Many people enjoy the various holidays celebrated throughout the year, like Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and more. These holidays bring us together, they provide a time for connection and celebration. However, many holidays should not be celebrated, either due to history or because they just don’t make sense.
Groundhog Day may be one of the most unnecessary holidays. According to Groundhog, if the groundhog comes out of its hole on February 2nd and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it has no shadow, there will be an early spring. According to LiveScience, the groundhog has an accuracy rate of 36%, which seems to be the only valid reason for having Groundhog Day. That means flipping a coin would give you a more accurate prediction. So next Groundhog Day, when the news comes on, remember rodents can’t predict the weather.
Columbus Day, the only holiday worse than Groundhog Day, celebrates Christopher Columbus’ arrival to America. In recent decades, however, many protest to get rid of Columbus Day. To many people, Columbus Day represents the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade and the death of millions by disease and murder. According to History, “The image of Christopher Columbus as an intrepid hero has been called into question.” When he first arrived in the Bahamas, he enslaved and tortured the native people and did the same to Native Americans and many others. Many already don’t celebrate this holiday, with good reason. For example, many Latin American nations, such as Venezuela, celebrate Día de la Resistencia Indígena (“Day of Indigenous Resistance”) to recognize the native peoples. Fourteen states also no longer celebrate Columbus Day but instead celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, including North Carolina, Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, and more.
On March 17th, everyone dresses in green and goes to parades, to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, without any real idea of what the holiday represents. First of all, Saint Patrick does not originate from Ireland. According to History, he descended from Romans or Celts. However, Irish raiders enslaved him and held him in Ireland until he escaped to England. He later returned to Ireland to preach Christianity. The color green doesn’t even make sense. His knights wore Saint Patrick Blue; he had his own color and we still chose green. Green only became associated with him to help get people to join the Irish Rebellion.
Valentine’s Day can be stressful, no matter what a person's relationship status may be. If part of a couple, people may feel forced to meet ridiculous expectations and spend way too much money on overpriced and meaningless gifts. In my opinion, it has become a highly commercialized holiday centered around forced love. Valentine’s Day also has no real origins. According to NPR, historians believe Valentine’s Day started in ancient Rome, where they celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia from February 13th to 15th. To celebrate, men sacrificed a goat and a dog and would then use the hide to whip women; they believed this brought fertility. On top of that, men would draw a woman’s name from a jar; they would then spend close, quality time together for the rest of the festival and, if the match seemed right, for the rest of their lives. ‘Cause, nothing says ‘I love you’ like sacrificing dogs. The holiday turned into Saint Valentine's Day by the pope, who wanted to get rid of the Pagan rituals. The traditions remained the same though for many years, just with more clothes than before, until it turned into what we celebrate today.
While these holidays don’t make sense to celebrate, holidays like Saint Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day can still be fun. After all, who doesn’t want to dress up in green and go to parades or spend time with their significant other?
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