April 13 - Atheism Day
Same Day as: Birthday of Thomas Jefferson and Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
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www.americanatheist.org/column...97.html
A Holiday For Atheists...
Atheists need a holiday.
How many people would give flowers on February 14 if it wasn't for Valentine's Day? How many people would eat turkey in November if it wasn't for Thanksgiving? How many people would throw year-end parties if it wasn't for Christmas?
Christians know how important holidays are to their cause, and they have managed to literally litter the calendar with them. Other religions have done the same. It might not even be legal for the secular American government to declare national religious holidays, but it sure happens.
Nothing makes a movement more mainstream than having its own holiday. But atheism continues without a holiday. Over 25 million American atheists have no day to celebrate. How mainstream do you have to be to have a holiday? We like to celebrate, but we don't have a holiday. A genuinely atheist holiday would help us gain acceptance, too.
So we definitely need a holiday of our own. But when?
It can't already be a religious holiday, of course. We do celebrate solstices, and that's nice, but those are not really atheist days. April Fool's Day is tempting, but I don't want people to think that we're fools.
What we need is a special day that atheist Americans everywhere can recognize as belonging to us, suitable for men and women, that ties us to our American history.
If it was on the 13th of the month, we could stand in the face of superstition about the number 13. If it was in April, we could jokingly tie religious foolishness to All Fools Day. If it was the unrecognized birthday of a towering American historical figure in the battle for the separation of church and state, that would help us gain its approval as a national holiday. And if was the birthday of one of America's most famous atheists, we should seize the opportunity to embrace that day as our own holiday.
April 13 is all those things. April 13 should be our day.
Thomas Jefferson and Madalyn Murray O'Hair were both born on April 13. Jefferson was not only the author of the American Declaration of Independence from England, but he believed so strongly in the separation of church and state that he ended tax support of churches in Virginia and other colonies. Madalyn Murray O'Hair brought atheism to the forefront of American law, and founded our organization. Her departure is a mystery, but her vision and courage are history, quite clear enough to celebrate.
I propose that April 13 be celebrated as American Atheism Day beginning next year. Informal celebrations need not await national holiday status, and they would help build momentum for national acceptance. I further propose that American Atheists take the lead in campaigning for its eventual acceptance as a national legal holiday, with a goal of its national establishment by the year 2000.
Same Day as: Birthday of Thomas Jefferson and Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
----------------------
www.americanatheist.org/column...97.html
A Holiday For Atheists...
Atheists need a holiday.
How many people would give flowers on February 14 if it wasn't for Valentine's Day? How many people would eat turkey in November if it wasn't for Thanksgiving? How many people would throw year-end parties if it wasn't for Christmas?
Christians know how important holidays are to their cause, and they have managed to literally litter the calendar with them. Other religions have done the same. It might not even be legal for the secular American government to declare national religious holidays, but it sure happens.
Nothing makes a movement more mainstream than having its own holiday. But atheism continues without a holiday. Over 25 million American atheists have no day to celebrate. How mainstream do you have to be to have a holiday? We like to celebrate, but we don't have a holiday. A genuinely atheist holiday would help us gain acceptance, too.
So we definitely need a holiday of our own. But when?
It can't already be a religious holiday, of course. We do celebrate solstices, and that's nice, but those are not really atheist days. April Fool's Day is tempting, but I don't want people to think that we're fools.
What we need is a special day that atheist Americans everywhere can recognize as belonging to us, suitable for men and women, that ties us to our American history.
If it was on the 13th of the month, we could stand in the face of superstition about the number 13. If it was in April, we could jokingly tie religious foolishness to All Fools Day. If it was the unrecognized birthday of a towering American historical figure in the battle for the separation of church and state, that would help us gain its approval as a national holiday. And if was the birthday of one of America's most famous atheists, we should seize the opportunity to embrace that day as our own holiday.
April 13 is all those things. April 13 should be our day.
Thomas Jefferson and Madalyn Murray O'Hair were both born on April 13. Jefferson was not only the author of the American Declaration of Independence from England, but he believed so strongly in the separation of church and state that he ended tax support of churches in Virginia and other colonies. Madalyn Murray O'Hair brought atheism to the forefront of American law, and founded our organization. Her departure is a mystery, but her vision and courage are history, quite clear enough to celebrate.
I propose that April 13 be celebrated as American Atheism Day beginning next year. Informal celebrations need not await national holiday status, and they would help build momentum for national acceptance. I further propose that American Atheists take the lead in campaigning for its eventual acceptance as a national legal holiday, with a goal of its national establishment by the year 2000.
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Salt Lake City
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