If American is a place for "Freedom of Religion" then why is it that only CHRISTIAN holidays are DAYS OFF?

Question

This country is full of Christians that would demand that they be given their God Given Right 2 celebrate religious holidays w/ a day off from work, school ect. however if U R of another denomination or faith U R not recognized in your freedom. This is totally biased & prejudiced & is exactly Y this country is being lost 2 The Religious Right-I'm a Realist (Atheist for those that would prejudice me with their religious slur) and I believe that the true holidays R those that celebrate AMERICA & Our American Spirit! It is not right that the majority (which is Christian) be given favor over any other religion or belief & R given DAYS OFF to worship their God when others R not allowed this same right. It is placing the standards of The Constitution into jeopardy because it is demonstrating favoritism of one kind of people vs another. It is promoting this religion to be accepted and a norm. Well I for 1 do not believe that this is Just. America was an INDIAN NATION 1st THANKSGIVING???

Answer 1

before the Indians there was no real nation...God allowed Us to have this land...cuz its the most popular and the true religion..

Answer 2

Is this an actual question, or just a bitter rant?

Christian holidays have been accepted as national holidays because, for many years, most of the population of the U.S. has been Christian. In a democratic system, the majority rules, but attempts to also respect the rights of the minority. Since most people want a certain day off, the government gives everyone that day off. The Christians don't have to work, but the non-Christians don't have to worship or celebrate the day.

It's the same in any country you go to. In Israel, everything shuts down on Yom Kippur and they stay open on Christmas Day. And that's fair, since the majority of Israelis are Jews. In China, the nation celebrates (Chinese) New Year.

Yes, it would be nice if other major religious holidays were recognized by the American government. But instead of b*****ing about it, why don't you do something about it? Start a petition, apply to the government. In America you have both the freedom and the right to do so.

but I suppose it's a lot easier just to come here and rant instead of doing something constructive, huh?

Answer 3

Well, if it makes you feel any better the 2 major Holidays Christmas and Easter are pagan and not Christian. December 25 is the birthday of several major pagan sun Gods and even the name Easter is derived from a pagan Deity.

In most states it is not a given that everyone will get the holidays off. Many people work on all the holidays and employers don't even have to pay them holiday pay. Benefits are just that benefits. In most churches they have many people who work on Sunday and can only make one meeting.

I do not know about other states, but here in Texas to get Saturday or Sunday off without getting fired one must prove that their church doctrine specifically states that they cannot work on either day. It must be verified. Most christian denominations like Baptists do not have a such a church doctrine so they can be forced to work Sundays if their job requires it.

Seventh Day Adventists and the House of Yahweh on the other hand cannot work on Saturday according the the official religious doctrine. However if employers know this ahead of time they are not obligated to hire people who cannot work for religious reasons.

Keep in mind I just state what I have seen from personal; experience living 54 years and I am not an attorny.

Answer 4

Our national holidays do reflect our majority population. Why should the majority be prejudiced by a minorities feelings? Besides, every person is allowed time off for religious purposes. That is guaranteed in the Constitution and civil rights acts. If your faith requires a holy day for special devotions, then it is granted to you without prejudice. Your own words tell me that you have no faith, and therefore, no religious devotions to worry about. The Nation does not financially support any given church over another. To acknowledge the majority faith in America does not prejudice your, or anybody else's, beliefs. You are free to choose not to believe as the majority and free to ignore our devotions to our God. You may do what you want on our Sabbath Day. Go back to work if you want to. You don't have to take a day off to worship God if you don't want to. That doesn't mean that we have to go back to work to satisfy your prejudice. It is less of an inconvenience for you to ignore us than for us to be deprived of our majority behavior.
Best wishes.

Answer 5

The only "christian" holiday, if you can call it that, is Christmas. Most of the other holidays fall on Sunday which is automatically off.

This is a traiditional Western holiday that dates back to Scrooges times, when Bob Crachett demanded the WHOLE day off.

Most of the companies I worked for allowed JEwish people one day off each year, on TOP of Christmas, but CHRISTIANS had to work them!

Jewish got Rosh Hashanna.

Many companies give floating holidays and you can use them whenever you like.

Some places, like retail, have NO 3 or 4 day weekends for their employees.

This last year at K-Mart they worked Thanksgiving, the day after, Saturday after that and Sunday, while UPS got 4 full days off.

K-Mart may have paid holiday pay for it, but they were open this last Thanksgiving day.

Hey, if you want to work Christmas day, I'm sure your company will give you a key and let you do it!

I can't personally see why any Jew, Muslim, Sikh or Hindu would object to having NEXT MONDAY OFF, fully paid. A 3 day week end!

Answer 6

Thanksgiving is not a Native American Holiday. to them it was a one time love offering to new neighbors. many today celebrate it because it is a time to gather the family but that is the only reason.

as for other days off. the Christian religion adopted all of their holiday dates from earlier Pagan holidays, so when you give me Christmas off, i am useing it to celebrate Yule. and for Easter i am Celebrating Beltane.

most of my major holidays i have off due to the christian holidays being placed on the same dates. the ones that i do not get off, i make time for elsewhere. if you gave me 2 days off for every Pagan holiday it would simply be too much paid time away from work.

With the Muslims, Rammidan takes almost an entire month, most do not get that much vacation time in a year, no company is going to give any employee that much time off for any reason other than disability.

With the Jews, Haunnaukah is almost 2 weeks in working days,
this again is simply too much time to have an employee away. and most of the Jews that i know celebrate their holiday on one main day that they end up having off anyway.

the US is a country of freedom, but it is also a country of majority vote. Christianity is currently the majority of the people in the country. most others just find was around the paid federal holidays off.

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i have 13 holidays a year, you would not give me 2 days each month off for my Pagan beliefs, and i would not expect them.

Answer 7

The only nominally christian holiday that results in a day of is Christmas. Thanksgiving is not a christian holiday nor are any of the other federal holidays. And by-and-large, the way christmas is celebrated in this country is hardly as a religious observance.

Answer 8

You have to remember when the country was first established it was a Christian country. Hence the "God bless America" printed in the money and the "One nation under God" in the pledge. Most of the holidays are due to patriotic events like the Fourth of July, Independence day, presidents day. We have holidays for ethinic groups, Martin Luther Kings bday, Lincoln's Birthday , Columbus Day. Theres thanksgiving which is not religous, the only religous holidays are christmas and easter, which by the way are secular these days hence the easter bunny and santa. People who arent religous celebrate those holidays. Jewish people have many holidays and take those off, so do pagans. Again only christmas and easter are christian holidays, but they are secular now.

Answer 9

You must not know employment law...Employers have to honor your requests for time off for your religious practices (with the exception of weekly observances), for any recognized and established religious observance.

If you have such a problem with taking Christian holidays off with paid time, why not get a job that lets you work those days without paying you time and a half?

Your argument makes no sense since EVERYONE is given the time off regardless of religion.

Answer 10

Name one other "religious" holiday we get off other than Xmas day? And that day is primarily to spend with your family not necessarily a "religious" holiday. I'm an atheist so I guess I just don't see your point... I'll take the day off for the Christians.

Answer 11

Because there is not really a freedom of religion in America, the holidays are what our govt recognizes to be significant for days off. Easter isn't celebrated!