I wanted to add my thought on this issue of Muslim holidays. Despite the war on terror which seems to be over-represented by fanatical Muslims, we do have many peaceful Muslims residing in this country. Despite the fundamentalist Islamic view of the House of Islam being at constant war with the House of War (that is us), we should appreciate that not all Muslims subscribe to that 7th century belief. We should attempt to cater to those peaceful Muslims.

As for the Muslim holiday within Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, it is a lunar calendar concept. We should treat it as we do Good Friday and Easter. If we have a concern, it should be with all lunar calendar holidays. Remember, we shifted to our current calendar of 12 months centuries ago and displaced the 13-month lunar calendar. It seems odd that our new scientific calendar and mindset permits remnants of days past to linger on. Clearly, we have abandoned the pagan and mystic beliefs of our earlier ancestors.

As for the current holidays (religious or otherwise), we could revisit those as well. Easter originates from pagan animal (possibly human) sacrifices. Christians merely superimposed their religious rituals over the pagan festival.

Christmas, the holiday of most concern on 25 December 2005, is not really the day of Christ's birth. On our 12-month calendar, that day is between 6-7 January. A glance at the Easter Christians (Orthodox) will reveal this to be true. The Easter Christians celebrate Christmas on 6-7 January with 7 January being the beginning of the New Year or their 1 January. And, a little thought on the matter would reveal how relevant that is. When you are born is when you start counting your age. You do not have to wait 8 days to do so.

Why do we celebrate Christmas on the 25 December? The Roman Empire had a serious problem with a sister religion of Christianity: Mythraism. 25 December is the birthday of the God of Light (North Star) Mythras. Christians created the Nativity scene where the North Star shines upon the baby Jesus transferring or giving homage to the new religion, Christianity. This is evidenced by the three wisemen bowing to the baby Jesus. Wisemen in Latin were known as Magus, plural is Magi. The Magi were the spiritual leader of the Mythrite religions.

What I am trying to convey is that most of our religious holidays are either a lunar form of our pagan beliefs or they are incorrect. In a sense, if we can arbitrarily celebrate whenever we choose, we should not be too hard on the Muslims.

As for the Muslim holiday being authorized, I believe that it is a standard practice to accredit any entity controlling or comprising five percent. Accordingly, I believe the Tampa Bay councils acted appropriately in accrediting Eid al-Fatir as a holiday.

Remember, our Constitution guarantees freedom of religious worship. We need to incorporate the Islamics.

With Aloha,

Harry