It's February 12, kids. You know what that means? It is Charles Darwin's birthday. He would have been 196 today.
So I was thinking...we all agree that Canada needs a national holiday in February. A day when we can all take a break...a little rest between New Year's and whenever the Pope decides Easter will be. The only people who are against a national holiday in February are the money nazis who are deathly afraid they might miss out on yet another day of abusing their workers.
Some people have suggested St. Valentines day would be a good February holiday, but there are secular people who don't like that because of it's religious origins and religious people who don't like it because of its sexual connotations.
Other people have suggested Groundhog Day, but the way those little mammals get manhandled into being weather forecasters is ridiculous. Besides, the groundhogs hardly ever get it right. We have enough inaccuracy in this country, we don;t need to make it official.
Some have said that we should have a Prime Minister's Day to coincide with the USA's Presidents' Day. That's just silly though...it's derivative and will become nothing but an excuse to sell sheets, just like it has in the US. If we want to honour our Prime Ministers, we should do it in a month when Ottawa is pretty, instead of being dull and dreary.
So let's make Darwin Day our national holiday. It's perfect. In many ways Darwin is the father of modern science. His theory of evolution changed not only the way we look at ourselves and the world around us, but had implications for all areas of science.
It would also send a clear message that we are a nation that bases decisions on scientific fact, not peculiar religious traditions. That is an important message to send in an age when the country below us seems to have been taken over by rabid religious fantasists.
The anti-evolutionists might yell and scream a bit, but they are going to do that anyway. They won't be happy until we teach every school child that Adam and Eve started the race six thousand years ago. If they really can't abide a day celebrating Darwin, then let them move to a state where science takes a back seat to superstition and greed.
Darwin Day can also become an international day off. Most developed nations have national holidays. Most developed nations base their decisions on science and fact. Darwin is a natural to become the first international holiday not based on religion.
So send a letter to your MPs, send an e-mail to the PMO. 2009 will be Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th of his theory of evolution. Four years should be just enough time to whip our politicians into understanding that not only do we need a national day off, but we need a day that honours scientific achievement.
You can find out more about Darwin and the day honouring him at
http://www.darwinday.org/home/index.html
So I was thinking...we all agree that Canada needs a national holiday in February. A day when we can all take a break...a little rest between New Year's and whenever the Pope decides Easter will be. The only people who are against a national holiday in February are the money nazis who are deathly afraid they might miss out on yet another day of abusing their workers.
Some people have suggested St. Valentines day would be a good February holiday, but there are secular people who don't like that because of it's religious origins and religious people who don't like it because of its sexual connotations.
Other people have suggested Groundhog Day, but the way those little mammals get manhandled into being weather forecasters is ridiculous. Besides, the groundhogs hardly ever get it right. We have enough inaccuracy in this country, we don;t need to make it official.
Some have said that we should have a Prime Minister's Day to coincide with the USA's Presidents' Day. That's just silly though...it's derivative and will become nothing but an excuse to sell sheets, just like it has in the US. If we want to honour our Prime Ministers, we should do it in a month when Ottawa is pretty, instead of being dull and dreary.
So let's make Darwin Day our national holiday. It's perfect. In many ways Darwin is the father of modern science. His theory of evolution changed not only the way we look at ourselves and the world around us, but had implications for all areas of science.
It would also send a clear message that we are a nation that bases decisions on scientific fact, not peculiar religious traditions. That is an important message to send in an age when the country below us seems to have been taken over by rabid religious fantasists.
The anti-evolutionists might yell and scream a bit, but they are going to do that anyway. They won't be happy until we teach every school child that Adam and Eve started the race six thousand years ago. If they really can't abide a day celebrating Darwin, then let them move to a state where science takes a back seat to superstition and greed.
Darwin Day can also become an international day off. Most developed nations have national holidays. Most developed nations base their decisions on science and fact. Darwin is a natural to become the first international holiday not based on religion.
So send a letter to your MPs, send an e-mail to the PMO. 2009 will be Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th of his theory of evolution. Four years should be just enough time to whip our politicians into understanding that not only do we need a national day off, but we need a day that honours scientific achievement.
You can find out more about Darwin and the day honouring him at
http://www.darwinday.org/home/index.html