At 14:21 24-5-01 +1200, Kat Feete wondered:
>Seriously, are there people out there who've never ever had to work on
>Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter or whatever? I mean, I know I had a
>weird upbringing, but it seems inconcievable it wouldn't have happened at
>least once. Do people with jobs and stuff just get those days off
>automatically, like it's some sort of right or something? Really?
>
>I'm not being sarcastic or anything, I swear. I really don't know.
Yes, Kat, it's common for working people to get those days off. It's all
due to the influence Christianity had on the Western world for the last
I-don't-know-how-many centuries. (That is, as far as the religious holidays
are concerned; I doubt religion has much to do with other holidays like
Liberation Day, Memorial Day, <insert any other non-religious holiday>).
I doubt however if giving everyone a day off on a Christian holiday is
desirable anymore. It worked fine when most people stayed in the country
they were born, and a vast majority of the population shared the same
belief. But the world isn't what it was 50 years ago.
I'll take my own country as an example. Once upon a time, close to 100% of
the people here were Dutch by birth, and held some form of Christian belief
(rough division: Protestants in the north, Catholics in the South).
Nowadays, some 1.5 million people (9% of the population) here are of
non-Dutch origin, and only 59% are listed as Christians (Muslims: 3%,
other: 2%, unaffiliated: 36%)*.
*Source: CIA World Factbook
Note: "listed as Christians" means that they appear in the records of the
Church; these include all those people that are registered but are not
practicing any Christian belief.
I can imagine that this may be upsetting for those with non-Christian
beliefs. After all, they don't have to work on someone else's religious
holiday, but have to work on their own religious holiday.
We have all kinds of rules here that apply "always, except on Sundays and
holidays". Last year, a Dutch court ruled that the term "holidays" meant
"Christian holidays" only. The case: a Muslim man wanted to park his car
somewhere, and saw that it was paid parking only, except "on Sundays and
holidays". The man parked without paying, because that particular day was
Mohammed's birthday, and therefore a religious holiday to him. The police
didn't agree, and gave him a parking ticket. The man took his case to
court, explaining that he didn't do anything wrong, because for him it
*was* a religious holiday. The judge didn't agree with his interpretation
of the word "holiday"...
So, to start yet another discussion on this already high-volume list:
should we still give everyone the day off on Christian holidays only, or
make those days normal working days, and let everyone take the day off on
the religious holidays that go with their own religion?
Jeroen
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