“Good Friday” Versus “Spring Holiday”
A war is being fought in Germantown, Tennessee—a culture war. Some members of the school board want to change the school calendar. They prefer that the days off be called “Spring Holiday” rather than “Good Friday” and “Easter Monday.” Full disclosure: This writer has never observed either day, nor did any school district he ever attended have either day off. The reason that Christians do not observe Good Friday is that the New Testament does not require, or even suggest that such a day should be observed. As a matter of fact, the Bible is silent about Palm Sunday and Easter, also. Neither Jesus nor His apostles left instructions to remember those two days (three, if Good Friday is added into the mix) annually. These observances were invented by men over the centuries. The only dubious value that they have is to get people to think about the death and resurrection of Jesus once a year—instead of the 52 times a year that Christians ought to be engaged in it by means of the Lord’s Supper.
Having said that, however, we recognize that devout souls observe the days anyway. We do not object to Jews having a day free to observe Yom Kippur. So, we do not object to people having “Good Friday” off from work or school in order to think about Jesus’ crucifixion, even though the Scriptures do not command an annual observance. But we do object to the school board’s attempt to secularize what is for many a religious holiday. According to Todd Starnes Townhall post (Oct. 24, 2023), one local resident said: “You can’t just make up new names for people’s religious holidays. Who do they think they are?” Another said: “Could you ever think of changing the name of any other religious holiday?” To be sure, “Spring Holiday” does not sound religious. Carrie Schween, a conservative, posted the following on Facebook:
How does the systematic removal of God from all aspects of our schools make us stronger? … So whose interest would this action serve? Simple. It is the loud voices on the left and the woke mob who would entirely remove God from society. The results of their intentions are easy to see—just look around the country at all the failing schools. And then ask yourself whether this decision is another step towards making our schools better, or making them more like their failures.
Those are pertinent questions. Some are already replacing Christmas vacation with “Winter Holiday.” Again, the observance of Christmas is not authorized in the Scriptures, but it is just another effort to remove God and Christ from the public view. What’s next—anti-patriotism? Will Independence day become a Summer Celebration or Fireworks Day?