans? I have heard nothing about any new holidays, not sure why any of us would be against them. Though I'd far rather see any money spent on healthcare for veterans and their families than on holidays and parades.
I suspect it's a regional issue. I remember having "Easter Monday" off in the Midwest 40 years ago (back before schools had spring breaks), but that ended by the time I was in high school. No one I've talked to here has ever heard of having a Good Friday holiday, and we want one! We aren't surprised that Wall Street didn't work; bankers have always had more holidays than the rest of us, but Christianity and capitalism aren't quite the same thing, especially for those of us on the Religious Left.
As for the veterans' holidays, we have veterans' parades here on Memorial Day, July 4 and Veterans' Day, and guns abound. I have no problem with better benefits; I do have one with glorifying war and the ever-present "We fought for your freedoms" guilt trip. It seems as though one holiday per issue would be sufficient.
That 76-77% of the American population identify themselves as Christian is reported by almost every poll. I'm not arguing that.
But in an historical context---that number has dropped from 91% in just our lifetime. Gallup is the source.
Gallup also reports that 2/3 of the American public see that the influence of religion on their lives is waning.
Fundamentalist Christian churches have leveled off in the past year.
And Catholic church attendance has dropped from 75% to 45%.
Perhaps the differences between Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Jewish renewal beliefs are not that different.
But the differences between the different flavors of Christianity are huge.
Rick Warren and I don't go to the same church.
High, I agree with (and remember most of) what you said. Too many guns, gloryifying war.... noooooooo.
Roger, hang on, I have clearly upset you more and I would hope you'd know it's perhaps coming from ignorance, but certainly not from malice. I didn't mean to "lump all Christians together" in my essay... but no matter which denomination, Good Friday, Easter and veneration of Jesus are part of the Christian religion, right? Wait. You know what? I'm not going to say any more. The last person on earth I'd ever want to offend is you.
Maria just reminded me that I once had a very ugly argument with my Dad about lumping all Christians together---so it's a sore subject. (See my post on the Cardinal of Chicago screaming for example!)
Virtual hug!
"look up your redemption drawth nigh"kjm version