Why Is the Canal Green?

I spent some time in public this St. Patrick's Day and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to notice that many people I saw had embraced its true meaning. For those of you who might not know, St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland; he spent several decades of the 5th century bringing the Catholic faith to the Irish people. I was glad to see that there were many people who embraced their Irish roots today and celebrated the teachings of St. Patrick in the best way that they possibly could, by getting drunk on green beer. Since I am Catholic, I was also glad to see that there were many non-Catholics who wanted to don their green sweaters and celebrate the life of someone who had a major impact on Catholicism by joining their friends at the local pub.

Since I just gave you an incredible dose of sarcasm in the previous paragraph, let me use the following serious sentence to balance your diet. While showing disdain for people celebrating St. Patrick's Day in the wrong way or for the wrong reasons would be ultimately hyprocitical on my part, I do not think that hypocrisy would apply if I express my discord with the local and federal governments. In my opinion, it is not right to fervently enforce the separation of Church and state in matters like praying in school and displaying the Ten Commandments in public areas but it is okay to hold parades and dye bodies of water in celebration of a Catholic Saint. I could say the same for other Christian holidays like Christmas, and the argument would be at least as valid.* Although they do, government agencies may not simply choose which rules they want to follow and expect to be respected.



*As I have already said I am Catholic, and as a result I am most knowledgable with issues regarding Catholicism and Christianity, but I am sure that other religions can propose similar arguments.