Agnostic.com

16 0

Anybody ever wonder why the calendars in the US all begin with Sunday? It's not that way any where else, except maybe Israel and the Muslim world.

fishline79 7 June 13
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

16 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

My calender is an Annual Organiser and will begin on whatever day is the 1st of January. Saturday and Sunday are just the 'weekend' days marked in with a different color. Therefore Monday is just the start of the 'working' week.

1

Australian calendars can be either. I prefer the ones that begin with Sunday simply because they're the ones I've been used to since childhood (in the UK).

Coffeo Level 8 June 14, 2018
0

I don't believe anybody got the point (or the answer) to why the US (if not UK) calendars begin with Sunday. Apparently the Brits know they are a Christian country, but not the Americans. Perhaps it was decided by the founding fathers, many of whom were Freethinkers, as a way to separate church and state, as it were. Remember, Ben Franklin (a Freethinker) was also a printer!

Sorry, Geoffrey51. I thought you had said they started on Monday. Forget my comment re. the UK. But the question still remains, why! Did the British always begin with Sunday, or did they change under James I or something like that?

WHAT? The US is a CHRISTIAN country? Yikes. Ever hear of the separation of church and state?

@crazycurlz Why not just read what I say and then respond. I was quite clear about my meaning. The US has, in many contexts, both private and public been represented as a predominantly "Christian" country. It was founded largely on that presumption. Whether it is or not is germain to my thesis, and is, I believe fundimentally the reason many businesses have been traditionally closed, drinking prohibited, and employment exempted. You are probably too young to remember "Blue Laws". That Is why I am curious as to why, if this is true, the calendars begin with Monday, which Christian doctrine considers to be the first day of the week (as if "GOD" started everything on Monday). Although, of course the Jews, who allegedly have the same "God", consider that first day to be SUNDAY. Sabbath means seventh. Jewish Sabat begins late Friday through Saturday.

0

More on Days of the week from Norse naming

Sunday/Monday Sunna and Mani - Brother and sister who pull sun/moon across the sky
Tuesday from Tiw
Wednesday - Wodin or Odin
Thursday - Thor
Friday - Freya
Saturday - Saturn (borrowed from Romans) - There was no equivalent in their Pantheon just Laugardágr which has something to do with wash day!

An interesting study this as the naming of days, certainly in
Italy, France and Spain are derived from the Roman or Latin
titles. The Saxon names, however, agree with the named Roman deity for
the day in their Norse pantheon but use their own gods. For example

Monday (Luna)- Lat. Dies Lunae, French - Lundi, Saxon - Monandaeg

Tuesday (Mars) - Lat. Dies Martis, Fr. Mardi, Saxon - Tiwesdaeg

The European names depart from the Roman ideas for Saturday and Sunday, giving Christian connotations with Lord's Day (Fr. Dimanache) instead of referring to Dies Solis and Sabbath (Fr. Samedi) instead of referring to Dies Saturni.

A definite divide can be seen with the French and southern European cultures compared with the Northern and Germanic customs.

Also noteworthy that Sunday was the first day of the Roman week so pre-dates the Christian idea.

0

They start on Sunday in UK as well. Don't know about the rest of Europe but I am suspecting it will have something to do with the change from Julian to the Gregorian calendar system. The French Republic started their own calendar after the Revolution with a 10 day week. Napolean abolished it in 1805 because it was too unweildy! Here is a link to In Our TIme, [bbc.co.uk] about The Calendar from 2002..I have not listened to it for years so I can't remember it. If you are not familiar with IOT it is a great erudite show on BBC Radio 4 with experts from their fields. Its been going since 1998 and all episodes are available to download, over 500 in all. It covers Culture, History, Science, Religion and Philosophy, with topics from Bird Migration, Beethoven and Dark Matter, to Aristotlian Politics and Icelandic Sagas and much more.

0

But isn't Sunday the 7th day?

scurry Level 9 June 13, 2018

( also calendar starts on Sunday in Canada, too.)

I've just discovered that Sunday was the first day of the Roman week so pre-dates Christian ideologies with regard to sequence

My point, exactly!

0

Good point. We always call Monday the first day of the week. Religion again? Those bastards!

Bingo!

1

No, I don't wonder.

0

IPhone calendars start on Monday which I always thought was interesting.

Good point. Why do you think that is?

@fishline79 Because Jobs and Wozniak didn't buy into that Jeebus and Gawd bullshit?

1

I had one couple years ago that started with Monday. I hated that darn thing.

2

Pretty easy.. we use a gregorian calendar which was changed from the julian calendar. You basically have Catholicism to thank. It easy once you put it to gether. The Sabath is the 7th day, the day of rest. The Sabath is Saturday, or Saturns day. The reason for this is because the ancien Hyksos/Hebrews/Canaanites were Saturn cultists. Remember Catholicism usurped Judaism. I forget the pope who decreed the nomenclature for the weeks, but you will get. Sun day is the day of the Son/Sun. All christian sun cultists practice on sunday. Monday is day to honor moon. Tuesday is day to honor god for Mars, dies martis in latin. God for Mercredi, mercury, wens. Thurs is Jupiter, or thors day in norse, friday or vendredi is venus, and you guessed it chronos saturn saturday. Astrotheology, Catholics know all about it.

Etre Level 7 June 13, 2018

Oh, the hebrew/jewish/canaanite/Hyksos ... the jews use a luner based calender 13 months 28 days. It derives from the books of Enoch, and is more accurate as well as being more condusive with natural biological systems. The most correct calendar on the planet is the mayan. Its within fractions of a second to planetary time. Ask an Astronomer.

I know all that but it's not my question. If we are a predominantly a "Christian" country who alledgedly belive that "God" rested on the seventh day, why do we not use a "Christian" calendar? I believe it is because when calendars were first printed in the US, the printers of calendars were Jewish. That's just my guess; what's yours?

@fishline79
Are you saying the printers were jewish or are you postulating? I never thought of it that way. The gregorian calendar was established in 1582 some years after Martin Luther broke in 1517. Luther was an antisemite. The catholics at that time did not care about the jews. And yes its funny how christian worship deity on the first day of the week. The reason for this as I learned some years ago had to do with Chistianity worshiping the son of god, were as the jews worship yahweh the father and adhere to his laws. Many chistians to this day believe sunday is the sabath. Part of the ignorance.

To be honest i think maybe no one knew enough about the calendar. No one ever read the scriptures. 1500s is Renaissance, kind of an enlightenment period, but for the most part people/commons where illiterate. The pope ruled with unchecked athority in matters of spirituality and even matters of state. The julian calendar was created in like 45 bc, so it lasted well over 1500 years.

I know during these times the jews were hated just about everywhere. And European Jews are not Jewish, the Ashkenazim are from Khazar. They fled to russia in like 800s or so. 85% of all people who call themselves jewish are not hebrew or from the middle east.

So bassicaly to answer the question, i think we as a Christian Civilization were to far along in the process to change. Most every thing that was done by the ruling class was done for appearances as in pertinence to the church. Catholicism has lost much of its power, but still holds sway over 1/7 of the population. History has proven the errors, but the zeigeist has been in movement so long, nobody cares to correct it.

@fishline79 hey i found this....

[worldslastchance.com]

@Etre Interesting. Mithra is also credited with early Monotheism, (Or is it Zoroaster?) Never mind, but that still doesn't explain why we use Sunday as the first day of the calendar week (English-speaking Christian countries) and all other Christian countries use Monday! I still think we are complicating the issue with all this historical speculation.

@fishline79
true, I was trying to get a handle on it. I still say it is because the sabbath is Saturday or Saturns day and the day of rest for the jews. so day 7 in modern chronology, and that be why the Suns day is 1st day of week. true it is probably many reasons on many levels of thought and paradigm.

0

Here in the UK we start the week on a Monday, i guess you know that its Roman right ?

What is Roman? So, you're saying we use a Roman chronolgy of days based on Monday, which was the start of a Roman week??? Did the Helenistic religion have seven day weeks? The Julian calendar is Roman Catholic and I believe it starts on Monday. Julius was the first Christian Pope, was he not?

@fishline79 I don't think that Julius was ever a pope, Pope St. Peter (32-67). was the first

@magicwatch Yes, of course you are correct. I believe I was thinking of the Ceasar who tried to return Rome to Helenism after Constantine recognized Christianity. Gore Vidal wrote a great book about him called "Julian" I'm pretty sure there were a number of Pope Julius'.

0

Maybe so that the regular week would be bracketed by Sunday and Saturday? Does it in some way matter?

Does anything matter?! Call it Sophistry, if you like.

It kinda matters when you make an appointment for a Wednesday and write it in the middle square of the calendar from habit, without checking what day the calendar thinks the week starts on.

Also, the German for Wednesday is mittwoch (mid-week).

1

I would say the thing that really matters is just to know what the convention is....

1

I actually am using a calendar that starts with Monday. I get so screwed up! I looked at what company did it and it's a French company.

There you go! See what I mean?

0

I suspect it is because Sunday is "the lord's day," amen and thank you jesus. "That is the day we celebrate the Sabath," mom said. But, um, God rested on the Sabath so it should be last. But it's a sin to fish on Sunday. What the fuck was Peter, a hair dresser? I don't know, there's some kind of fucked up answer in all that.

Exactly what I'm saying. Where is it a sin to fish on Sunday? That's another question. Did Jews invent sin? You know what they say. "Pornography is anything that gives a priest a hard on".

I grew up in Belfast where nearly everything except church-going was a sin on Sunday. Would you believe that they even padlocked the swings in the kiddies' playgrounds?

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:106150
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.