Tuesday, February 17, 2009

OK Disney - Why "Shamrock Day"?

Shamrock DayWith four little boys in the house, we inevitably will tune into Playhouse Disney. Most of the programming is enjoyable, and there are no commercials for toys, sugary cereal or whatever is being pimped to the kiddies on other channels.

I can sit through the multicultural PC stuff. Comes with the territory.

However, I saw something on the Playhouse Disney website that really "got my Irish up"! They are promoting party ideas for "Shamrock Day". See the picture of Mickey Mouse in a leprechaun hat.

I "get" that we all are encouraged to drop the Saint from St. Valentine's Day. It's about hearts and flowers. Have some candy hearts with corny or risque saying and pay no attention to that bishop and martyr.

But it does not work so well for St. Patrick's Day. I suppose you can call it St. Paddy's Day to make it a little more festive. But then you still have that problematic reminder that this is a day to honor a specific individual. And he was - please cover the children's ears - Catholic. It gets worse. He was a member of the clergy.

Hope your brogans are buckled tight. I've heard that some people actually observe this day by starting it in church.

So what is a multicultural politically correct network to do? It seems to only workaround is to rename it after a member of the clover family.

I would love to see the look on the faces of folks who came up with this solution when they find out the only reason anyone cares about the shamrock. Dig it, this dude Patrick used it to explain the Trinity to heathens. I expect next year we will find out all about Pot 'o Gold Day from Disney.

UPDATE: they are still at it in 2010 - Try to find the name Patrick or any mention of Ireland.
Posted by Matthew K at 10:08 PM
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5 comments:

  1. No shock here. Started with "Sparkle Day" (multiple California school district speak for Christmas). Halloween became "Harvest Day". Easter vacation became "Spring Break". "Happy Holidays" replaced Merry Christmas so-as not to "offend" anyone. Well, I'm offended by that!

    Multicultural political correctness makes me want to heave.

    Here's the deal. I don't care if you don't believe in Christ/God or Saints. That is your business. If you don't believe, then shut up and go to work.

    Better yet, come up with your own "religious holidays". Global Warming Day. St. Gore Day. Feast of the Kennedy Days. Whatever you want.

    Stop me when I'm lying,

    LJ
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  2. My son came home from kindergarten today with a "Happy Patrick's Day" craft. Which might confuse him, his little brother is named Patrick.
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  3. I totally agree. I think we as Catholics have been silent for too long. We have to let these corporations, communities, neighbors, etc., know that we are not going to stand by anymore while our faith is trampled upon. There are about 1 billions Catholics in the world. That is no small number. If we get together to stop attending, or purchasing, or whatever these places want from us (or at the very least threaten to), then we CAN make a difference. Remember the outcry against Wal-Mart when they didn't want to acknowledge Christmas (I think it was Happy Holidays or something like that). The had to "bring" it back into their stores because of lost profit. I have 3 children and I myself was a big Disney fan. But we are all Jesus fans more than anything else. So lets prove it to the US that we are.
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  4. As much as I agree with my fellow Brethern on this issue; at the end of the day we can not force our belief structure on anyone; just as God will not force us to love him. That's something we must come to on our own.
    So let's take a look at it from their point of view. Perhaps Disney is trying to make the point that ALL Disney parks are for all people, races, religions, and creeds; therefore they feel if they keep St. Patrick's Day, that they are only singling out the Catholic faith; and unfortunately in this touchy feely society everyone feels entitled. Disney wants to stay neutral and in the big scheme of things, I beleive there are far more important issues to fight about; let's see: abortion, stem cell research, pornography, our youth being excited about our Catholic faith, etc.. I wish we all spent more time focusing on these kind of issues than the petty ones that really don't make or break our faith. I appreciate people's devotion to our faith and traditions, and in the Catholic world, these Saints that we honor are to be modeled after; but let's pick our battles.

    Peace & Blessings
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  5. I might be setting a record for delayed response to a comment, but here it goes.

    Anonymous @ 3/24/09 March 17 is only special because it commemorates the rejection of paganism in Ireland. I have a strong suspicion that Disney really would prefer we forget this. I don't think it is petty that any reference to saints is being systematically eliminated from our society.

    I agree that there are more important issues than Shamrock Day. However, my blog posts are usually related in some way to popular culture, and this is why I mention it.
    ReplyDelete

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