Christmas must go

[Johan Larson]

Folks, we have a problem. And the problem is Christmas. It just doesn’t work where it is in the yearly calendar. it’s right next to New Year’s Day and, at least in the US, also uncomfortably close to Thanksgiving. Fortunately, there is no reason the birth of Jesus has to be celebrated in December. It’s just traditional. Tradition counts for little, so we can move it elsewhere in the year.

The question is, where? Spacing out major holidays is a good idea. In the US, the big events of the year are New Year’s Day (January), the Super Bowl (February), Easter (April), Independence Day (July), Back to School (September), and Thanksgiving (November).

What’s available? If we say that no two major events can share a month, we have Mar/May/Jun/Aug/Oct/Dec. It seems weird to have the two biggest religious events in adjacent months, so let’s drop the months around April, giving us Jun/Aug/Oct/Dec. New Years’s Day is right at the beginning of the month, so it really spoils Dec too, giving us Jun/Aug/Oct. Off hand, August looks pretty good. It’s well away from Easter, and nothing else is happening in August anyway.

[Þorkell Sigvaldason]

FWIW Easter can be in March also.

I just have to ask, is Back to School really that big an event? I was also going to ask about the Super Bowl but then thought of Americans and sports. 

Also for the calendar here, Christmas is perfectly placed. There are no big events in September, October, or November.

[Johan Larson]

For families with children, Back to School is a big deal. Stores usually stock up all sorts of school gear and run big advertising campaigns. I think a lot of clothes for children get sold during Back to School season.

[Warren Ellis]

I have a superior suggestion: leave it where it is.

Too many times have people attempted to change things for the better only to find they screwed up and caused more problems.

In fact, since you're so keen on reforming holidays, why not change change where Christmas falls in Canada since you're Canadian yourself?

[Johnny1A]

On Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 9:31:45 PM UTC-5, Warren Ellis wrote:

I have a superior suggestion: leave it where it is.

Too many times have people attempted to change things for the better only to find they screwed up and caused more problems.

Amen!  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" 

The more so because there is a substantial wish among some of the Western intelligentsia to drop Christmas entirely, and they'd love an excuse for another attack.