On Sun, 12 Jan 2003, Nick Tonkin wrote: > Funny how the "Christian" point of view is that Sunday is the first day of > the week, when "God" rested on the seventh day after working to make the > world. Seventh which is Sunday for Christians .. (and Saturday which is > seventh for Jews, so for them Sunday _is_ the first day).
I would greatly prefer it if we not indulge in implied or actual criticizm of various religions, if it's all the same to you. Your comments here show that you're unaware of the Christian point of view, which makes a very clear distinction between the seventh day, on which God rested, and Sunday, which is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. The seventh day, the Sabbath, is Saturday in the Jewish tradition. Sunday has been celebrated in the Christian church, since the first Century AD, in commeration of the resurrection, not as equated to the Sabbath. That confusion may exist in certain protestant denominations, but is not the understanding of the larger Christian Church. Really the only reason for making this clarification at all, and not entirely dropping the religious pursuit of this discussion, is that religion is critical in many of the most interesting calendars on this planet, and one cannot fully appreciate the history and nuances of any of these calendars, notwithstanding the ISO, without a correct understanding of the religious communities that stand behind them, even if you view them merely as historical curiosities, rather than as transcendent truths. So, I, for one, and I'm sure many others, would appreciate it if everyone restrain from slights, implied or actual, on religions that will, of necessity, arise in calendrical discussion. Thanks. Rich -- Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the sky on laughter-silvered wings --High Flight (John Gillespie Magee)
