Today is All Saints’ Day, a public holiday in Germany. A day for all the saints the Christian church has amassed over the years.
In my opinion, there should be a more significant separation between church and state in Germany. Public holidays are a great example. Nearly every public holiday is based on some Christian celebration. Christmas, Easter, Whitsun, … The only exceptions are May Day and October 3 (The day of the German reunion). This is on the one hand discriminating towards other religions and cultures and on the other hand it is forced upon every working citizen. A better solution would be to let everybody decide for themselves whether or not they want to take a day off on an important religious holiday. Why should everybody accept Christian traditions although many many people don’t even know or care what they are about? I for myself would be happy if I could work on All Saints’ Day and take a day off when I see fit instead.
However, since I am still a student, vacations are of more concern to me. Every German vacation except the summer vacation is placed around a Christian celebration. Why not separate a year into semesters or trimesters and place the vacation in between? I’m glad that I finish school in 2007. The system employed by universities is exactly what I would like to see for schools. Two semesters a year that are separated by ten weeks of vacation.
A personal issue: Having deeply religious parents (who are hypocrites nonetheless) I should have gone to mass today. Now that I refused I’m waiting for my father to scold me. Instead of letting me decide myself (I have the age of majority after all) they still try to force Christian ideas upon me. There’s nothing worse than being an atheist in a religious family. I’m looking forward to the day I’m finally able move out.
