HONOLULU – Hawaii’s state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to celebrate “Islam Day” – over the objections of a few lawmakers who said they didn’t want to honor a religion connected to Sept. 11, 2001.
The Senate’s two Republicans argued that a minority of Islamic extremists have killed many innocents in terrorist attacks.
“I recall radical Islamists around the world cheering the horrors of 9/11. That is the day all civilized people of all religions should remember,” said Republican Sen. Fred Hemmings to the applause of more than 100 people gathered in the Senate to oppose a separate issue – same-sex civil unions.
The resolution to proclaim Sept. 24, 2009, as Islam Day passed the Senate on a 22-3 vote. It had previously passed the House and now goes to Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.
The bill seeks to recognize “the rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions” that Islam and the Islamic world have made. It does not call for any spending or organized celebration of Islam Day.
“We are a state of tolerance. We understand that people have different beliefs,” said Sen. Will Espero, a Democrat. “We may not all agree on every single item and issue out there, but to say and highlight the negativity of the Islamic people is an insult to the majority” of believers “who are good law-abiding citizens of the world.”
But Republican Sen. Sam Slom argued that the United States has become too sympathetic toward Islamic extremists.
“I don’t think there’s any country in the history of the world that has been more tolerant than the United States of America, and because of that tolerance, we’ve looked the other way a lot of times, and many thousands of our citizens have been killed by terrorists,” said Slom, a Republican.
The lone Democrat voting against the bill opposed it on church-state separation fears.
While I do think that Islam, as practiced truly and fundamentally, is a violent and evil religion–very few religions don’t fit that bill–the way those State Republicans opposed it is fairly discriminatory. I applaud the lone Democrat who rejected the proposition from the most correct stance, the opposition of a mix between church and state.
The bill seeks to recognize “the rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions” that Islam and the Islamic world have made. It does not call for any spending or organized celebration of Islam Day.
Does this mean that it’s not going to be a state holiday, but instead just be a spot marked on the state calendar?
The bill seeks to recognize “the rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions” that Islam and the Islamic world have made.
From when, the time of Suleiman the Magnificent? This is a religion and ideology that has been locked in a conservative time warp since the 15th century. :lol:
Anymore outlandish than federal holidays that celebrate the birth and death of a religious zealot that many historians aren’t sure ever existed? YOU decide.
Anymore outlandish than federal holidays that celebrate the birth and death of a religious zealot that many historians aren’t sure ever existed? YOU decide.
I don’t think this is a fair comparison. Firstly, the only Christian holiday that is an actual federal holiday is Christmas…at least, I don’t think Easter is, but I could be wrong. I’m sure you’re aware that December 25th was celebrated by the Europeans (our cultural ancestors) long before the introduction of Christianity. Even so, since most of this country is Christian and most people are going to celebrate it anyway, I don’t have a problem with it being a federal holiday. When the government decides to declare a certain day to be “Christianity Day,” I will be equally as incensed as I am about the declaration of Islam Day.
I understand the objection to official government recognition of a religious holiday, but if we’re going to be sticklers about it, then we should also demand that the government find new names for the days of the week, since the ones we use are all named after Norse gods. While we’re at it, we need to do away with the current year numbering system, since it’s based around the birth of Jesus Christ.
I don’t think this is a fair comparison. Firstly, the only Christian holiday that is an actual federal holiday is Christmas…at least, I don’t think Easter is, but I could be wrong. I’m sure you’re aware that December 25th was celebrated by the Europeans (our cultural ancestors) long before the introduction of Christianity. Even so, since most of this country is Christian and most people are going to celebrate it anyway, I don’t have a problem with it being a federal holiday. When the government decides to declare a certain day to be “Christianity Day,” I will be equally as incensed as I am about the declaration of Islam Day.
I understand the objection to official government recognition of a religious holiday, but if we’re going to be sticklers about it, then we should also demand that the government find new names for the days of the week, since the ones we use are all named after Norse gods. While we’re at it, we need to do away with the current year numbering system, since it’s based around the birth of Jesus Christ.
You’re correct about Easter not being a federal holiday. However, Christmas is explicitly recognized as the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth by the government. Would you be outraged if there was a Mohammed day?
Also, our current calendar system is inherited by simple Western tradition. By saying it is 2009, I’m not affirming that Christ was born 2009 years ago (And better estimates say he was born in 4 BC, if he ever even existed). However, I do find it odd that sometimes documents come out from the president that still say “The Year of Our Lord.”.
Now, is ANY of this that important in the long run? No. There are many more egregious transgressions of the Establishment clause than religious holidays, but that doesn’t make it right.
Also, interesting point of fact: Hawaii is the only state in the union where Christianity is not the majority religion.
I understand the objection to official government recognition of a religious holiday, but if we’re going to be sticklers about it, then we should also demand that the government find new names for the days of the week, since the ones we use are all named after Norse gods. While we’re at it, we need to do away with the current year numbering system, since it’s based around the birth of Jesus Christ.
I think you can do better than those two arguments. (The names of days and years is no more decided by the government than any other word. Official holidays on the other hand are chosen by them.)
The majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, so it would be pointless for the few government employees left to go to work. So the government should absolutely take that into consideration, and close up non-essential offices.
Private companies of course should be free to do as they please, and no holiday should be mandated by the government, religious or otherwise.
I see nothing wrong with a Federal holliday, such as Christmas, that a majority of citizens observe, Christian or not - it does not promote the Christian religion, specifically, as it’s roots are in pre-Christian Northern European beliefs and is well established culturally. “Islam Day,” on the other hand, is blatant promotion of a specific religion, one that has proven itself hostile to Western values and the rule of law as we understand it.
I understand the objection to official government recognition of a religious holiday, but if we’re going to be sticklers about it, then we should also demand that the government find new names for the days of the week, since the ones we use are all named after Norse gods.
Actually the naming of the days of the week goes way back into the past.
Do you know why there are seven days in a week? Because before the telescope was invented there were exactly seven perennial notable objects in the sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Many cultures gave these the names of gods, or identified them with gods, and thus various cultures wound up with seven-day weeks with days named after the seven “traditional planets.”
While we’re at it, we need to do away with the current year numbering system, since it’s based around the birth of Jesus Christ.
That goes back to the Roman Empire. Prior to the Empire going Christian years were counted from the founding of the city of Rome.
Actually the naming of the days of the week goes way back into the past.
Do you know why there are seven days in a week? Because before the telescope was invented there were exactly seven perennial notable objects in the sky: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Many cultures gave these the names of gods, or identified them with gods, and thus various cultures wound up with seven-day weeks with days named after the seven “traditional planets.”
hmm. I didn’t know that. This also kind of got me thinking, maybe there are seven days of creation because the creators of the story confined themselves to an existing calendar of their time.
hmm. I didn’t know that. This also kind of got me thinking, maybe there are seven days of creation because the creators of the story confined themselves to an existing calendar of their time.
That’s very likely. I think the first seven-day week was established by the Babylonians. Babylon, as an early civilization, influenced many subsequent civilizations directly and indirectly.
In Hebrew, BTW, the weekdays are numbered rather than named. First Day, Second Day, etc. except for Saturday which is named Sabbath (and that spilled over into many Romance languages for some reason, the Spanish name for Saturday is Sabado). In Brazil they also number the days.
In most of the West, though, the days are named after the traditional planets. Oh, another reason for the seven-day week is that it conforms to the 28-day Lunar “month” (the time it takes the Moon to circle the Earth).
Lastly, while Uranus wasn’t discovered until the advent of the telescope, it is visible to the naked eye at some times. It wasn’t identified as a planet, though, because it’s just barely visible and very slow moving. Had it been brighter and closer to the Sun, we’d likely have an 8-day week now (in fact many astronomers with telescopes saw Uranus only as a bright star; it took Herschell’s self-made telescopes to resolve a disk). I wonder how that would have worked out? Would the lunar month have been of 32 days rather than 30? Would God have rested for two days? If 3-day weekends were the norm, weekend tourism in the West would be quite diferent than it is now.
