[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > ... In my school we just has our Arab > students out for very holy days, our Greek Orthodox students observe > Easter April 19, and my Unitarian friends take "spring break".
I would have expected that the Orthodox churches define Easter in the same way as the Western churches, except that they use the Julian calendar. It seems that would make the Orthodox Easter on average 13 days later than the Western Eastern, but in any given year it would be either coincident or one month later. How did it end up one week later this year? Do they calculate the full moon differently as well? > ... So why > does Illinois call April 10, Good Friday, a state holiday? Is one > religion favored over another? But then Illinois has a state holiday > for Pulaski Day. Do other places have state holidays today - (Christian > Good Friday)? In Germany, Good Friday and Easter Monday are both state holidays (even though Easter Monday is not even a church holiday!). But Germany does not make any pretense of separating church and state. The state collects taxes for the church, the church appoints some university professors (not only for theology), and in Bavaria, classrooms are required to hang a crucifix. --Art Carlson--
