Unwrapping Xmas & Easter: Rethinking Holidays? (Guest Post)

As a teenager, I was never able to get a satisfactory answer about why we celebrate Christmas. I knew about its Christian roots, but I was always puzzled by the fact that we as a non-Christian family continued to base our annual holiday around this essentially random date. The best explanation anyone was able to offer me, was that ‘well, everyone else does, so we do too’. Which recently got me thinking; if we only think that holidays are special because everyone else also celebrates them, its within our power as a society to change up these (largely) arbitrary celebration days for ones that are more meaningful in modern society.

In the 2018 census, more than half the population ticked ‘no religion’, so why do we base our annual calendar of celebrations and festivities on events that the majority of kiwis don’t believe happened? Christmas and Easter hold significance for many as times of family, friends, and relaxation, but the ones who value the dates for their biblical meaning are in the minority. So why bother continuing to use December 25^th and Easter weekend as the days of enforced rest on which almost everything is shut down? 

I have the same opinion of the New Year. We think of 1^st January as the start of a new year, but this was not always the case. Historically, the new year has been celebrated on seasonal changes, solstices, rulers’ birthdays or on the various holy days of local religions. There is no reason, other than habit and social norms, that we think of the year as beginning in January and ending in December. So, we should ask ourselves, do we want the new year to be this date? Are there better options?

Unpopular opinion: I think we should shake up the dates of our public holidays and choose new holidays and dates. We should choose celebrations and dates that are meaningful to members of modern society and are well-timed to suit their purpose.

Matariki as our latest public holiday is a good example of exactly what I’m talking about. Falling in mid-winter, it is well suited to its purpose in Te Ao Māori – time to reflect on the past, celebrate the present and plan for the future. The cold weather and lack of sun means many of us are stuck inside with our thoughts, our friends, our family and wishfully beginning to make plans for the summer months. It’s also well timed in that it’s a welcome break in the almost 5 months between King’s Birthday and Labour Day (public holidays which I also debate as both dates were arbitrarily chosen).

I’d love to be able to celebrate things that I feel some kind of personal connection to. In Aotearoa, it would be cool to have a holiday for NZ Independence Day, or for the anniversary of Women’s’ Suffrage. Dates that are meaningful in the natural world, around the changing of the seasons or celebrations of Summer and Winter solstices, could get us both into the festive spirit and have some meaning for our modern lives.

I’m well aware this is a strange issue to have such strong opinions on, and that in the grand scheme of things it’s not a hill that’s big enough to die on. Nonetheless, I will continue to spout my opinion to anyone who will listen and will be attempting to convince my partner to take up some alternate holiday’s traditions with me (while also still buying them a Christmas present, of course!).

Big thanks to our guest poster for this week’s blog! x