Because there is a war on Easter brewing, and you don’t want to be left out of the fun:
One week before the most solemn day in the Christian year, the city of Davenport, Iowa removed Good Friday from its municipal calendar, setting off a storm of complaints from Christians and union members whose contracts give them that day off.
Taking a recommendation by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission to change the holiday’s name to something more ecumenical, City Administrator Craig Malin sent a memo to municipal employees announcing Good Friday would officially be known as “Spring Holiday.”
“My phone has been ringing off the hook since Saturday,” said city council alderman Bill Edmond. “People are genuinely upset because this is nothing but political correctness run amok.”
Edmond said the city administrator made the change unilaterally and did not bring it to the council for a vote, a requirement for a change in policy.
Fortunately, as we learn later on in the story, this was just an error, and the day will still be called Good Friday. Otherwise, how else was the omnipotent and omniscient invisible guy supposed to know how much the people of Davenport love Jesus?
funluvn
Spring Holiday sounds a whole lot like May Day to me.
The commu-socialist-marxbrothers are at it again!
cleek
separation of church and whatnow ?
edgefigaro
Ahh, the axiom of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rings true again. Let em have their calendars.
Boudica
My husband’s company recently changed the rules for Good Friday….you may now request to work on Good Friday and take another day off during the year.
I don’t recall getting Good Friday off from school growing up in the North. But down here in the South, it’s de rigueur.
Ugh
I do like how “political correctness” is an all purpose excuse these days to dismiss, well, anything.
Cat Lady
They should just call it TGIGF and call it a day. So to speak.
Cap'n Phealy
No, it’s “Pass the Lord, and praise the ammunition.” [/firesign]
El Cid
I heard whichever AM morning rightist screamer was on bellowing about this.
Zifnab
THE END IS NEAR
funluvn
@Ugh: My question is: why it is called Political Correctness if the Reichwing continues to find everything about it Incorrect?
Kind of stupid….
EEH
@Boudica: I was wondering if this was a regional thing because I’d never heard of this before. I grew up in the Southwest (or “the other South” as I like to call it) and now live in CO and can’t think of a time when Good Friday was a day off.
geg6
I have never once had a holiday on Good Friday. Even when I was attending Catholic school as a child, we had school on Good Friday. Granted, a large chunk of it was taken up with the Via Dolorosa in the church rather than in the school building, but still…we had to go to school that day at Our Lady of Fatima.
Paris
Why don’t they just add a couple more Good days? We should have Good Thursday and Good Wednesday off too.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Balloon Juice: come for the politics, stay for the Christianity-bashing.
Chyron HR
“Nobody should be allowed to call this Friday a Spring Holiday, because it offends me! P.S. Down with political correctness.”
Face
It’s Davy. Those god-fearing conservative do-gooders just want to make sure they still have that day off so they can go blow a few C-notes in each of the 3 casinos in the Quads….
Probably while smoking, drinking, and staring at hot waitress’ asses.
2th&nayle
The old parting shot, “If I don’t see you before Easter; go ahead and hide the eggs.” has never seemed quite so apropos.
Martin
What an idiot. He should have said it was Cesar Chavez day. That would have avoided all of the controversy.
Pangloss
My town did the right thing and re-named itself “Jesusville” several years ago.
Punchy
@Paris: Isn’t this the day that Jeebus gets staplegunned to the cedar? This is what they call a “Good Friday”?
Hate to see what a Bad one looks like.
flukebucket
Every Friday is Good Friday as far as I am concerned.
Martin
@Punchy: All depends on your perspective, I supposed. Have I mentioned that I have one mean fucking staplegun?
Ash Can
Thank goodness the folks in Davenport don’t have any real problems to worry about.
Zifnab
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Why are we being so mean to the screeching harpies that just shat bricks over the name listed on the municipal calendar?
This is JUST like what happened to Jesus, right after he was unjustly persecuted for raping children.
MBunge
There’s an argument as to whether folks should get Good Friday off, but giving them the day off while calling it “Spring Holiday” or some other crap else is exactly the sort of stupid stuff that feeds the persecution complex of Christian conservatives.
Mike
Annie
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
We, here, at BJ don’t have to indulge in “Christianity-bashing.” Many “supposedly” good Christians bash Christianity enough….
Colette
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Show me where in the New Testament it says Good Friday has to be a municipal holiday. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
slag
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: The only Christianity-bashing I’ve seen here is mostly in the comments. Although there was that post where DougJ said he thought religion was a big practical joke that a lot of people bought into. But that wasn’t exactly Christianity-bashing as much as it was religiosity-bashing. I’ve seen zero Christianity or religiosity bashing in this post, however.
The Boramander You Know
I don’t have Good Friday off; I’m looking at my calendar and my next scheduled holiday off is at the end of May, so these folks can go wash the sand out of their collective vaginas and shut the fuck up. They’re getting the day off. I’m not. They can blow their Jesus Day out their asses.
Brian J
@Boudica:
I wouldn’t trade our holidays off for anything here in New York. We get everything Catholic and everything Jewish as well.
Felonious Wench
My company is global, i.e. none of us live in an insulated bubble away from other cultures, countries, religions, people.
We have this Friday off. We call it a seasonal holiday, because it’s not spring in some parts of the world.
The war isn’t against Christians, the war is against insular assholes who expect the world to accomodate them.
Zifnab
@MBunge: Can someone please explain to me what – short of full blown municipal theocracy – would avoid bruising the delicate persecution complex of the modern American Christian?
They’ve got people in China who get dragged out of their homes and shot, because they don’t toe the atheist party line. In Davenport, someone changed the holiday name on a calendar probably half the county doesn’t even know exists. And both fall under the heading of “persecution”.
Harpies, the lot of them.
Dork
Last day of school for the 3rd grade boys?
Nylund
Goddamnit! Jesus commanded us all to eat chocolate bunnies and search for eggs and WE SHALL DO AS THE LORD COMMANDS!
He does say that’s what we’re supposed to do, right? Cuz, I got a whole basket of that fake plastic grass stuff and cadbury creme eggs and I sure as hell know it ain’t got NOTHING to do with no SPRING HOLIDAY!
Ash Can
@slag: You could even make the argument that getting all worked up about what a municipality calls the day off is in itself a slight to Christianity, because it focuses on an extremely trivial aspect of the day. Yes, there’s power in words, but when you’re getting the entire day off to observe it however you want (or not), who gives a damn what someone else’s words are?
Crusty Dem
I grew up there (near Davenport) and we always had Good Friday as a holiday. It really threw me off when I moved away and found out that was not an entirely normal thing. And yes, it’s a very Catholic-church-centered area, though it was a very industrial town (Farm/Industrial equipment, John Deere, IH, Case, etc) with strong union support and a long history of democratic support… Of course the unions were pretty much destroyed in the 80s, along with IH..
L Boom
Whipping the Easter Bunny and smashing Easter eggs to remind toddlers that Easter is about Jesus and not about the Easter Bunny and candy is still going to be hard to beat, even six years later.
If only they’d gone after an NEA grant for performance art, they probably could’ve gotten some good cash with the added bonus of national outrage.
geg6
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Well, to be fair, I’m willing to bash pretty much every religion. They are all eminently bashable. However, it’s just that lately Christianity has done such a plethora of bashable things that it does seem like we’ve been unfair to the rest of them and not bashing them as much.
I’ll try to be more fair in the future and bash them all equally.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Zifnab:
Pretty much every other post has been about Christ or Catholicism. It’s fucking boring to read.
No arguing taste, I know. Just trying to think of some other lefty blog that talks about politics and keeps the militant atheism to a minimum.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Colette:
Show me where I was talking about just this one post. The ratio of atheist- political posts has gotten completely unacceptable around here. To me, anyway. But, fuck it. You atheists don’t give a shit what I think regardless.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
I don’t know. I’ve been coming to this blog since Terri Schiavo, and I’ve posted here under various monikers since September 2005. I’m just getting sick of the militant atheism in the commentariat. It didn’t used to be like this.
I know no one here gives a fuck, because I’m not an atheist and therefore I’m a delusional moron. Whatever. I’m going to start shopping around for other lefty blogs to read.
John PM
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: #14
Pointing out that some people are objecting to changing a day off from Good Friday to Spring Holiday is not Christianity bashing. Rather, this story brings to mind Jesus’ admonition about not making your fasting public, but keeping it between you and God.
Comrade Kevin
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
There’s an easy solution to your problem.
Liz
I thought we all decided not to mention Jesus or use the word ‘retard’ here anymore??
I want my money back. Oh wait…
elmo
Well, since nobody else is going to engage in Christianity-bashing, I suppose it’s up to me to start. There is something seriously wrong with a religion that chooses to celebrate spring — the season of blooming flowers, flowing sap, baby chicks and ducklings, sunshine, and rainbows — with a holiday focused entirely on torture, suffering, and death. Sure, yeah, he comes back to life later, rolls back the stone, yadda yadda yadda, but first he has to be flogged, tortured and slowly suffocated to death.
And we’re supposed to celebrate this, because it’s all for our benefit. I’m supposed to be happy that this poor bastard was tortured to death.
Well, goody!
slag
@Ash Can: Exactly. Making fun of people who are using Christ as a superhuman shield isn’t Christianity-bashing. Sure, making fun of these people is pretty easy and maybe even a little trite. But it’s not Christianity-bashing.
John Cole
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Has it occurred to you that the only reason we are talking about religion is because… there are currently a lot of things going on involving religion. The Catholic church mess, Easter, wingnuts injecting religion into textbooks, etc.
And this post wasn’t bashing Christianity. It was bashing idiots who need their government to tell them it is Good Friday in order to believe in their own religion.
Betsy
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Not everyone who is horrified by the Catholic Church’s reaction to the pedophile cases and angered about the injection of fundamentalism into public functions is an atheist, militant or otherwise. FYI.
Liz
@geg6:
Yes-we had Easter Monday off when I was younger.
Colette
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: For the record, I’m not an atheist, I’m a Jew. (Not that they’re mutually exclusive.) I know I sound a little bitter, but the idea of a government-sponsored holiday to celebrate the Romans torturing one of my peeps to death, followed by 2,000 years of Christians using that as an excuse to persecute and murder several million others, is pretty fucking offensive to me. Actual separation of church and state, in practice as well as in theory, sounds like a nice, reasonable idea. I make no apology for disagreeing strongly and not very nicely with those who think otherwise.
canuckistani
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Tell the other Christians to stop acting like dicks and we’ll move on to something you like.
Martin
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Militant? You call this militant? Sorry, but this is pretty weak fucking tea in a country that makes religion a component of every public discussion. Can’t talk about health care without getting your Bible verses in order. Or marriage. Or even whether the President is valid or not.
Grow a pair, alright?
Legalize
I don’t think I ever had a holiday called “Good Friday.” However, at my office now, everyone ducks out early on so-called Good Friday. Including me. So, I’m not complaining. I love religious holidays because I get all of the perks without any of the burden.
Scott
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: If the Republicans hadn’t sold their souls to extremist clerics, demanding that all private and public life must revolve around dead-dude worship while simultaneously betraying all the major precepts of that religion and making it sooooo easy to laugh at their false piety, I’m sure you’d be able to get along without all the Jebus-bashing…
scav
It’s pretty meta having McSnufflepuss whining about not hearing what he wants to hear on a thread devoted to Christianist Davenportians whining about what they call a holiday that a lot of other people don’t even have.
EEH
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Militant athiesim? I think you’ve gotten BJ confused with Pharyngula.
Funny thing, when I was a practicing Christian, the only persecution I endured was when other churches who didn’t deem mine Christian enough picketed our front steps to make it hard for us to go inside. They also showed up one Easter morning and harrassed the kids hunting the eggs hidden on the lawn until our members formed a linked circle around the edge to shield the kids from them.
Keith G
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
As of 12:00 PM, 3 of the last 12 threads dealt with religion as a significant topic. One of those threads concerned the C.C. sexual assault issues which is an international news story. The other two are local stories showing (to my mind) the silliness of local politicians on the topic of religion.
Sorry you feel this way, though this is the season of ritualized symbolic persecution.
John PM
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: #40 & #41
I think you have just illustrated the Christianity persecution complex that some commentators have been discussing.
I have not seen any militant atheism in either the posts or the comments. From reading the comments I know that there are atheists who read this site, but I do not recall any of them being militant. Also, I do not think you can call any of the front-pagers atheists. The only person whose religious leanings I am aware of are DougJ’s, and he has described himself as a lapsed Catholic and not an atheist.
There have been a lot of posts over the past couple weeks about the Catholic Church, but that is understandable given the flood of revelations regarding sex abuse. To the extent that their is anger directed at Christianity, it is anger at the cover up and denialism and has nothing to do with militant atheism.
Zifnab
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Shit dude, that’s what’s in the news. If you want the bloggers to post about things that aren’t happening, try a winger blog.
Comrade Dread
I doubt many people believe this.
I would hazard that some people want respect for their traditions. Others probably view the increasingly secular culture as some indicator that Christianity is losing and they need to work harder to ensure that any further cultural moors remain firmly in place.
I’m not afraid of the government ignoring me or my religious beliefs. Christianity has survived under neutral and even outright hostile governments, often thriving under the latter. And I would rather see our energies devoted to evangelism, apologia, and good works than politics.
But I’m more of the mind that shifts in culture are generated at the individual level, and not imposed by government fiat.
Cain
@Colette:
On that note… Happy Passover!
cain
Scott
@EEH:
I would actually like to hear a great deal more about that. Sounds fascinating, and I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of anything like that. I mean, the Baptists used to complain that Methodists didn’t dunk, but they never actually picketed us for it…
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Hey we don’t actually try to strangle the last king with the entrails of the last priest, we just speculate about it and provide color commentary. Sort of like the Fantasy Football version of the French Revolution.
Who wants to trade Danton for Matt Taibbi, Charlotte Corday, and a Jacobin to be named later?
Zifnab
@John PM:
I think John’s mentioned once or twice that he’s got no use for religion. You can read into that what you will.
All that said, getting on a blog and making repeated posts that amount to, “You’re not blogging about what I want you to blog about” is fairly asinine.
MarkusR
I like how people who complain about “political correctness” are so quick to call up the admin and demand that they change it.
Svensker
@elmo:
Dear Elmo, you have no idea what you’re talking about. I have no problem with you not being a Christian and saying you don’t believe in God, Christ, etc. But making stuff up about something you are ignorant of I have a real problem with.
I’ve never seen any place that had Good Friday off. But I don’t see why it can’t be called Good Friday when it is Good Friday. Will they stop calling the Sunday after that Friday “easter” because it offends people’s sensibilities? And “Christmas” day will no longer be called Christmas because it bothers non-Christians? Isn’t this Passover week? Should I be offended that it’s called that because I’m not Jewish? Should I stomp out the door if my calendar mentions Diwali?
Good grief. Let’s all try to relax a bit here.
EEH
@Scott: It was at the Episcopal Cathedral and was mainly centered around abortion. The signs that they carried had aborted fetuses on them and they were telling the kids that their parents were baby killers. This was a while back now and I’m not sure what happened to end it but they did stop. Most likely something legal because they were all over on the church property when doing this.
scav
whew, that was some McSnufflepussing there. Almost deserves a verb in the lexicon.
Bill Section 147
@slag: It is only bashing if you are hating on it. It isn’t really bashing if you are just describing it.
Saying one came in last is not always equivalent to saying one is a loser.
Jules
Snuffy
I’m a Christian, Catholic actually and I just do not see what you do.
A lot of Christians are assholes and get exactly what they deserve here.
If Christians would stop being such total asshats then there would be no reason for the “militant Atheists” to constantly point out the total douchebagery of various Christians around the world.
Getting in a snit over Good Friday is just asking to be mocked.
Allowing Priests to bugger little boys and teenagers for years then acting all hurt when the stories come out is an offense against God and instead of saying “why are ya’ll picking on us?” the Bishops and Cardinals and even the Pope should be walking around in sack cloth and ashes as the beginning of their penance.
elmo
@Svensker:
Wait, where in my comment did I say that it shouldn’t be called “Good Friday?” Or was Paragraph 2 of your comment not directed at me? And if it wasn’t, then I don’t understand what I’m supposed to be “making up?”
I was raised Catholic, if it matters, so I do actually have an idea of what I’m talking about. I also understand the history of Christian festivals being co-located with pagan seasonal festivals on the calendar, so it’s no accident that Easter is celebrated in spring. “The first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox,” to be precise. If the date were actually historical, Easter would be on a specific date, not one chosen based on the season.
Meh
@MBunge:
Everything feeds the persecution complex of Christian conservatives. Best to just ignore their whining and move on.
Randy P
@Paris: Actually, those other days do have names. Thursday is called “Maundy Thursday”. But don’t ask me what it means to be maundy, or if that word has ever in the history of the English language been applied to anything else.
@Punchy: I always kind of wondered that myself.
And no, I never in my life heard of having Good Friday off either. In Pennsylvania for some reason a lot of people seem to take that day off. That was a surprise for me. I don’t remember noticing anything like that when I lived in the DC area.
danimal
Master Gunner danimal reporting for duty. I’m a veteran of the War against Christmas and I feel the call of duty stirring me to action once more.
Good Friday is a religious holiday. Those that believe in the death and resurrection of Christ are certainly encouraged to celebrate the day as their faith dictates. If they desire the day or afternoon off to attend services, I believe the First Amendment (freedom of religion) allows them to take the time to express their faith. If government officials are preventing them from expressing their faith, I have a real problem with that and would consider it persecution.
Renaming a freaking day off doesn’t come close to persecution in any way, shape or form. This shouldn’t be that difficult a concept.
Cain
So, I think what Scruffy is reacting to is the underlying venom in the comments about it. It’s hard not to associate Christianity with it. Of course, that’s because you people don’t know a real religion when you see one. If you don’t bow to the almighty flying spaghetti monster and kiss his noodlage appendage. Something is wrong.
I was offended the other day cuz I thought I saw noodle porn going into body parts but then I realized that’s just how the Japanese roll.
cain
stormhit
I’ll agree with McS only inasmuch as stuff like “staplegunned to the cedar” simply isn’t funny. That’s the real issue here- religion seems to lower people’s humor standards. So they’ll just settle for mean instead of witty and call it a day.
I mean, essentially it’s a torture joke. Come on, now.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Meh:
I’m not a conservative. On political matters, I’m as liberal as anyone here.
I’m tired of reading threads about Christianity. I’m tired of reading from smug atheist commenters on the subject. I’m entitled to that opinion. I’m vocalizing my protest, and then I’m leaving. I’m not expecting anyone here to agree with me; frankly, if you did, I probably wouldn’t be leaving at all.
Some of you have known me for years. You haven’t always communicated with me under the same handle, but you’ve known me. To you I say, goodbye and best wishes.
And with that, I’m done.
Zifnab
@stormhit:
Too soon?
Randy P
@elmo: I guess you’re being snarky or something, so I’m not sure whether this really gets any kind of serious answer, but what the hell.
Theologically, that’s the whole point. The only point. This is the part that is supposed to make you want to be a Christian. Personally I never really bought or cared about that part and to me the focus is the Gospels and what they say about how we should conduct ourselves here on good old earth. But I understand that for many people this is the central doctrine of Christianity.
Um, no, we’re supposed to be sad. Hence all the penance and repentance stuff, sad music, mournful services, stripping of decoration from altars, etc.
And the idea of a season of fasting and repentance followed by a big party is certainly not unique to Christianity. See Ramadan for instance. In fact in Ramadan I believe you get to do the fasting and partying cycle every single day for a month.
But you gotta earn the feast with the sad stuff. That’s just a Rule.
Edit: I’ll tell you what I don’t get. The version of anti-semitism where you’re supposed to run around screaming at Jews that “you killed Jesus”. Seems to me the entire point of a lot of the pageantry is that WE killed Jesus.
Bill Section 147
@scav: This blog needed some McSnufflepussing. I was getting tired of the other.
Svensker
@elmo:
2nd para was not directed at you.
The first was. If you think that Easter is all about torture and death, then you have missed the idea entirely.
Svensker
@Randy P:
You got me curious. Wiki has a really interesting article on the etymology of the word “maundy.”
I’ve always loved how “Maundy Thursday” sounds — so medieval (in a good way).
liberty60
@Colette:
Says right cheer- We must make our prayers loudly and publicly, otherwise how will our neighbors know we are Christians?
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
Svensker
@Randy P:
What you said.
canuckistani
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
I had a Marat to trade, but it fell in the tub and got ruined. I’ll throw in Saint-Just, but I want Danton and a renaming of days, months and seasons, not just Good Friday. Let’s see them try and celebrate 20 Germinal!
scav
@canuckistani:
You didn’t hang it up to dry by impaling it with a thumb-tack or anything, did you?
twiffer
…Christians and union members whose contracts give them that day off.
that’s the crucial bit. they weren’t worried the name of the day was changed cause of jesus & stuff. they were worried because they had a contract stating they got “Good Friday” off, and if the name was changed they might be denied a paid holiday. selfless, of course.
hell, i’m an atheist, but i’d protest in the same situation.
Cain
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
I agree with you. You are entitled to your opinion. Unlikely that everyone would agree with you considering the diverse background. But I can understand, trivializing stuff like ‘staplegun to the cedar’ is probably hard to take if you believe in that act and what it represents. It trivializes the whole thing. Some people take their faith fairly seriously since it perhaps helps them through a hard life etc. whatever.
I will remind you if you’re still reading for every kind of act like the above, people are willing to open their hearts and wallets to help others here. In the end that is more christian than anything else I’ve seen.
cain
Hob
Gee, I’m sorry Scruffy had to go, but I’m grateful to him/her for helping me understand that a) although I thought I was a Christian, I must actually be an atheist and a hater, like everyone else here except Scruffy, and b) believers should not have to hear unbelievers making jokes.
I will now bestow what in some denominations is known as the “raspberry of peace.”
ron
their religion is so weak. their faith so easily shaken. what pathetic people.
elmo
@Randy P: and @Svensker:
I won’t belabor the point too much, especially because I offended Svensker and I genuinely didn’t mean to. Of course the main point of Easter is Christ’s rebirth. But it isn’t the whole point. Part of the point is how he died in the first place — that he is supposed to have deliberately, willingly, intentionally given himself up to be tortured and killed as a sacrifice to redeem mankind.
Easter is about a sacrifice, followed by rebirth. It’s meaningless without the sacrifice. In a very real sense, Easter is meaningless without the crucifixion, which is why I say that the holiday depends on torture, suffering and death. I really don’t think that can be controversial.
geg6
Personally, I think it takes balls the size of Jupiter to come onto a blog or anywhere else and claim that atheists are persecuting anyone.
But it’s pretty much in the same ballpark as the Pope claiming he’s being persecuted by those who object to the systematic rape of children and its cover up or whites claiming that brown people are turning them into slaves.
Why is it that those with all the power and privilege in this society are nothing but a bunch of whiny ass titty babies when those of us without that power and privilege point that out?
Randy P
@Hob:
God bless you brother, and the same to you. You may now take your seat on the whoopee cushion of love to be found on your pew.
And to all those who have taken offense: Lighten up. In general, but most especially here. Geeze.
MO
Easter is 100 percent Christian. That’s why Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
No pagan co-optation or nuthin’ going on.
Svensker
@elmo:
You said “focused entirely on torture suffering and death”
I objected.
That is all.
Comrade Dread
Not to mention the fact that Jesus was Jewish, as were the apostles, the writers of the bible, and almost all of the early church.
And the fact that Christ said, “No man takes my life…” and that he lays down his life willingly.
But some people are ignorant of their religious history and writings.
Henk
Iwegians aren’t usually known for their leftist tenancies are they? Must be Conservative political correctness run amuk.
howie
@El Cid:
That would be all of them, including some sports guys.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
I’ve often wondered why the shittiest day of the Son of God’s life is called “Good Friday”, while the greatest day is called by a term that doesn’t even relate to him. But then perhaps I shouldn’t expect a story about a god-man who rises from the dead to make sense in a real world sort of way.
elmo
@Svensker:
Fair enough, and I overstated the case. Peace.
liberal
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
Nope. Certainly not as regards the US role in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
liberal
@Bruce (formerly Steve S.):
Not to mention a theology which insists that “3 == 1”.
liberal
@Randy P:
True, but what I don’t get is why they’d be upset at the Jews even if it’s stipulated that the Jews killed Jesus. (Disclaimer: raised a reform Jew.) After all, what would have happened if nobody wanted to kill him?
Sentient Puddle
On an entirely different note…
Could someone give a quick rundown to this heathen as to why it’s named “Good” Friday? The way I process it, when the most holy figure of your religion is mocked, brutally tortured, and generally forsaken, it’s probably not a particularly good day (the following Sunday notwithstanding).
Paul in KY
Any Friday I get a paid 1/2 day off (which I do) is a ‘Good Friday’ in my book ;-)
P.S. If Islam or Judiaism, etc. can get a religious holiday to point I get some time off, then it will be a ‘Good Eid’ or ‘Good Yom Kippur’ & I will celebrate them in the same way I celebrate Good Friday.
licensed to kill time
I say down with religious correctness.
Everybody should get X number of religious days off per year, applicable to whatever religion you subscribe to, unnamed. Atheist/agnostic/indifferents get those days too. Good Indifference Day to all! Happy Whatever Day! Merry Maybe!
Ump 902a
@zifnab:
Cue Danny Thomas spit-take.
Christians have always been great ones for co-opting pagan holidays. What do bunnies, eggs and lilies have to do with Jesus? Not a thing. They are all classic Spring (rebirth) symbols. Just as the midwinter holiday (Saturnalia) was co-opted and became Christmas. These times of year already had “pagan” celebrations. The Christians just developed a story line for each one.
scav
seems like elmo@91 is wrestling with the torture issues that a lot of gnostics wrestled with – oh, I’ve lost all the names, but there’s a whole trend of early christianity that just couldn’t believe a god would be tortured so they refused to believe that Jesus was actually the god incarnate. And then I think the argued about whether the was an actual guy there that god actually came in, took over and then abandoned while on the physical cross while others thought it was more of a hologram thing for the entire life. And now liberal@101 is skirting on the Judas gospels with the whole what would happen if someone didn’t kill Jesus. Too funny and too too typical of BJ. Raspberries of Peace and Dopeslaps of Diplomacy all round.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@canuckistani:
Throw in David and a Festival of the Supreme Being for a Tennis Court (lightly used), and you’ve got a deal.
If you need a sweetner, I’ve got a nice painting of suitable for framing, or for display at Tea Party rallies and militia camps.
Soprano
I grew up in Chicago, in a time before the Flood (elementary school in the 1950s), and we did have Good Friday off. By the time I got to high school in 1963, that was no longer the case.
Liz
@Zifnab:
This reminds of that David Sedaris bit in Me Talk Pretty One Day, when the ESL class is trying to understand what Easter is.
OMG it’s hilarious.
The Boramander You Know
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: Heat, kitchen, all that.
Good luck in your future endeavors.
Hob
@Sentient Puddle: “Good” in the sense of holy, extra special, etc. – it’s kind of an archaic English usage, and wasn’t ever meant in the “what a nice day” sense. In some denominations (and in all the non-English languages I know of) it’s just called Holy Friday.
Ash Can
@Sentient Puddle: It’s called good because Jesus’s sacrifice — his suffering and death — spiritually redeemed humanity. In other words, it’s considered the spiritual counterbalance to humanity’s imperfection. Basically, by suffering and dying, Jesus made heaven accessible to everyone.
If that all sounds vague and confusing, that’s because, intellectually, it is. Scholars of religion have analyzed and debated this for millenia, and they’ll be doing it for millenia to come. It’s part of what makes religion a highly personalized endeavor — in the end, everyone has to come to his or her own understanding and decisions.
Sentient Puddle
@Hob and @Ash Can: Thanks for the insights. As I implied, this stuff isn’t going to totally click with my brain, so I wasn’t expecting anything incredibly rigorous or otherwise airtight (hey, even with my name, I’m quite alright with religion). The name of the day just struck me as an oddity.
liberal
@The Boramander You Know:
Heh.
asiangrrlMN
Wait, there are snarky comments on Balloon Juice? Get the fuck out! I can’t believe it! I am not an atheist, nor do I believe I am morally superior to anyone–except Dick Cheney, but I do firmly believe in the corrosive nature of religion as it is practiced by many in America today. I don’t necessarily see these threads as bashing religion, but even if they were, so what? Anyone who wants to make a case for why religion is a good thing is more than welcome to do so.
I do not go around decrying Christianity wherever I go, but I’ll be damned if I sit around and nod politely on a political blog, especially one known for snark while the religious zealots run amok.
Besides, you know what? I don’t like the threads on queer issues, so I don’t read them. It really is that fucking simple. There is no one blog or website that will cater to my every whim (except my own), and that is how it should be.
As for Good Friday, whatever. I don’t care. Easter is grafted over a pagan fertility ritual anyway (just as Christmas is grafted over a pagan holiday as well), so it’s all good.
Origuy
Well, except that the Last Supper was a Seder. And that the Orthodox churches compute it differently than the Western churches. It happens that Western and Eastern Easter is on the same day this year.
Batocchio
My company calls it “Spring Holiday,” too. What’s the big deal? Christians can continue to call it “Good Friday” on their own. Changing “Good Friday” is not the most important battle to wage, but why should a municipal calendar list it? Many churches hand out calendars with holidays marked, lent color-coded, etc. The Christian persecution complex in America is extremely wearying – try being a Jew at Christmas – or a Muslim anywhere near a teabagger.
Wile E. Quixote
I’m all in favor of making Good Friday a federal holiday. Seriously, Americans are overworked and deserve another day off each year. Not only should Good Friday be a federal holiday but Easter Monday should be as well. I also think that Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday should be celebrated as separate holidays with Washington’s birthday being celebrated on the third Monday after the first Monday in February and Lincoln’s birthday being celebrated on the second Friday after the first Monday in February.
President’s day would be retained as a holiday to celebrate the accomplishments of all of our other presidents but would be moved to the first Friday in August, thus giving Americans another three day weekend in the summer. Who’s with me on this?
hamletta
What a bunch of WATBs.
I work 12-9, so I got permission to come in late so I can go to the noon service on Good Friday.
I also got permission to leave early on Maundy Thursday, because I’m serving as an altar stripper(!)
And what I learned from some docu about the goofier rituals of the British royal family is that “Maundy” comes from the Latin “mandatum,” referring to Christ’s ultimate commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The kings and queens used to wash the feet of the poor and distribute alms to the needy on Maundy Thursday, but nowadays, the queen gives out purses to an outstanding charity worker from each parish in the country.
When I was a kid in Montgomery County, MD, we had Good Friday off, and we had the High Holy Days off in the fall.
sj
Actually, the date for Easter is a little bit more complicated than the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter#Computations. Among the complexities is that “full moon” doesn’t mean “full moon” as that term is commonly understood but rather the midpoint of a lunar month (14th day of 28). The vernal equinox as far as Easter calculations goes is fixed at March 21. Some of this, at least, reflects the Easter association with Passover, which, of course is set on a modified lunar calendar rather than a Julian-Gregorian solar calendar. In solar calendar terms, the anniversary of the resurrection is probably April 5.