Holiday Reform

Celebrating and reviving the true meaning of the holidays is a necessary step to save America from impending suicide

Our holidays have generally become an empty excuse for a day off, thread worn retail sales, and enjoyable social gatherings. These activities usually lack any acknowledgement of the underlying and solemn importance of the days.

Independence Day (July 4th) is perhaps the most vivid example. Fireworks, hotdogs, and apple pie fill the day. The Spirit of ’76, however, has nearly disappeared. On July 3, 1776, just one day after independence was approved (but one day prior to the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence), Founding Father John Adams presciently understood that the anniversary of Independence Day would be marked by “pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forever more.”

What is missing today was Adams’ conjoined expectation that “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized. . . .” We have the hamburgers and parades, but any solemnization is trite.  Most other holidays follow suit.

Schools, media, businesses, theatre groups, civic groups, and others should leverage the opportunities of each holiday and make them teachable moments. Independence Day should be chock full of readers of the Declaration of Independence and other activities in malls, town halls, and parades. Other holidays should be similarly revived.

Although these commemorations may present little that is new, as Chief Justice Earl Warren explained, they would “still serve a purpose of rekindling the spirit evinced by” the Founding Fathers, “and . . . . afford us the opportunity to say in unison, ‘Lest we forget.’”

For more about holiday reform and its importance to America’s survival, buy a copy of  America’s Survival Guide.

 

 

 

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"America's Survival Guide is a bold and insightful work that should be taken seriously by those concerned with the future of America. We ignore it at our peril."
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“Michael Warren is the Paul Revere of the 21st century, warning of an invasion of the American spirit that threatens to eviscerate the country’s founding principles and rot the nation from within. He documents the historical illiteracy that is truly dumbing down the future of America, its children. It’s time for America to answer this intellectual and spiritual call-to-arms.” – RICHARD BURR, THE DETROIT NEWS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, EDITORIAL PAGE

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"America's Survival Guide describes with detail and passion the dangers that come from abandoning the "First Principles" upon which this nation was founded. But this important book offers more than a diagnosis and despair, it presents a reasoned program for restoring the U.S. Constitution its proper place at the center of American society and government. The book draws on history, politics and education to make a powerful case for freedom and fighting for it."

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