My "liturgical" calendar

There are three reasons why Mormons don't follow the Christian liturgical calendar (other than celebrating Christmas and Easter Sunday). First, we inherited, I think, the extreme iconoclasm of non-conformist Protestantism. Second, nothing in the revelations given to Joseph Smith instruct us to follow the calendar, and in many ways Mormonism has sought to make a clean break (almost) from what it considers "apostate" tradition. Third, Mormons have the lofty goal of a communion with God that is direct, constant, and not ceremonial. In other words, Mormons would say that they don't need to be reminded by a set-calendar that they should be thinking of Christ. See John Fowles's thoughts on this. I'm not so good at the third, and find that I do need a lot of specific prompting to focus on spiritual matters. I also happen to enjoy the traditional Christian liturgy (despite being a life-long Latter-day Saint, I went to Anglican schools you see). So I have created the Ronan J. Head Calendar of Annual Religious Tourism 2005. This is the American version which I will adapt into an English version soon (i.e. swapping July 4 with St. George's Day). Some explanations first: 1. I have incorporated the main religious festivals of Christianity and Judaism. 2. I have chosen what I consider to be the pivotal moments in Mormon history and have made one up (take a look!) 3. In order to teach my children about other religions, I have also selected certain Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic festivals. 4. Because I'm a UN-hugging liberal, I've also added a few days of international observance. 5. I have listed the US holidays I personally find most meaningful (and will swap them with Brit-holidays) As these "holidays" occur, I will post my ideas for celebrating them from a Mormon perspective (and food to eat!). Anyway, here it is: January 1-New Years Day 6-Epiphany 17-Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr February 8-Shrove Tuesday 9-Ash Wednesday - Lent begins to March 19 14-St. Valentine's Day March 8-International Woman’s Day 17-St. Patrick's Day 20-Palm Sunday 24-Maundy Thursday; Purim (Jewish) 25-Good Friday 27-Easter April 2/3-General Conference 6-Restoration of the Church 22-Earth Day 23/24-Passover (Jewish) May 5-Ascension of Christ 6-Jesus among the Nephites 8-Mother's Day 15-Pentecost; Restoration of the Priesthood 24-Buddha Day June 13/14-Shavuot (Jewish) 19-Father's Day 24-Martyrdom of Joseph Smith July 4-Independence Day 24-Pioneer Day Aug 14-15-Tisha B'av (Jewish) September 21-Moroni’s Visitation October 1/2 General Conference 4/5-Rosh Hashanah (Jewish) 13-Yom Kippur (Jewish) 18/19-Sukkot (Jewish) 31-All Hallows Eve Nov 1-Diwali (Hindu) 3/4-Eid al Fitr - Ramadan ends (Islam) 11-Veterans Day 24-Thanksgiving 27-First Sunday of Advent December 23-Joseph Smith Birthday 24-Christmas Eve 25-Christmas Day 25/Jan1- Hannukkah (Jewish)