L谩 Fh茅ile P谩draig Shona. Or maybe you prefer the more Anglicized greeting, 鈥淗appy St. Patrick鈥檚 Day鈥�? The first sentence is in Irish, but we鈥檒l go with the second version of the greeting. Tomorrow is indeed Saint Patrick鈥檚 Day and it will be marked by all sorts of people who would normally not bother honouring saints. March 17 represents the date when Patrick died in 461 CE. Today he is regarded as the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick鈥檚 holy status comes from his being associated with the Christianizing of that country.
St. Patrick鈥檚 Day in sa国际传媒 is not an official government holiday in the way that a couple of other religious days have been given statutory recognition 鈥� Christmas Day and Good Friday. (Federally regulated employees also get Easter Monday off.) In Ireland,聽聽St. Patrick鈥檚 Day is a national holiday. And on this side of the Atlantic, people of Irish descent and people who just like the colour green, are keen to display leprechauns, shamrocks, golden harps and green beer.聽聽Chicago has been dying the Chicago River green on St. Patrick鈥檚 Day, since 1962.聽聽Montreal, Boston and New York have long established St. Patrick鈥檚 Day parades. What is known as a saint鈥檚 day is largely a celebration of idealized Irish culture.聽
How we deal with public religious observances in a secular society is sometimes the cause of considerable debate. No one seems to take umbrage at St. Patrick鈥檚 Day, perhaps because any religious significance has been largely eclipsed by a celebration of Irish folklore, rather than devotion to a religious saint. Who鈥檚 against being Irish, if only for a day? But when the same discussion about separation of church and state is brought up about Christmas and Easter, the tone is rather different. Should the City of Victoria put up Christmas decorations and turn the Sequoia in Centennial Square into a Christmas Tree, using public money?聽聽Should Easter egg hunts be allowed in public parks, when only part of the population celebrates Easter?聽聽Should there be a pubic menorah lit at Chanukah?
The core spiritual issue in such matters revolves around one鈥檚 understanding of what it means to be a secular society. Following the French Revolution in 1789, all expressions of religion in the public space were forbidden. This understanding of the secular is called 鈥渃losed secularism鈥�, in that society is closed to religious expression on the basis of separation of church and state. This French understanding carries on in Quebec today, where there has been controversy about public servants being banned from wearing obvious religious symbols. A second tradition of 鈥渟ecular鈥� means that the state is neutral towards religious affiliation, while observing separation of church and state. In principle, a variety of religious expressions could happen in public space as long as all religions are treated equally.聽聽This second model is sometimes called 鈥渙pen secularism鈥� and it鈥檚 the model envisioned in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many religions exist in Canadian society, so practising toleration and treating them equally requires some juggling and negotiation.
A further complication is that holidays like Christmas and Easter have dimensions that are not religious and these social customs exist independently of any religious affiliation 鈥� e.g. putting up lights in the dark of winter, giving presents to loved ones, having parties, sending children out to gather eggs hidden by Easter bunnies.聽聽People are free to cherry pick what parts of holidays they will participate in, or not. And you don鈥檛 have to be saintly or even Irish, to enjoy St. Patrick鈥檚 Day. Happy picking!
Larry Scott, a retired United Church minister.
You can read more articles on our interfiath blog, Spiritually SPeaking, HERE
* This article was published in the prinyt edition of the tImes Colonist on Saturday, March 16th 2019
St Patrick's Day photo: Garry Knight from London, England [CC BY 2.0 (]