The author of this essay must be a moron. Not just any moron, but one that goes to bed with his pet minorities every day of the week. 33% of Australians are non-christian? Oh that's right, they have been imported to keep the culture vultures happy.

You must be one of people who want to ban Christmas every year. I have the pleasure of residing in Australia's most multicultural suburb thanks to idiots like Eric Claus.

I cannot stand conspicuos compassion. When you have finished ripping every shred of our society to bits, get back to me.

Haha - you're a very funny man Davo! ;)

Eric
speaking as one of the Christians,and as one of a group in victoria which is around a few million if u add up all the groups, I find myself asking the question "Why" be compassionate if u don't have a personal faith in God ? Why not follow the likes of he who declared God 'dead' Mr Neitche, or Mr Sartre, who declared that people should reasonably 'live for their own goals, selfishly,determinedly, without thinking of anything other than ones own objectives" (words to that effect). In the 60s there was a song "Well if thats all to life, bring out the booze, lets party" i.e. it was a realization that if God is dead, or does not exist, life is meaningless, so give urself over to hedonism, life is limited, enjoy it to the full.

Most people who don't believe in God, are not brave enuf or consistent enuf to follow these implications. Culture is too strong, so they retreat to sentimental ideas of morality as being humanistically valid (duh) They want to do good for sentimental reasons, not philosophically reasonable ones.

'me me me'-ism is emerging in so many areas of life, and is a reflection of Neitzche and Sartre and company (Remember Gordon Ghekko- Greed is good) It's taken till now for these philosophies to filter down to the masses thru the arts, media and education, but coming it is.

If u want a compassion day, base it on the Compassionate One, which is why we even have Easter Monday (based on Good Friday)
And if 67% of Australians believe in God, and most of those being Christians of some persuasion, how appropriate it is for our holidays to reflect that state of affairs !

Its the kind of writing by the likes of Eric which tends to radicalize and politicize Christians much more than anything else.
Someone commented about the 37,000 Christians at Telstra dome last saturday as being a 'typcical footy crowd', but I responded with the quip "Footy crowds don't all VOTE the same way" !

Easter is just a pagan fertility ritual that was appropriated by the Christians. Anybody who is angered by the notion of compassion has serious personal problems.

Praise the Lord and pass the chocolate! Four days off in a row!

I'm feeling particularly compassionate... I think I feel a 'resurrection' coming on.

Morgan

Why am I not surprised that Boaz would be negative about a day of compassion. Poor man, unable to care about anyone from the heart must do it thru his god. Well not all christians vote the same way either - thank god ;)

Being the greedy materialistic heathen that I am, all I'll do this long w/e is visit a local nursing home where I take my dog Mikka who is a great hit with the residents. Later on I'll be off to clean out cages at the Lost Dogs Home. I don't do this for sentimental reasons I do it because I enjoy it. Helps my little patch of earth. And I'll probably eat too much chocolate too - 'cos I'm just a greedy materialistic heathen.

This is just more PC madness. The suggestion that a new meaning be designated to a particular day in the Easter weekend has nothing to do with compassion at all, it is about diminishing the true meaning of Easter to Australians and incorporating minority beliefs into our Easter tradition. Easter is not a time to recognise people with other beliefs it is solely a time to recognise Christ and his sacrifice for our sins.

Nothing like a good long weekend to sharpen up the religion debate.

Like Christmas, Easter is just another festival that was co-opted by the christians in order to ease the transition from pagan traditions. Easter eggs, for example, are entirely pre-christian. The movable date of easter each year is still a compromise between various religious factions, none of whom can identify sufficiently accurately the date of the crucifixion. (In that case, I wonder how come they are so sure about Christmas?).

Boaz, typically, wonders how anyone who is not christian can possibly be compassionate anyway, since this is entirely the prerogative of those who agree with his beliefs:

"I find myself asking the question "Why" be compassionate if u don't have a personal faith in God ?"

I wonder if you realize how profoundly arrogant and condescending that sounds, Boaz?

Easter, autumn break, compassion day, broken teddy-bears day, pink carnation day, what's the difference?

Pericles, welcome back
yes, I realize that what I said is quite "In-ur-face", of COURSE one doesn't need the christian faith to have a sense of compassion. I just raise the question of why bother, for the same philosophical reasons that occupied quite a bit our our time in an earlier discussion.
As pointed out by one poster, its not whether we have a compassion day that's so much at issue, but much more that the suggested day is Easter Monday, which is an entrenched and cherished existing tradition. If people want to have any kind of day, make it separate, thats all we are saying. But I'm adding into the mix the philosophical aspect because I grow weary of people expressing wishy washy sentimentalism which is in contradiction to the reasonable implication of their life presuppositions. Sorry for the mouthful there.
The 60s were all about 'questioning' the values which had been handed down from our conservative and moralistic parents, such questions were asked, and we got the hippy movement, the counter culture and Charles Manson and a clockwork orange. They all asked WHY the hell should I be this and that 'just' because mum and dad tell us. They were really saying "What is the basis" of these things. Many went into existentialism and got lost in drugs, as it dawned on them that life IS pretty much meaningless once u have thrown the baby and the bathwater out.
Hence, I rant, woffle and mutter, about such things as 'absolute truth' which I've modified to saying "ultimate" truth, scratching for words to convey the idea of the Divine Human encounter in Salvation history and finally in Christ.

Anyway, on another topic if I may for a moment. My wife was telling me about her Granny, who became Christian from the 'old' culture, and she was yapping away about how bad it was, where they used to place corpses under the house until all the flesh had been disposed of by the bugs. It's good to hear that what one has brought to others is valued. (culture change)

Hi Boaz - The reason for suggesting Easter Monday is that we are unlikely to get another public holiday added to the calendar and there are already two public holidays for Christians and zero for everybody else. Seven million Aussies frozen out.

Wouldn't it be more fair to have one of the three religous holidays for everybody? Christians could still celebrate Easter Monday as they always have. Nobody would take Easter Monday away. It would still be there for every Christian. Having it on the same day assures that.

Christians and the government would just be saying "We want everybody to join in the celebrations. We don't care what your religion or spirituality is, we want you to celebrate compassion with us."

Ringtail ,I remember at school when the priests were telling us how superior all us humans were to animals and it was right that we we should have the power to use animals at our will.Well, when pets such as dogs come into families, they cease to be more than just mere animals.Dogs can sense our emotions and thus become an integral part of a family .They also become more intelligent having more time to learn and don't have to worry about survival.They develop almost human like qualities and are not judgemental and faithful to the end.This is why they become our best friends.
Pre-occupation with the power of "god"like a man pre-occupied with the power of his penis.The image may impress himself and a few peers,but in practical performance and application of love,there is a lot left to be desired.
Isn't it odd that the reverse of dog ,is god.Perhaps those consumed with the power of their god have missed the wealth of emotion and knowledge that the little things in life have to offer.
I've been on the inside and know that what religions secretly yearn is unquestioning and absolute power over their followers.Their biggest fear is that free thinkers will be able to instill a moral fabric into society,since that is their last bastion of relevance.
The religions however are organised and mobilised,but free thinkers are fragmented and unaware of their importance in the development of
morality and trust in our society.It is time for "The responsible others"to come to the fore

Boaz, it is an exasperating habit of yours to write something totally outrageous and fundamentally wrong, then to excuse yourself by saying 'I exaggerated, but only to make a point.' You quite deliberately questioned the right of non-christians to feel compassion, then equally baldly state "of COURSE one doesn't need the christian faith to have a sense of compassion." I strongly suspect you of arguing merely to hear the sound of your own voice, metaphorically speaking, rather than to present cogent and arguable points.

I also question your statement "...Easter Monday, which is an entrenched and cherished existing tradition". Amongst whom? Perhaps in Australia, home of the sacred Public Holiday, but not in the United States, where it hasn't existed in any of the States since the '80s. Face it, there is no specifically religious tie to this day.

Perhaps while you are about it you can explain to me why Easter is a movable feast, and Christmas is not? Wouldn't it be so much tidier to celebrate Christmas on a Sunday every year, like we do Easter? I suspect it's just another control thing.

And what a great Easter it was! When I read the article initially, I naturally associated Eric's call for a secular holiday with the annual call for a ban on Christmas (one which annoys me profusely).

Reflecting on my experiences this Easter however, I came to the conclusion that Christmas and Easter are already secular. I'm not a Christian: yet Christmas and Easter are my favourite times of the year. I don't attend attend Church services, but I give plenty of presents and easter eggs. My experiences of Christmas and Easter are 'pagan', secular and loads of fun!

Since Christmas and Easter are already inclusive of all minorities, we don't need a secular holiday. If we are to have a 'secular' holiday, why not just Australia day?

Pericles
"outrageous" statements can make people think. You know the old "if u don't get their attention in first 30 seconds u wont have it for the next 40 minutes" addage.
The point I was trying to make, is about Easter monday being associated with the events of Easter. (yes, it is an Australian thing but thats valid for Aussies) I'm sure I responded to this but can't find my post *mutters*...... It also reflects around 73% of Aussies if u can believe the Foxtell Poll.

Davo, I'm glad u enjoy those times. but sad that u don't yet know the Lord. I'd just urge you to consider a closer examination of the 'real' Jesus of the gospels :) You might find that Easter and Chrissy become meaningful at deeper and more satisfying level than choccy eggs and pressies.

Ringtail, I'm not negative on compassion, I'm negative at culture theft :) most Aussies value the religious traditions of Easter, so why try to 'mug' them and make it something else ? Have a special compassion day, without a holiday, (we have too many already).

Arjay, that comment about 'the priests' is most instructive about your negative attitude mate. I understand more now. I encourage you to try to empty your mind of the the accumulated negative experience of the Church from your apparently catholic upbringing and discover the real Christ, as He is portrayed in the gospels.

BOAZ_David, "Culture Theft". The idea that easter is based on an old pagan festival and was nicked by christians has been around for quite a while, might be worth a check.

Examples of people moving from one bad religion to another with more socially acceptable habits (from our cultural perspective) does not prove the validity or relevance of your faith, it just shows how bad some religions can get. Are a celebration of human sacrifice or ritual canabilism that much better than having a rotting body under the house? I guess the former are a lot easier on the nose.

Defining meaningful values is more difficult from a position of not having an absolute truth to use as a base. On the other hand if the absolute truth is not so absolute or true then it's kind of a moot point isn't it? I'm kind of enjoying the adventure of working through my values with an expectation that I may never be finished but that the journey will be worthwhile. If it helps you to understand, it is a bit like taking the training wheels of a pushbike. It's hard to see what holds the bike up, it's easier to fall over but after a while it is a much more satisfactory way to travel. A four year old with training wheels is good, a forty year old still using them is sad.

Iam sick to death of Christianity being the whipping boy for the political correct.
If the left had an ounce of courage, a sense of justice & balance, then all of the hatred, jealousy & anger they direct exclusively at the Church should be applied to 'other religions'.
Salmon Rushdie, a man of great courage & conviction, knows the reason why Islam gets a free ride from the 'intellectual progressives'. Freedom of speech, bah, not to the political 'correct'.

Many who post here most stridently believe that (to quote Eric himself) “Jesus is not my ‘saviour”.

In an essay at http://www.oz-aware.com/debate5.htm is a non-religious explanation of why such people are ALL drastically mistaken--even if they don't know it.

Davo,

Your personal experience bears witness to a reality I have long known and constantly try to warn people about—usually to hoots of derision and screams of ‘racist’. Your comment concerns me and I would like to know more about your experiences, because you say that you…

“…have the pleasure of residing in Australia's most
multicultural suburb”….

To understand that I am genuine in this approach to you, read an essay I originally wrote three years ago. It is posted at http://www.oz-aware.com/christmas02.htm.

If you want to ‘cut to the chase’, search that page for “Simi Valley” and discover that your (apparent) experience is a worldwide problem that Australian social engineers blithely ignore---to the enormous harm of many ‘ordinary’ Australians like yourself and even worse harm to our grandchildren. Davo, you can contact me directly via the links provided on that website.

Boaz, try again.

You said "[t]he point I was trying to make, is about Easter monday being associated with the events of Easter", but you fail to explain exactly how they are connected.

Just to remind you, my original question went 'I also question your statement "...Easter Monday, which is an entrenched and cherished existing tradition". Amongst whom?'

Since I am only asking for clarification of your own statements, I would very much appreciate a reply. They are surely not that complicated?

I also asked "explain to me why Easter is a movable feast, and Christmas is not", is there a particular reason that you chose not to reply?

P my slow replies are rules based.. I'm almost clawing at the monitor in desperation to force my typing thru it :) to no avail.
I'll try to respond.
1/ Easter monday <== as u said, its entrenched in Australia, not other places. Its connection with the events of Christ is purely tradition. "Important event, have a holiday" kind of thing.

2/ Easter's Movable Date.
I understand that the original festival, the pagan one, was related to the cycle of the moon, and as u also pointed out, it was adapted,adopted,coup-de-tat'ed by Christians as the time to remember Christs death and resurrection. Here is a link explaining it.
http://people.howstuffworks.com/easter1.htm
http://ayla.brinkster.net/Easter.asp
The timing being related to the moon, seems a bit silly though to me
as the date itself is not something to be pedantic about, the core remembrance is the important bit.

3/ Christmas not movable. It apparently began in the 4th Century.
Christians began celebrating Christs birth. St Nicolaus gave gifts to people.
http://www.soon.org.uk/christmas.htm#start

Hope this helps.
Hey, u have not responded to my other point in the cultural thread about why u know about the White Rajah's -Brookes of Sarawak, not many people would study that area .. so ?

Robert
thanx for outlining your 'training wheels' version of morality :)
Its a worry though mate, when u think that in terms of 'ultimate values' which can become the basis for a social organization of humans, making it up along the way, in the adventure kinda only works at the individual level rather than the communal, am I wrong here ?

I read quite a view 'versions' of this over one Christmas and I recommend "The History of Western Philosophy" by bertrand Russell, as a good source. He, of course also wrote "Why I am not a Christian" which I found to be a rather persuasive account of why people SHOULD believe in Christ, but thats another matter.

The main thinkers of the enlightenment and reformation era were concerned with 'what should government be/do' ? how far should authority intrude into the life of the individual, what social contract do we make with those who rule us ? etc

When I'd finished them I came away feeling much relieved and exilerated in the Faith which is so clear, and so workable. The only problem is 'us'. Humans tend to end up with a 'car park' mentality, where most people seem to think they are the only ones in the world.

The early Christians began with 'selling what they had, and giving to those who had need" but before long the 'Greek widows were complaining about neglect in the daily distribution' (it appears a litttle bit of Jewish ethnocentrism was at work :) So, we then move to solve the problem along biblical grounds.

This is the point where Christ is greater than ethnic ties. But I note with interest that those who they appointed over the distribution who were "full of the Holy Spirit and of good character" were also greek :) (by their names) So, sanctified common sense was used.
The early church was not faultless, but it had a means of putting things right that all could appeal to as authoritative, and that was a humble submission to the rule of Christ our hearts.

Thanks for taking the trouble, Boaz. If I may summarize:

1. There are absolutely no religious ties to Easter Monday..."Its connection with the events of Christ is purely tradition. "Important event, have a holiday" kind of thing"

So you cannot possibly have any concerns about including more secular - but still "compassionate" - celebrations.

2. There is absolutely no consistency in the determination of a fixed or movable religious festival. As you say, the dates themselves are entirely irrelevant, they are merely convenient hooks upon which to hang some heavy-duty devotion. So why does it upset you when someone suggests the net be widened, to include folk who would like to share the hook to do some serious reflection of their own? You zoom off into the stratosphere, calling into play the ghosts of Nietsche and Sartre as though they were the devil's spawn, in defence of .... what? A plain old ordinary Monday, with zero religious significance, fixed or floating.

Just a suggestion: pick your battles. You are attacking Eric's idea here purely for the sake of attacking. Not a good look.

As sure as night follows day any comment with a hint of religion or ethnicity - or even more surely - one that has a hint of both, draws a welter of responses. And more often than not they are of the stupid kind. The sad part is how un accommodating Christians are becoming these days - in fact I read an awful lot of vehemence and hatred in some of the christians responses - those with out a faith seem pretty angry as well; they are indeed a sorry bunch.

Eric Claus makes a fair point; Davo would seem to disagree. I dont yet see much merit in Eric's position but the day may come when it needs consideration. As the percentage of non christians escalates it is only reasonable to ask at what point do we institutionalise their days of celebration or replace some of the more traditional ones?

Today, Christmas and Easter celebrations are mere vestiges of what was once a joyful and solemn recognition of a dominant cultural theme.Things change. These days now are simple holidays, and more highly valued as a break from the work a day world than a religious event, operating under the badge of Christianity. For those inclined they are supported by the governments of the day in celebrating them because historically Christians were every where. Not so now.

We are diverse and more sadly there are signs we are divided. And the fault lines have their beginnings at the very heart of our white bread community that is scared stiff of change. THe evidence is no more clearly on show than in the responses to Erics humble suggestion.

As for me I like Christmas and I like Easter as well - in fact I like them so much I would clebrate them in church whether or not we had a public holiday. I think Ramadan is cool too. And so should you.

Inkeemagee.

Inkeemagee,

I'll first ask: why "should" I think Ramadam is 'cool'?

When you have answered, then perhaps we can examine a different perspective.

Inkeemagee - Thanks for your comments. There is an editorial in The Age today http://www.theage.com.au/news/Opinion/Christian-moderates-drowned-out/2005/03/29/1111862387254.html from a moderate Christian saying that there are a lot of moderate Christians out there, who are not opposed to abortion and would prefer a more balanced debate regarding Terry Schiavo's "right to life." She is concerned that every image of Christians shown in the media seems to be an extremist.

I'll bet there are a lot of moderate muslims who don't want to strap a bomb to their bodies and don't mind women having civil rights. That does not make much of an eyecatching story on the six o'clock news, though.

It is similar on this forum. Rarely do people with only a passing interest write a comment. You are an exception and your comment is more about the strident comments than about Easter Monday. Pericles and others are also relatively balanced.

I was interviewed on ABC radio about Compassion Day and the interviewer asked me if I was going to take it further, for example to my local member. When I said "No, I just think it is a good idea," the interviewer lost interest. I think the media are so used to interviewing people with a burning passion for whatever their cause is, that somebody with a "humble suggestion" is just not too interesting.

That raises the question "Can a humble suggestion be adopted?" or does any change need to be supported by someone who is willing to set himself on fire and run naked onto the pitch on the first day of the Ashes Test at Lords.

ericc loved your response to inkeemagee - if only humble ideas could take off w/out the chest beating and flame throwing. Then I would indeed believe that the meek have inherited the earth. I think a compassion day is a lovely idea. But then in a ideal world everyday would be a day of compassion. Thank you for your thoughtful article and comments.

Hmmm, celebrating ramadan, I could'nt think of anything worse. It appears increasingly clear that minorities are being imported for political advantage. Eric Claus uses the plight of minorities for political convenience: a platform to vent cultural cringe.

I am compassionate towards minorities. Especially when I walk into a factory and notice that the entire factory floor is staffed by immigrants, who probably lack the english speaking skills necessary to tell the boss how bad the job is. It is then you realise what tolerance for diversity is all about: exploitation. Which is why it is important to look past the B.S and understand why, mostly employers, demand a multicultural society.

To fully understand the mindset of people like Eric Claus, look no further than Michael Moore. Here is a link: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-11-05

Pay particular attention to point number 8, and realise why he should be ignored.

"It appears increasingly clear that minorities are being imported for political advantage".

Now is that a loony statement, or what?

Yikes.

Morgan :(

Sorry, ericc, you are not fooling me. There is almost never such a thing as an 'innocent' question or observation. We all have agendas, and I see your "just think it is a good idea" as an attempt to prise open a doorway to destroying yet more of the tradition that represents, promotes and therefore protects a Christian belief system.

A slippery slope', ericc. This society ise already a long way down it, thanks to far too many new, untested "good ideas" over the past fifty years.

Nobody takes the time and effort to write an essay and have it published just for the hell of it. You have an agenda. Now telling us you don't is at least as disingenuous as your essay.

Ringtail.... one person's "humble idea" is another's society's disaster (ask the Russians about Marxism), so ditto your trying to play down the implications and ramifications of this socially disasterous "idea". You obviously haven't read my complete response and rebuttal of eric's essay (at http://www.oz-aware.com/debate5.htm).

The greater tragedy of your kind of thinking is that you quite clearly do absolutely not understand the harm your viewpoints bring to the wellness of our society (and the word 'society' includes YOU). There is not a single important point in my rebuttal that you could discredit, yet, refusing to revise your ideology, you persist in pushing your "humble ideas" regardless of the fact that informed reason and unassailable logic clearly shows how damaging these "newthink" (http://www.oz-aware.com/evil.htm#newthink)propositions are to our nation's present---and disasterous to our future. (The Oz-Aware website's entire purpose is to explain this).

I'm genuinely sorry to say this to Ringtail---and all those who think like her---but your kind of thinking truly is 'evil' (http://www.oz-aware.com/evil.htm) to the wellbeing of our nation. Please make the effort to try and understand why.

Because, as I so dispairingly often try to get people like yourselves to understand, if this social "ship" (known as the Australian nation) sinks, then we ALL sink---YOU too!

And the reality is---we are. Even Prime Minister John Howard has referred to "the coarsening" of Australian society....

Ozaware: Ramadan is cool because it is a celebration like Cup Day, or Anzac day, or the Queens Birthday, or Christmas, or Labour day, or my birthday,or New years day - living in Brunswick next to a Muslim family as i did for a long time it came with a lot of singin' and dancin' eventually - they wore great clothes as well. It was a bit like an up beat Lent.

As for a different perspective, I dont understand.

Have a Happy Compassion Day - one and all!

Inkeemagee

Ozaware, thank god you have found me out. Its all true - I want the world to suffer. To bring this about I spread joy and company to our elderly citizens, I make abandoned animals suffer by cleaning out their cages at the local animal shelter. Worse, I regularly make donations of money and goods to a variety of charities.

Even worse, I’m honest too, I accidentally hit a parked car last year and located the owner so I could pay for repairs! Even my business imposes suffering on people gullible enough to want a low water/low maintenance garden design. I won’t be happy until everyone is like me spreading our compassion, oops I mean suffering to all – even you.

Thanks for the post I printed it out and showed all my friends and business associates – thanks to you they have been warned about my evil ways.

Long live Compassion Day!

Morgan, speaking from very real experience, the day when 'migration' legal or otherwise ceases to be a political tool, on that day pigs will fly to the moon and back.
In Sabah, when the Catholic guy was Chief minister, all the 'refugees' came from Timor (Catholic area) when the Muslim guy held sway, they came from Southern Philippines (Muslim area) do u really think that our political parties have no interest in who comes here and what their predisposed voting pattern is likely to be ? and into which areas, and what political impact they may have ? Wake up my boy, or grow up, its a grown up world out there. No offence, but the only thing loony was you suggesting that political interests in the migration program don't exist. Have u ever heard of the Liberals 'Business migration' emphasis, and Labors "assylum seeker" ?

Ringtail, you are definitely evil :) cute, but evil. That qualifies you (as it does for me) to come to the throne of Grace and empty yourself of it all and embrace a new life of selflessness which is FREE from the 'If I do enuf good things it shows I'm good' view u currently seem to have .. actually, on a social level, u are surely doing a great job, no argument there.
Speaking (u did) of animals, my pussy cat is laid out on the desk by my keyboard here absolutely loving the warmth and relaxation.

The point Ozaware is making, is that to try to change the association from Christ for Easter Monday to a 'Compassion day' is actually an attack on our culture. No problem with naming a particular day Compassion Day, but not at the cost of a long standing and important tradition in existance.
RAMADAN mentioned by Inkee, u have to fast from WHACKING your wife, but for the other 11 months of the year u can beat her. (want chapter and verse ? :)

"Compassion: the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it."

Boaz - sigh.... I don't pontificate, I do. The positive experience of taking action to achieve an outcome. I don't need to prove I am good and I know I have many faults but, continually insisting that others should believe as I do isn't one of them. I hope that your bible provides you with a sense of self worth. But it doesn't work for me.

Easter Monday as previously pointed out in this forum is not a traditional religious day, therefore it is not an attack on your 'culture' nor is it an attack on your religion. However, the suggestion of having a secular day of relection has brought brought out the selfish nature of the religious zealot on this website.

How dare you refer to anyone in this forum as evil. While I admit to some baiting of contributors in the interests of provocation I would never sink so low as you or Ozaware. Verbal bludgeoning does not win converts, so why do you do it? Insults like these do not constitute debate.

So you disagree with Compassion day? Fine. There is no need to denigrate those who are in favour of it. Present your argument fairly and reasonably and I will listen. I still may not agree but that is my choice.

Ringtail, don't u know that a 'smiley' is a sign of 'tongue in cheek' ?
I'm not "bludgeoning" you for goodness sake, and I think you are confusing "urging,encouraging" with 'inSISting'. Insist is a strong word, much stronger than 'urge'. It suggests "I won't have it any other way NOW", and I don't think you can find that in my posts, I may say things with passion and conviction, but puh-lease, don't find 'bludgeoning' there. I put my point of view, passionately, and I'm smiling pretty much all the time I write, it IS your choice to choose not to accept Christ, exactly. If u feel 'bludgeoned' then I profusely apologise, definitely not intended. By the way, Oz does not speak from the same perspective as myself, it may appear that way, but he is hardly a 'religious zealot' he is more likely to be defending 'culture' than Christianity.

Easter Monday, is by cultural tradition associated in Australia with the events of Easter, it is a public holiday in the spirit of Anzac day which remembers the Anzacs, would u expect old warriors to feel ok if some 'progressive' group said "Lets make Anzac day 'gay pride day' instead" ? Think about that. I reckon Bruce Ruxton would stand on the top of the Shrine and yell at Melbourne if that happened.
So, without meaning to sound 'zealous' -to replace 'Easter' monday with another meaning WOULD be an attack on existing cultural norms for a significant majority of Aussies.

As I suggested, make any other day Compassion Day, reflect all you want, do what u want, no biggy. In any case, why would you want to upset 70% of Australians and call Easter Monday 'Compassion' day ?
I'd call THAT selfishness. R u seriously trying to tell me u cannot reflect on what u like on Easter Monday ? If your not Christian it doesn't have that meaning anyway, so why not just reflect anyway ?

What I cannot understand Boaz is how on the one hand you can admit that Easter Monday has no religious connotation - "Its connection with the events of Christ is purely tradition. 'Important event, have a holiday' kind of thing.", but only a few posts later you insist "to replace 'Easter' monday with another meaning WOULD be an attack on existing cultural norms".

Is it really so important to you that you have to tread such a fine line of definition, requiring the use of such carefully penumbral phrases as "cultural tradition associated in Australia with the events of Easter".

Easter Monday is not a religious festival. Co-opting it for secular purposes should therefore trouble you not at all, especially as the suggestion is such a mild one, compassion. Your using the lurid comparison of Anzac Day turning into a gay pride day only underlines the barren exiguity of your argument.

I enjoyed your optimistic article but I opened the comments section with the usual dread, [Deleted for flaming] but i'll stick to the original essay.

It certainly riles me, as a non-Christian, that i have to take so many public holidays with a medicinal spoonful of twaddle about our established religion. In spite of what so many are saying about the ills of migration, it's a fact that with global conflicts and global responses to disasters, national boundaries are becoming more fluid everywhere, and religions are finding they have to compete with each other, or find a modus vivendi in the marketplace of ideas. The idea of a state-sponsored religion is becoming increasingly untenable in an open society such as ours, and I think the pressure will continue to build to strengthen dialogues between various religious and non-religious world views, to find common ground between them. Though I'm no fan of Catholicism in general, the late Pope certainly took some bold steps in this area. So I think your reasoning behind Compassion Day is sound, and I hope you're not put off by some of the ranters in this forum - though i suppose it does say something about the chances of your proposal getting up

Pericles,
you answered your own question in your post, you drew the wrong conclusion/implication from my comment "associated with the events of Easter in Australia" to mean "it doesn't matter". But the point of my post was that it IS a tradition, associated with easter, in our culture/country. We only have that holiday 'because' of Easter events.
So, to say "lets change it to remember something else" is indeed an attack on culture, though not on the Faith itself. We need to distinguish those two aspects. Faith/beliefs and 'culture/tradition'.

While renaming Easter Monday is not an attack on Christianity it is still an attack on the significance of the day to around 73% of Australians which is a sizable chunk. I suppose one could do the exercise and ask how many of those to whom Easter Events are spiritually meaningful how they would feel about renaming the Monday as a something else day, then you would have a more informed basis for making an assessment of the true mood.

Personally, I don't think I'd be too fussed even if it was called 'stand on ur head' day, I dont hold that our culture is irreversable 'Christian' I hold that it is 'currently' predominantly Christian in mood, and therefore such traditions are justified. This also leads to why I tend to defend the tradition, I do it only because of the above. After all, if every tradition which is culturally meaningful to Christians was challenged and surrendered, we would not have much of a 'cultural texture' left to feel 'us' in.

We do without question derive some of our sense of identity as social creatures from the traditions surrounding us. I'm much more interested in individuals coming to know Christ and involving themselves in "when u meet, do this in remembrance of me" (the communion).

Luigi,
I see u took your regular dose of 'angry' pills this morning ? :) I'd like to debate you at length, sadly, 350words dissallows. But clearly your position is there is nothing to believe in except an existential morass of swirling and competing ideas.

Thanks for your kind words, Luigi. I must admit that the ranters do shake me up, but it is a good dose of reality. In my naivety I thought one or two Christians might come forward and say "It's not a bad idea. I have Jewish / Muslim / non-religous friends who are wonderful people, why should they miss out. Christ's message was about love and compassion. Let's share it with everybody."

Instead there is a feeling of the slippery slope. If Easter Monday is no longer called Easter Monday by the government, then Good Friday and Christmas could be next. I can see that would send a shock through many Christians and I think that has prompted some of the bad feelings. I tried to put forward the 2/3 Christians, 2/3 Christian holidays idea, but it hasn't convinced the Christian commentators.

The tradition argument escapes me personally, but I think there are many who are happy with our beautiful country the way it is, and that is understandable, it is a wonderful place to live. Thanks again.

I might be a bit old fashioned but I try to be compassionate every day.
As for atheistic holidays there is The Queens birthday, Anzac day, Melbourne cup etc.