Can we get some Apolitical, Secular Holidays please?
I'm sick of all the religion and Jingoism.
Can we have a day to honor Science and the innovation of the Human Mind?
Hell... why not spread it out a little. Where's "Math Day" dammit?
I want to see platonic solids hanging from the trees...
I'm not really in to elevating any specific individuals.. but I think it would be great if we could balance things out a little here. It would be great to have a day dedicated to the celebration of education, for example, where you could hear free philosophy lectures and such in the park, on a beautiful sunny day, while eating a slice of pizza (while lying naked in a barrel)... that kind of thing.What do you think. What kind of Holidays can you imagine?
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26 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.All holidays are exactly that if you wish them to be!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Apr 13, 2018
0
I am on the same page!
There is a pi day....but I think more people don't know about it than do. ?
Sapiophile
Level 5
Apr 13, 2018
4
<3
There is also “mol” day, October 26th. But you had to go to fairly nerdy University to know about that one.
There are too many now. The greeting card companies have created Grandparents Day, Sister Day,Brother Day, etc. No more holidays necessary.
sassygirl3869
Level 9
Apr 13, 2018
2
So true...but those are "Card Holidays" right? Exist solely for the purpose of selling another folded bit of cardboard. Let's celebrate the others by doing something nice and meaningful for each other. Like baking pies on pi day!
assume you missed Darwin Day, there is always next year.
mzee
Level 7
Apr 13, 2018
1
Only a few of the public holidays are religious. In the UK we have May Day, celebrating workers, two spring ;public holidays,s public holiday in August simply because it is summer time, snd \new Year's day, as well as Christmas and Easter.
I know you aren't into elevating individuals - but Newton's BDay is December 25 to help with the secularization of the religious holidays that actual converted the older pagan days.
RPardoe
Level 7
Apr 13, 2018
2
Ummm, Earth Day. Why does everyone always forget Earth Day. It is a day to celebrate and appreciate the planet we live on and try to do something good for the environment.
BeerEngineer
Level 3
Apr 13, 2018
2
Yeah... it's a great one! More like that please!
Still we have a few so far. Thanksgiving, halloween (any religious elements it may have once had are long gone), Mothers/fathers days, Valentines day, St. Patty's day (I have no idea why we celebrate this), and New Years eve. Additionally there are plenty of non religious holidays that we skip work for, but don't celebrate (ie. Memorial day).
Katrik
Level 7
Apr 13, 2018
2
Halloween, Valentines day and St.Patricks day all have specific religious connotations, both christian and pagan. Thanksgiving is absolutely political, and if you don't get why... then you don't know many indigenous people. Your other answers are right on... and it isn't like there aren't a bunch of obscure holidays we just don't celebrate. I mean Arbor day is a great fuckin' holiday! It just needs some PR... 4/27 ... coming up soon!
Darwin Day was in January I believe?
OhioAdam
Level 5
Apr 13, 2018
2
I love this Drunk History lesson on the topic from Professor Eamonn Healy: [vimeo.com]
I thought being naked in a barrel made one a bitter misanthrope?
RobAnybody
Level 7
Apr 15, 2018
1
April fools Day is non secular, plus mothers day ,and fathers day. In Burnley Lancashire there is the day of the Nutters and also a day of the Hummers when children come into your house blacked up with soot and start humming and cleaning your house and you have to give them money to go away - plus all those cheese -rolling down a hill days I could probably think of some more in the middle of the night At halloween whci surely can't be christian people walk up Pendle Hill where the last witches were hanged.
jacpod
Level 8
Apr 13, 2018
1
thanks!
I'm not into holidays/observances. I'd rather work at inculcating stuff consistently, every day. I'm also not into rituals or oaths.
I know I'm weird. I don't mind that other people do that stuff. I'm the odd one out.
I'd sure like to see valuation of logic, rationality, science, etc. celebrated and honored in my culture. It's just not, and that's terribly sad. Holidays/observances may be a way of building that momentum, so I'd be fine with it.
stinkeye_a
Level 8
Apr 13, 2018
1
I relate to that. "Halloween" is allegedly my favorite holiday (just because I like costumes and disguises), but most years, I stay in and ignore it. Still, if there was a "Science" day that was as anticipated as Christmas... I'd probably participate.
Today, 13th April, is International Sceptics Day 
ipdg77
Level 8
Apr 13, 2018
1
I was about to get excited... but in the tradition of Skepticism... I decided to fact check it.. lol! Some sources said December... Some say January... They all agree that it's on the 13th tho.. Which is interesting.. What is the relevance of 13 to skeptics? Anybody?
I don't believe you.....
We should also emphasize some of the existing secular days such as:
Arbor Day (April 27)
Bird Day (Jan 5)
Thanksgiving (can give thanks to anyone or anything)
Boxing Day (started by thanking trades for their service, but could be recast to reach out and say thanks to others specifically who have helped us)?
Inventor's Day (11 Feb)
Engineer's Day (tied around Washington's BDay)
and of course
Spring Break
RPardoe
Level 7
Apr 13, 2018
1
I'm gonna pump Arbor Day and try to get a squad together to plant trees. Everybody knows Earth Day already... but Arbor Day could use some publicity! Trees are cool!
Valentine's Day?
@Anemynous Trees are cool! (Literally and figeratively)
Then there is the factoid: There are more trees on Earth then stars in the galaxy.
About 3 Trillion trees vs 400 Billion Stars. I was skeptical about the claim, but just count the number of trees on your block or local park. And (unless you are very lucky) that isn't even forest.
All this as I am in the midst of replacing a dead oak tree in my front yard with a new live oak.
@RPardoe you're right about the number of trees on earth but according to Discover Magazine there are possibly 300 sextillion stars in the universe.
[blogs.discovermagazine.com]
I just spent the day joining the street water fights in Songkhla, Thailand for the Thai New Year Songkran water festival. It's a country-wide water fight..people lining the streets to spray and dunk passers-by with ice water, while they fight back with super-soakers and thrown water from the backs of pickup trucks.
It's the BEST HOLIDAY FESTIVAL EVER, and I always wish the US had one. I love all the Thai holidays and join in enthusiastically.
My complaint about US holidays is that many are religious or patriotic and all seem to involve mostly eating large quantities of food. Right. Like people need to gain even more weight. Better to get outside and have fun!
birdingnut
Level 8
Apr 13, 2018
1
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!
MNI WICONI!
(pronounced Minnie-Wichōni "Water is Life" -Lakota)
You have a great point and yes it would be wonderful. I have no idea of how to get it done but to give it a try is a nice idea. We do celebrate PI day but it falls flat to the world. PI day should be a day off to focus on the marvels of the world around us
EMC2
Level 8
Apr 13, 2018
1
Isn't Halloween a secular holiday?
The_Antichrist
Level 6
Apr 13, 2018
1
Nope. Even without with the threadbare cloak of christianity, the rituals are based on Pagan religious customs. I do prefer the company of Pagans to Christians... it's a more enjoyable variety of nonsense.
Halloween is a contraction of "All Hallows Evening" the night before All Hallows' Day (aka All Saints' Day). It's been a Christian holiday for more than 1000 years. It's believed by many people that the holiday's roots go back farther to Celtic harvest festivals such as Samhain. So although the modern observance of Halloween in the US is primarily secular, the day certainly has string religious roots, and in other countries it's still more of a religious holiday.
Isn't that why tyhe mexicans have Cinco De Mayo? I am told there is no political or religious reason for that holiday.
snytiger6
Level 9
Apr 13, 2018
0
Cinco De Mayo celebrates the victory of the Mexican army over Napolean the III in 1862.
I thought Cinco de Mayo was more a US holiday than a Mexican one.
I’ve always found Thanksgiving to be secular and apolitical.
indirect76
Level 7
Apr 13, 2018
0
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