I was lying in bed this morning, listening to the radio while I willed myself to get up. They have this segment on my radio station of choice, LIVE 88.5 called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Each of the hosts relays a story, either good, bad, or....you get the idea. The 'ugly' story this morning was about St. Patrick's Day. Apparently, there's been a bit of a movement to call it "Shamrock Day" rather than St. Patrick's Day so as not to offend anyone who does not believe in saints, or Catholicism, I guess. Shamrock Day. I'll let that sink in for a moment.
Now, I'm all for being politically correct and trying not to offend people. When you live in a conservative town like Ottawa, you really do have to watch your ps and qs sometimes. Having said that, What. The. Frak. Are non-Catholics/Christians really that upset that some people celebrate the feast day of St. Patrick? Is the sight of green cards in the card shop really that offensive? It's not even a statutory holiday outside of Ireland and Newfoundland, as far as I can tell (I'm sure I'm wrong, but you get the point). Here in Ontario, it's a day like any other, and I'm at work. I just happen to be wearing a green sweater. No one is forcing anyone to drink green beer or sing "Danny Boy."
The bottom line is that days like today, and Christmas and Easter, are so widely celebrated because they are part of the belief system that our countries, as we know them today, are built on. The English, Irish, French, Spanish were the ones that came over and colonized our countries, and brought the religion and culture of the countries they left with them. They have been celebrated for decades, even hundreds of years in some cases. Imagine a large group of Irish-Canadians uprooted themselves and settled in Lebanon or China or Ethiopia. Could they all of a sudden demand that no one mention Id or Chinese New Year or Kwanzaa? Would they have to change the names of their holidays and celebrations? Would Chinese New Year simply be called New Year so as not to offend the non-Chinese people living in China? It would never happen, and you'd be laughed out of the country for even suggesting it.
So why do we North Americans of European descent buckle under when pressured to avoid saying the "C" word when December 25th rolls around? Do I really have to say, "Happy Holidays!" to people instead of "Merry Christmas?" If a Jewish person wished me a "Happy Hanukkah", I wouldn't demand they apologize. We should all become more aware of the diverse cultures and religions that make up our communities, but sometimes it seems to me that I'm expected to open my mind and learn about other people's cultures, but they aren't always expected to learn the existing cultures. That might sound small-minded, but it's just this girl's opinion.
I'm off to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I think there's a green beer somewhere with my name on it.
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Speaking from a country that has overwhelmingly almost one culture, I agree that this kind of thing would never happen here. That being said, western ideas and traditions are taking hold, and I'm sure a lot of Chinese people look at these in the same way as the "re-naming" of holidays.
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