Thursday, August 27, 2009
Invented by God
I have a couple frugality posts simmering in my mind, but it will be a little while until I can type them up and post them. In the meantime, this is something I've wanted to post about for a while.
Once upon a time, when I still had time to knit, I was part of a knitting group on usenet. It was a friendly group, straying from the topic occasionally, but usually getting back on track quickly.
Friendships developed between the members and people started posting more about their personal lives and other things not directly related to knitting or other yarn crafts. This was, overall, a good thing. It left room for some bad things, too, though.
For instance, someone posted one of those lists that she thought everyone would find funny. It was vastly inappropriate to the group topic. It was the one about if this country isn't a nation that was founded on Christian principles, then...
Well, it was the wrong group to post this list to in the first place, and it started a firestorm. One of the bullet points on the list was that this person wanted to receive postal mail on Easter. Someone who was not only annoyed at the list being posted, but evidently also very angry at religion, Christians and God and who was rather ignorant replied: You wouldn't get mail on Easter anyway. It's a Sunday.
I'll let you think about that for a moment.
Hmmm? I wonder why Sunday is a day without mail. Hmmm...
No work on Sunday, that came from Christianity. The whole day of rest thing, that was God's idea. So, if you enjoy the weekend, thank God and religious people.
The Romans and Greeks are not who invented the weekend. And yes, though there are many things the west has in common with non-western societies, because it turns out they are made up of humans as well, the reality is that our society is not based on those, but on western civilization. The day of rest comes from western culture directly through religious people and God's commands. If we had a strictly secular society, if somehow we had been able to throw off the yoke of religious "oppression" in the west, we would have much more to do with utilitarianism and less to do with rest.
We are coming up on a weekend with lots of fun activities in our area, then Labor Day weekend after that. Many people will take that time to rest, enjoy the outdoors, shop. All of that free time, just another great idea from God.
Once upon a time, when I still had time to knit, I was part of a knitting group on usenet. It was a friendly group, straying from the topic occasionally, but usually getting back on track quickly.
Friendships developed between the members and people started posting more about their personal lives and other things not directly related to knitting or other yarn crafts. This was, overall, a good thing. It left room for some bad things, too, though.
For instance, someone posted one of those lists that she thought everyone would find funny. It was vastly inappropriate to the group topic. It was the one about if this country isn't a nation that was founded on Christian principles, then...
Well, it was the wrong group to post this list to in the first place, and it started a firestorm. One of the bullet points on the list was that this person wanted to receive postal mail on Easter. Someone who was not only annoyed at the list being posted, but evidently also very angry at religion, Christians and God and who was rather ignorant replied: You wouldn't get mail on Easter anyway. It's a Sunday.
I'll let you think about that for a moment.
Hmmm? I wonder why Sunday is a day without mail. Hmmm...
No work on Sunday, that came from Christianity. The whole day of rest thing, that was God's idea. So, if you enjoy the weekend, thank God and religious people.
The Romans and Greeks are not who invented the weekend. And yes, though there are many things the west has in common with non-western societies, because it turns out they are made up of humans as well, the reality is that our society is not based on those, but on western civilization. The day of rest comes from western culture directly through religious people and God's commands. If we had a strictly secular society, if somehow we had been able to throw off the yoke of religious "oppression" in the west, we would have much more to do with utilitarianism and less to do with rest.
We are coming up on a weekend with lots of fun activities in our area, then Labor Day weekend after that. Many people will take that time to rest, enjoy the outdoors, shop. All of that free time, just another great idea from God.
Labels: Culture and Politics, Faith and Morality
