Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.--Does drinking honor God? Does overeating honor God? Does brawling honor God? Does chasing tarty women honor God?
--Isn’t it sort of racist? Do you get as excited about Cinqo de Mayo?
--Why does everyone want to be Irish anyhow?
--Nobody really even knows who he was or what he did.
--Saint(?) Patrick’s day is a bit Catholic, isn’t it?
--Protestants and Catholics in
--Kissing strangers?
--“Lucky” cloverleaves?
--Where in the Bible do we see the command to celebrate individual people with holidays like this? If we’re going to have these sort of days, aren’t there better people to start with?
--How does it work to have a big party day with lots of meat and drink right in the middle of Lent?
--Are you going to pinch people who don’t wear green tomorrow?
.
Misc.
· From Wikipedia:
o Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family.
o His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church.
o At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.
o It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown.
o According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain.
o Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.
o In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism.
o Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people.
o After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick.
o Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.
· The shortest St Patrick's Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village's two pubs.
Response
· Fun is presumptively good.
· It’s a Christian holiday, or at least it can be.
· The Bible actually loves parties.
· A feast is the predominant metaphor for heaven and eternity
· Several feasts were set up throughout the year and people were required by the Old Testament Law to save up for them.
· Even if it’s just a secular holiday, there’s nothing wrong with that.
· If in addition it’s a celebration of a guy who evangelized pagans, wow, that’s terrible.
· Instead of complaining that everything in the world isn’t as it should be, take a moment when something fairly decent shows up and embrace it. Stop beign such a Grinch about everything.
· Abstinence isn’t inherently better than indulgence.
· Feasting is very Godly
· Prodigal dad
· Jesus’s first miracle
· Passover
· The wedding supper of the lamb
· Feast parables
· It doesn’t have to be anything more than just good fun to be good.
Resources:
The real St. Patrick (CT)
St. Patrick's Day (Wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment