oct 11 20201 - And After Thanksgiving, Is there Rest? No

 

After our Canadian dinner of Canadian leftovers last night, the "Day of Distinguishing Canadian vs US Thanksgiving" comes to a close.   It brought to mind things that might or might not be celebrated based on country and religion.  We joke about Canadian vs American Thanksgiving.  However, we fail to take into account being Indigenous in either country and how overwhelming the colonial nature of the holiday tradition has been.  What about our next holiday?  It's Halloween.  What do we find?  It is labelled a secular holiday - like Valentine's and Thanksgiving. It comes from some ancient tradition - Celtic - so that might be ok.  But wait, the Roman Catholics took it over as an All Saints Day.  That's what makes it political to all sorts of religious groups. I am quite amazed by how many holidays the Jehovah Witnesses reject - they claim that Jesus didn't ask for anyone to celebrate his birthday.  So Christmas is off. And after that? It is Remembrance Day on November 11 at 11:00am.  Give up the singing of Onward Christian Soldiers and the British National Anthem in Ireland.  These items are the subject of protest.  Ireland is particularly troubled by the day of commemorations.  And then there are religious groups such as Quakers. Then we're on to American Thanksgiving with the predominant views alternating between the Pilgrims 'sharing' their harvest with the 'natives' and the harmoniously sharing the 'first Thanksgiving meal'. We round out the year with Christmas and celebrating the New Year.  We know Christmas is political.  Are New Year's celebrations a political issue?  The Jehovah Witnesses pop up again - they "refuse participation in ecumenical and interfaith activities."  Keep going and you will find 4 reasons why Muslims should not celebrate the New Year.  Mostly, though, it is complete cultures who don't celebrate January 1st as the New Year - think of Chinese New Year. We can continue through the entire year, and this trend will apply to every celebration holiday.  It seems to me this is an instance where being a Global Village has its dilemmas. Our picture today was taken a year ago.  It is the Cherry Ave intersection from yesterday's picture of the bicycle driver in the flower field.  It is on the left side past the intersection.