29 April 2011

Should we implement the Easter Act 1928?

I'd thought that the Easter Act 1928 was contingent on the agreement of the the Christian Churches in this country -like that would ever happen! But maybe not -see this article from a couple of weeks or so ago. Unthinkable? Implement the Easter Act 1928 | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian:
The occasion of writing, is, of course, the very late Easter this year. And I have to admit that I had mused in odd moments about whether it'd be a good thing to implement it, but I thought that there was very little chance of the churches agreeing to it.
So what would it do? Why might it commend itself?
"the Easter Act 1928, a prescient piece of legislation which is already on the statute book, ready and waiting for a government brave enough to issue the implementation order. The act sets down that Easter Sunday must fall on a fixed day – the Sunday following the second Saturday in April. The effect would be that Easter Sunday, instead of falling on any date between 22 March and 25 April as now, would fall in the narrower window of 9 to 15 April."

Well, perhaps not quite 'fixed' as Christmas (which, incidently, I think perhaps should be tethered, probably, to a Sunday) but certainly de-coupled from the lunar-Gregorian calendar mash-up currently employed and held into a much tighter window.

And it doesn't need for the churches to agree: "the act merely requires that "regard shall be had" to their opinion"
Which is not quite the same as giving us/them the veto. There's no way that the RC would go with it, and I can just imagine the "Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells" reactions from the likes of the professionally-outraged at the Daily Mail and its ilk. But consider, a de-coupling of a Christian high day from public holiday has already taken place (and there are still rumblings) in the case of Pentecost -rather 'Whitsun'.
"Churches would rightly still be free to celebrate Easter on the day of their choice rather than over the public holiday – as the Orthodox church already does. The secular majority, however, would at last have an annual spring break that makes a bit more sense."
I'd want to say that we should consider this seriously. Let there be an early April bank Holiday weekend, but let the churches celebrate Easter our own way and at times that our traditions and collective bargaining determine. The advantages would be that we may be less likely to 'lose' attenders to extended weekends away and more likely to find others to invite to the feast alongside us -you know: who might like to consider responding positively to what we're celebrating... not to mention perhaps it might erode the post Easter 'flop' when instead of continuing to celebrate we all retreat and don't celebrate together further for a fortnight (I exaggerate, but not by much). Shame to lose the Easter Octave of celebration linked to Church life.

Though of course, it'll happen that quite often Pascha will fall at the same time as the public holiday too so the advantages I see would be some years but not others. But I'm not sure that linking Christian festivals with public holidays actually serves us well in post-Christendom.

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