Yay! Let's bastardize an entire culture!

[Plinglebob]

As an Englishman, I don't like St Patricks Day for 2 reasons. The first is because its starting to creep into English culture mainly as an excuse to get drunk which seems a bit unecessary as the English really don't need an excuse. The second is that more of a fuss seems to be made about a Saints day of a country who's supporters were blowing English up for 20 plus years then St Georges day.

 

[Greeboz]

snip

You're absolutely right. I mock my friend for being Irish all the time. Although it's really the fact that she thinks it's okay to get drunk and vomit all over my fucking room just because it's in her blood. That and calling me a child molester my entire senior year might have something to do with it.

 

[_Serendipity_]

As an Englishman, I don't like St Patricks Day for 2 reasons. The first is because its starting to creep into English culture mainly as an excuse to get drunk which seems a bit unecessary as the English really don't need an excuse. The second is that more of a fuss seems to be made about a Saints day of a country who's supporters were blowing English up for 20 plus years then St Georges day.

Woah, woah, possibly you're being a little harsh here? You seem to be implying that Irish = IRA, which is as silly as saying Muslim = Al-Queda. Making snap judgements on people thanks to where they happened to be born is one of the reasons things got (and keep being gotten) fucked up.

Having said that, I happened to spend St. Patricks day in the States a couple years back and... yeah, there are some places you don't want to be with an English accent. People get trashed and proud of a heritage they only care about one day a year, then use that as an excuse to start fights with a stranger because of how he talks.

Not cool.

However, as a celebration I feel that people can do what they like (provided they don't try and beat me to death). The stereotypes are possibly a little bit on the wrong side of casually racist, but most of the Irish folks I've talked to about it don't mind it. Hell, most of them view it as something to be proud of. You don't see global recognition of St. Andrew's day or St. Georges day, do you?

 

[Biosophilogical]

And that's your opinion on the matter. I, on the other hand, am not religious but see no reason that we cannot use a Christian holiday to let off some steam, go a little crazy and have some good old-fashioned, green-wearing fun. In truth I don't drink, but green's my favourite colour, and having a day where you can't swing a cat without hitting something green sounds fantastic, to me anyway ... oh, and celebrating saint patrick's day with alcohol and the wearing of green affects those who wish to celebrate it properly how? What's wrong with fun? Seriously, let them bastardise it all they want, do you want to be the person who takes that away from them? That wouldn't be very tolerant-of-other's-practices of you now would it?

 

[Nickolai77]

Speaking as one of the millions of people across the world who has Irish heratige i'm...kinda apathetic about St Patricks day. It was once a celebration for Americans with Irish-heratige, then Americans in general, and then the the rest of the English speaking world. St Patricks day in a sense is not really Irish, in the same way that Christmas is not, in a sense, Christian.

Green, lepracauns and 4 leaf clovers is to Ireland what posh Victorian gentlemen are to England, and is riding a bicycle drinking wine and selling garlic is to France, and what Leiderhosen is to the Germans. They are all comedic sterotypes which grip popular imagination. In reality, they have little to do with the actual country they are supposed to represent. If you really want to pay tribute to these countries such as Ireland, start taking them seriously.

As a side note, i've never celebrated St Patricks day before, its something we never did were i come from. I could have gone to a St Patricks party last night but declined, i was not really in the party mood. Besides, i feel i've honoured my Irish heratige when i actually visited the country two years ago, and look forward to going again.

 

[theklng]

yadda yadda

i find it hard to not reply to self righteous posts; and even though i do not have any particularly interesting comments on this topic, let me ask the question:

have you considered that st. patrick's day isn't a bastardization, but rather an emphasis on a modern culture? i'm sure back when st. patrick's day was young and in elementary school with all the other special day, it was treated with respect. but once st. patrick's day went to high school and later college (which i presume it dropped out of), it started drinking heavily and acting like a hooligan. thus, its reputation was born.

st. patrick's day was created for the irish to have their day. it is their own interpretation of what that day should be that has influenced the modern day.

 

[Steindorh]

Okay, can we please start by having the whole of Christianity apologize? Christianity's holidays are "stolen" from a variety of other religions because it's easier to get people to convert to your faith if you allow them to "keep" their religious holidays. As an example Christ's mass (christmas) is associated with the celebration of solstice, which many religions older than Christianity celebrated.

When this has happened, I'll consider apologizing for getting drunk on a day celebrating a demi-god in a supposedly monotheistic religion.

/end zealotry

Seriously, here in Iceland we'll take any excuse to get drunk, even to the extent that we invent new national holidays. We're not Irish, we're not Catholic, but we'll happily rejoice with our Irish cousins by dressing in green and drinking alcohol in copious quantities.

(If I'm typing something that doesn't make sense, then I'm probably just using the wrong word, sorry, English is not my first language)

 

[Hawgh]

Meh, I don't need an excuse to drink. Some people might, and they're welcome to it. On the other hand, if you want your silly irish day to your good catholic self, you must get your grubby fingers off of Jul(yule)

P.S: I am sure your fingers are not grubby, it just fits very well with the sentence.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

At least people can celebrate St. Patrick's day. Here in England, you're considered intolerent and not politically correct towards the minority races if you celebrate St.George's day. I call shenanigans on that bullshit, I'd bet a large sum of money that the vast percentage of immigrants here would respect the celebration of our saint just as much as we should respect their right to celebrate their ethnic holiday. Just the state covering it's own arse again. Damn nanny state.

 

[GameOverGoblin]

Wow, I never thought of it that way...

 

[carpathic]

I always figure that a festival is only really worth whatever manner it is celebrated in currently. The worth of St Pattys is really green beer, poorly thought out mating decisions and the odd fist fight.

I lament no loss, most festivals eventually (or looking at Saturnalia) or have always been this way. Humans get together we drink, we fuck and then we fight. Whatever window dressing we throw on that is nothing more than window dressing.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I......completely agree. I can add nothing to that argument.

In fact, here's a rambling sort of rant I made about it a couple of days ago.

Hear, hear, Furbs. I'm not Irish, and I don't pretend to know very much about your culture but I respect everything Ireland has offered to the world, all the stuff I know and don't know. I celebrate Ireland in my own way, a good pint of Guinness and a few episodes of Father Ted. Read into that what you will.

 

[snow]

Hey! How I spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day is my business, and my business only!


That being said, I had totally forgotten it was St. Pattys day until I showed up to school. We tried getting the PE teacher to take her top off when we through beads to her. She was not amused.

You just made me picture what it would be like to do that to my gym teacher from back in high school.. Oh dear god that mental image will scar me forever... Darn you good sir!! Darn youuu!!

As for the OP:

Hey now, I always considered Canada as our brother that we would share friendly punches to the shoulder with, considering I tend to hear just as many america based puns from canada as I do vice versa

As for your feelings on St Patricks day, I read through it twice, and the way you put it... Yeah you're right, it does seem a bit insulting..

 

[Tadd]

I have to disagree with the OP and I feel this is how the ugly 'political correctness' rears it's ugly head and does more to destroy a culture than by apparently "bastardising" it.
Where do we draw the line? Stop christmas for non-christians? No more lent for the non-followers?

People are hopefully a little more open-minded than to down a pint of guiness and assume this is all that St Patrick's Day stands for. I'm just greatful we have a festival/holiday that is extremely easy-going, fun and void from controversy. You, with your Irish heritage should be greatful that your country has created an event that recognises the Irish as being generally awesome... not as a bunch of toffee-nosed, pompous, politically correct, culture-destroying people that wave their banners shouting:

"How can you celebrate our sacred St Patrick's Day in such a way? Oh the tragedy! The humanity! We Irish are offended that you have an excuse to generally let your hair down, get pissed with your mates and have a great time! (all the meanwhile helping to promote Ireland's tourism and export)"

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

I hate it on St Patricks Day (i like the holiday) when people stereotype the Irish, its bullshit

 

[Music Mole]

Did you have to take Germans as an example?

*Sigh* Yeah some austrian killed a bunch of jews. And that austrian took over because Germany was in wrecks after the war and needed to be rebuilt PROPERLY. And that war was started because the rest of the world wrecked Germany.

Look, just because some dude exploited the hopelessness of the German population, doesnt make the next 2 generations who have absolutely nothing to do with that shit the worlds punching bag. Oh, sure, were the fucking nazis eh, but the european union doesnt seem to mind when it takes all the money earned here, we happen to have the strongest economy in europe, even without some guy asking us if we want total war and waving at everyone. (Yeah, the economy here is in fucking wrecks, I know that. And its still the strongest one. Go figure, Europe is fucked.)

/rant

OT: No choice but to get used to it. You think its bad having irish roots? Try being a fucking german. Half the people want to start shit with you and the other half are extra nice, flashing you false smiles all the time, because they want you to know they dont think of you as a nazi. Really.

HaHa, i know this Russian PoS in my town, he is the typical stereotype of a Russian, He drinks Vodka( Alot of it), swears all the time, wears a tank top in the cold weather,fights random people, and is genuinely stuck up.
I like German people you guys make good tourists.

 

[Wintermoot]

st. patricks day isnt the only holiyday that got bastardized just look at Christmas!

 

[Aerodyamic]

Now that it's no longer St. Paddy's Day, I'd like to extend a cordial 'you're a day late, and a dollar short'.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

You think you've got it rough?

Try being Welsh. No matter where you go, at least ONE person will make a sheep gag at some point. Once on another forum when I said where I was from, the person said "Oh. Where in England is that?"

And that's ignoring the fact that with these accents, it's impossible for us to be taken seriously. We're the effing buttmonkey of Europe.

Anyway, that's the end of my nationalistic rant. Besides, I think pretty much every traditional holiday has been bastardised at this point.