Martin Luther King Day and President’s Day this year won’t be days off for school children in some districts seeking ways to make up for multiple unexpected snow days. The situation is infuriating civil rights leaders, who call it an insult to the memory of Dr. King, and ruffling the tail feathers of the great American cultural Authority!
These are the ones who believe they have the absolute god given right to enforce their arbitrary whims about what and who we all should honor, how we all must honor them, and when.
It is not enough to simply proclaim a day in their honor; they insist that all official business and commerce must come to a screeching halt on that day. And if the magic day falls on a weekend day, (we already have 104 of those every year), a weekday is taken as well to make sure normal activity stops in forced deference to the occasion. Anyone who objects or takes exception is deemed unpatriotic and disrespectful of the ‘chosen’ honorees.
Granted, there are many great people, including some presidents, and memorable historical events deserving of remembrance. Martin Luther King’s birthday is arguably one of them, but it is not a proper function of the collective and its representatives to dictate to the rest of us which ones they are. Those decisions should properly be left to individuals. Cultural choices are the prerogative of individuals, not politicians. My own individual personal cultural preference would be George Carlin Day, but if I were in charge, I wouldn’t force it on the nation. I’m happy to celebrate it all by myself.
Christopher Columbus was a great explorer of his time. He deserves his place in the history books, but that doesn’t necessitate my bank being closed this October 10th for Columbus Day 519 years after he landed on Hispaniola . What is the point of a national holiday in his honor? The guy never even set foot in the United States
What is so special about New Year’s Day? It’s just one day out of 365 of them. Nothing important happened on that day. If people want to observe it, all fine and good, but must it be mandatory? I want to trade stocks on that day.
I respect and honor the contributions and sacrifice of our military hero’s as much as anyone, but is it really necessary to shut down the country twice a year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day to honor them? Likewise Labor Day – what is the point? I’m glad we have workers and laborers. Why not management day as well? Managers deserve honors too.
Then we have Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, both of which are clearly religious holidays. If religious folks insist on taking those two days off, that is their right as individuals, and more power to them, but the First Amendment prohibits government from making laws respecting an establishment of religion, and proclaiming Christian religious holidays as a matter of law is a violation of the United States Constitution. It is not the job of government to tell us when to be thankful, and non-Christians should not be forced to observe Christmas.
That leaves only the July 4th Independence Day. If any occasion deserves a national government holiday, I must admit, this one is it. This is a memorable day no one can argue the collective can take due credit for – the birth of our nation. Kids should stay home from summer school on that day to celebrate. The post office should remain open though.
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