Holy Hypocrisy

In France, easily one of Europe’s most secular states, the government asked workers to forego Monday’s paid holiday to raise money for the nation’s elderly. Apparently socialistic compassion only goes so far. The request sparked outraged protests from union workers sporting signs such as “No to Free Work.” Thousands more simply took the day off as usual. France, home to the 35-hour workweek, grants workers more than generous vacation time, so the protests left naive government officials nonplussed. One other bit of irony: The holiday French “workers” are taking such umbrage at losing is the Monday after Pentecost Sunday, commemorating the advent nearly two millennia ago of the Holy Spirit to the church, 50 days after the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. These are profoundly religious events, and to see secularized Frenchmen fight to keep this formerly religious holy-day is amusing, to say the least. Kind of like the ACLU fighting to remove all vestiges of Christmas from the public square–and then giving its employees December 25 off.

About Stan Guthrie

Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers. Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's €œTell Me More,€ WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio'€™s €œNew Day Florida.€ A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
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