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From: rafferty@cmu-cs-edu1.ARPA (Colin Rafferty)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.religion.jewish,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Separation of Church and State ?
Message-ID: <396@cmu-cs-edu1.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 6-Jul-85 21:05:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-e.396
Posted: Sat Jul  6 21:05:05 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 8-Jul-85 05:27:46 EDT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
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Xref: watmath net.religion:7213 net.religion.jewish:2172 net.religion.christian:839

> If there is "Separation of Church and State" how can Christmas be considered
> a "National" Holiday ?
> 
> Avi Feldblum proposed (correct me if I'm wrong Avi), that a "National"
> holiday does not mean from the "State".  Rather, "National" means a
> collection of holidays, some of which are linked with the "State" (4th of
> July comes to mind), and some that are "National" holidays only because
> everybody would take that day off anyway.
> 
> Does anyone have an official list of "National" holidays ?
> Are there other "Quasi National" holidays, like Avi proposed ?
> Does anyone have an official definition of a "National" holiday ?
> 
> ==> Ephrayim J. Naiman @ AT&T Information Systems Laboratories (201) 576-6259

This is just my ignorance talking, but I seem to have heard somewhere that
the word "holiday" was derived from "holy day".  Not much separation there.

I also know for a fact that one of the first things that Ford did after he
became president (after pardoning Nixon) was declare "Lief Erikson Day" on
October 23.  This was in memory of the man who was really the first to
discover America, back in the twelth century.

Just spreading my ignorance.

----
            Colin Rafferty { Math Department, Carnegie-Mellon University }

"According to convention there is a sweet and a bitter, a hot and a cold,
and according to convention, there is an order.  In truth, there are atoms
and a void."
                -Democritus(400 B.C.)