I am NOT Irish and/or Catholic and I do NOT wear green: don’t you dare pinch me today!

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I am NOT Irish and/or Catholic and I do NOT wear green: don’t you dare pinch me today!

The tyranny of those who go around pinching those who don’t enjoy the “wearing of the green” or celebrating St. Patrick’s Day has got to stop.

Most of us couldn’t care less that some people have a random holiday today and aren’t drinking anything (green or otherwise). We resent being touched, much less hurt, by drunk and/or celebrating strangers.

By the way, in case you care, here is a bit of history about this so-called “holiday”:

1) The actual person who was beatified after his death into sainthood by the Catholic Church wasn’t even Irish, but Ireland made “St. Patrick” into its “patron saint.”

2) It’s mostly become an excuse to drink alcohol, especially for those who had been observing Lent by abstaining from alcohol, because on THIS day, they are absolved from Lent obligations.

3) The “wearing of the green” was a prime form of protest against the British governance of Ireland during rebellion centuries/decades. Green has little to do with St. Patrick, since the color originally associated with that saint was blue, but political and union protesters adopted the color green in the 1790s to represent Irish unity and then tacked it on to St. Patrick’s Day later.

4) St. Patrick’s “Day” is now celebrated for almost an entire week in Ireland, with parades, drinking, concerts, fireworks, sales and general rowdiness. It’s become an alcohol and tourist festival with few or no references to Irish Unity, Independence, Catholicism or Saint Patrick.

5) Somehow, dying things green, especially liquids, has become part of the way people, businesses, entire cities and nations “celebrate” this day. Check this out. It’s absurd, in my opinion:

White_House_fountain_dyed_green_for_Saint_Patrick's_Day_2011
The White House, USA, fountain, 3/17/11

Want to know more? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

SO: Do whatever you want on this day or any days around it. Just leave me out of it. I’m a Buddhist/Jewish USA midwesterner who doesn’t drink.

6 thoughts on “I am NOT Irish and/or Catholic and I do NOT wear green: don’t you dare pinch me today!”

  1. Sally, thanks for putting it straight! I’m Catholic and never celebrate St. Pat’s Day. No sign of green anywhere. Good to know the history. Makes me feel better about ignoring a saint! Thanks! Christine

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Interesting how big it is in America. Considering in England we were a few miles away, with lots of Irish who had moved across, it went virtually unnoticed. And I lived and worked in Irish areas. It strikes me as total overkill, fuelled by a false sense of emotive nostalgia. A bit like raising funds for the IRA.

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