Letter for Reform
The United States of America is the very first secular government founded in the world. The founding fathers document this in The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. One of the greatest assets an American citizen may appreciate is the freedom of religion. The fact is that religious persecution was a very motivating factor in coming to America. Nothing has endorsed the freedom of religion more than the separation of church and state. Americans enjoy a degree of religious freedom unknown in most of the rest of the world, and we take full advantage it: the United States is home to more than 1,500 different religious bodies and 360,000 churches, synagogues and mosques. I am grateful for the principles for which the United States was founded.
However, my concern is this, there was no specific legal code at that time for an official national calendar for the United States. Maybe that time has come. We have adopted the Gregorian calendar only by default. Founding this country on secularism and separation of church and state does not follow suit to keep the Gregorian calendar anymore. It is the weakest link in the U.S. to truly support separation of church and state principles. The fact is that our present Gregorian calendar is set-up to date from what was considered the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. Every time an individual writes out a check or signs a document he or she is acknowledging the amount of time that has passed since the birth of the Christian Savior. Does this respect the rights of those that are not of the Christian faith?
President Bush has violated the spirit of the founders and the letter of the First Amendment by giving tax money to religious organizations through the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. His approach was either naive or sneaky and disingenuous. I am concerned in the direction that this could lead. I do worry about the walls of separation of church and state being torn down. If this is not a red flag, then I don’t know what is.
It is absurd to keep pretending that the Gregorian is not a religious calendar when it is the Official Catholic calendar with its latest revision by Pope Gregory, implemented in 1582. How can we truly have freedom of religion unless we are allowed freedom from religion when we choose? So long as the Gregorian is the calendar in America, America has no true freedom from religion. Why the AU, ACLU, FFRF, etc doesn't want to talk about calendar reform is beyond me. This makes no sense in the very first country in the world founded upon principles of separation of church and state would not choose a calendar that is non-sectarian, democratically embracing all beliefs, for everyone, including non-believers for which until very recently hasn’t had a political platform for many years. In the Pledge of Allegiance it says, ‘With Liberty and Justice for all.’ How about a calendar for all? The largest opponent to calendar reform appears to be bad habit, lack of interest and moral laziness to deal with the issue.
Here are a few basic facts:
The legal code of the United States does not specify an official national calendar. Use of the Gregorian calendar in the United States stems from an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1751, The British Calendar Act of 1751. Which specified use of the Gregorian calendar in England and its colonies.
The 13-month calendar was introduced into modern times by French philosopher Auguste Comte who studied the Polynesian 13-moon, 28-day calendar for 7 years and, in 1849, initiated the first reform of the Gregorian calendar to be based on the 13-moon calendar. Since that time, this calendar has been proposed on numerous occasions, preferred for its perfection and regularity.
In 1923, the "League of Nations" called for Calendar reform. More than 500 proposals were received by 1931. The 13 month, 28 day Calendar was favored. In the 1930's, 98% of businesses polled preferred the 13 month calendar over the Gregorian. In the US alone, over 100 industries of great diversity supported this change. It was only by extreme religious resistance from the (Roman Catholic) Vatican that world-wide adaptation of this logical alternative was halted.
The Thirteen Moon 28-day calendar belongs to no religion, is purely non-sectarian, democratically embracing all beliefs and holds a peaceful balance between the various solar and lunar calendars used around the world synchronizing all other calendars. Its use will not only reestablish harmony as an intrinsic value of life, but make accounting easier and provide for a perpetual calendar for all the holidays, i.e., July 4, would now be Cosmic Moon 8, and would always fall on a Sunday.
Superstition or distaste for the number 13 are not valid since we have a flag with 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies, not to mention the symbology of 13 on the US $1 dollar bill. We still have 13 red and white stripes on the American flag today. Why not the calendar to go with it?
The intent of this letter is to make the case that the World 13 Moon calendar exemplifies E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, One) more than any other. It is with great confidence when I say that no other calendar could be more American. There would be no greater starting point for the adoption of this calendar to begin to lead the world towards peace than in the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yours in service to the Great Calendar Change,
Nicholas W. Barker
Kin 113: Red Solar Skywalker
The United States of America is the very first secular government founded in the world. The founding fathers document this in The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. One of the greatest assets an American citizen may appreciate is the freedom of religion. The fact is that religious persecution was a very motivating factor in coming to America. Nothing has endorsed the freedom of religion more than the separation of church and state. Americans enjoy a degree of religious freedom unknown in most of the rest of the world, and we take full advantage it: the United States is home to more than 1,500 different religious bodies and 360,000 churches, synagogues and mosques. I am grateful for the principles for which the United States was founded.
However, my concern is this, there was no specific legal code at that time for an official national calendar for the United States. Maybe that time has come. We have adopted the Gregorian calendar only by default. Founding this country on secularism and separation of church and state does not follow suit to keep the Gregorian calendar anymore. It is the weakest link in the U.S. to truly support separation of church and state principles. The fact is that our present Gregorian calendar is set-up to date from what was considered the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. Every time an individual writes out a check or signs a document he or she is acknowledging the amount of time that has passed since the birth of the Christian Savior. Does this respect the rights of those that are not of the Christian faith?
President Bush has violated the spirit of the founders and the letter of the First Amendment by giving tax money to religious organizations through the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. His approach was either naive or sneaky and disingenuous. I am concerned in the direction that this could lead. I do worry about the walls of separation of church and state being torn down. If this is not a red flag, then I don’t know what is.
It is absurd to keep pretending that the Gregorian is not a religious calendar when it is the Official Catholic calendar with its latest revision by Pope Gregory, implemented in 1582. How can we truly have freedom of religion unless we are allowed freedom from religion when we choose? So long as the Gregorian is the calendar in America, America has no true freedom from religion. Why the AU, ACLU, FFRF, etc doesn't want to talk about calendar reform is beyond me. This makes no sense in the very first country in the world founded upon principles of separation of church and state would not choose a calendar that is non-sectarian, democratically embracing all beliefs, for everyone, including non-believers for which until very recently hasn’t had a political platform for many years. In the Pledge of Allegiance it says, ‘With Liberty and Justice for all.’ How about a calendar for all? The largest opponent to calendar reform appears to be bad habit, lack of interest and moral laziness to deal with the issue.
Here are a few basic facts:
The legal code of the United States does not specify an official national calendar. Use of the Gregorian calendar in the United States stems from an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1751, The British Calendar Act of 1751. Which specified use of the Gregorian calendar in England and its colonies.
The 13-month calendar was introduced into modern times by French philosopher Auguste Comte who studied the Polynesian 13-moon, 28-day calendar for 7 years and, in 1849, initiated the first reform of the Gregorian calendar to be based on the 13-moon calendar. Since that time, this calendar has been proposed on numerous occasions, preferred for its perfection and regularity.
In 1923, the "League of Nations" called for Calendar reform. More than 500 proposals were received by 1931. The 13 month, 28 day Calendar was favored. In the 1930's, 98% of businesses polled preferred the 13 month calendar over the Gregorian. In the US alone, over 100 industries of great diversity supported this change. It was only by extreme religious resistance from the (Roman Catholic) Vatican that world-wide adaptation of this logical alternative was halted.
The Thirteen Moon 28-day calendar belongs to no religion, is purely non-sectarian, democratically embracing all beliefs and holds a peaceful balance between the various solar and lunar calendars used around the world synchronizing all other calendars. Its use will not only reestablish harmony as an intrinsic value of life, but make accounting easier and provide for a perpetual calendar for all the holidays, i.e., July 4, would now be Cosmic Moon 8, and would always fall on a Sunday.
Superstition or distaste for the number 13 are not valid since we have a flag with 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies, not to mention the symbology of 13 on the US $1 dollar bill. We still have 13 red and white stripes on the American flag today. Why not the calendar to go with it?
The intent of this letter is to make the case that the World 13 Moon calendar exemplifies E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, One) more than any other. It is with great confidence when I say that no other calendar could be more American. There would be no greater starting point for the adoption of this calendar to begin to lead the world towards peace than in the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yours in service to the Great Calendar Change,
Nicholas W. Barker
Kin 113: Red Solar Skywalker
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