Religious Holidays: Religion, Ritual, and Holy Days in Religion
Holidays are seasonal rituals which can serve to regulate and structure life. Rituals can be important because they are often important means of social communication. We cannot, after all, observe relationships - what we observe is people's behavior towards one another. Very often, that behavior takes place in the context of "ritual" acts - behaviors which may not have obvious functional utility but which do nevertheless reinforce the ways people relate to one another.
Halloween in Schools: Do Halloween Celebrations Violate Church/State Separation?
Halloween has traditionally been celebrated in schools by having kids dress up in costumes, take part in costume shows, and engage in a variety of activities relating to Halloween images of skeletons, pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and so forth. Quite a lot has changed in the last couple of decades, one of which is a growing number of religious challenges to Halloween celebrations in public schools. Are there any serious church/state issues that schools should worry about?
Halloween has traditionally been celebrated in schools by having kids dress up in costumes, take part in costume shows, and engage in a variety of activities relating to Halloween images of skeletons, pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and so forth. Quite a lot has changed in the last couple of decades, one of which is a growing number of religious challenges to Halloween celebrations in public schools. Are there any serious church/state issues that schools should worry about?
Godless Thanksgiving: Do Atheists Have Anyone to Thank?
There's a common belief among many American Christians that the American Thanksgiving holiday is somehow religious. Aside from the apparent desire to turn everything into an expression of their religion, the primary reason behind this seems to be the idea that the whole point must be to give thanks to their god - not any other gods, just theirs, thus making it a Christian holiday too. If that's true, then it makes no sense for non-Christians, or at least non-theists, to celebrate Thanksgiving.
There's a common belief among many American Christians that the American Thanksgiving holiday is somehow religious. Aside from the apparent desire to turn everything into an expression of their religion, the primary reason behind this seems to be the idea that the whole point must be to give thanks to their god - not any other gods, just theirs, thus making it a Christian holiday too. If that's true, then it makes no sense for non-Christians, or at least non-theists, to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Religious Holidays and Rituals: What are Holidays and Rituals?
Holidays can serve to form a connection to your own past by evoking memories of past celebration. Holidays can form and reinforce connections with the friends and family with whom you celebrate. Holiday events can also create connections across an entire society as people develop parallel experiences which forge subtle bonds.
Holidays can serve to form a connection to your own past by evoking memories of past celebration. Holidays can form and reinforce connections with the friends and family with whom you celebrate. Holiday events can also create connections across an entire society as people develop parallel experiences which forge subtle bonds.
Equinoxes, Solstices, and Calendars: Religious Origins and Background
Many of the most important holidays in all religions and cultures are calendar-based, which means that they are set to the rhythms of regular changes that occur throughout the year (like changes in seasons), and that they exist to mark culturally or religiously significant milestones in the passage of time through the year.
Many of the most important holidays in all religions and cultures are calendar-based, which means that they are set to the rhythms of regular changes that occur throughout the year (like changes in seasons), and that they exist to mark culturally or religiously significant milestones in the passage of time through the year.