St. Patrick's Day Commentary

This is one "holiday" which brings up a lot of mixed feelings and frustration in me. Back when I only thought about it as a celebration of Irish history and culture, and was completely ignorant about the man it was named after, March 17th was a day I looked forward to each year, no less than Easter and its chocolate bunnies and colorful died eggs.
And I imagine even many Pagans still remain blissfully unaware of the origins of the holiday, considering it merely yet another attempt of the Catholic church to co-opt a lovely spring day for their religious celebrations and thereby insure that there was one more day Pagans had to appear in their church.
And certainly, for those of us of Irish ancestry and/or lovers of Celtic culture, it would be hard to find much wrong with the day as it is celebrated in the United States. Hardly a hint of the Christian faith shows in your average parade or pub party.
But as the most recent wave of "Irish madness" hits the world with continued fervor over Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, and Irish/Celtic music in general, I think it is most important to remember that this "holiday" is really the feast day of a Catholic saint, a saint whose most celebrated feat is the conversion of the native population from their prior Pagan faith to that of the young (and hungry) Catholic Church.
Indeed, I am more bothered by the man due to the fact that his origins were among those very native peoples and faiths, and that he then chose to become the long-arm of the Church in destroying the Pagan faiths of those peoples.
We live in a world of "101 one-and-only true gods", and really, we have done so for a long time. Yet it is always deemed necessary by some faith that all others be destroyed. If not by conversion, then by violence. And so it was with the Pagan faiths of Britain, and indeed, most of the world.
Lest we ever forget, the dominant faith on this planet now became so through such methods as persecution, torture, holocaust, slavery, "holy war" and, more insidiously, sending missionaries to "primitive" cultures to "encourage" conversion. And St. Patrick was one of those men.

Knowing that, I cannot in conscience celebrate the day named for him. Instead I propose that we call this a day of cultural awareness: remind ourselves what our Pagan ancestors went through at the hands of the Christian church, remind ourselves never to do such things to peoples of other faiths, and, for those of us who care to do so: to celebrate the parts of our Irish and Celtic heritage which have nothing to do with saints' days or Christianity.
Pull out your copy of Riverdance, your Clannad and Altan albums. Watch the various television news and talkshows cover the usual revelries. And paint yourself green, if you so choose. But do so remembering that our peoples painted themselves long before any Europeans saw the shores of the New World, and enjoyed the most wonderful music, and created celebrations the likes of which no modern parade can duplicate.
And when you hear much mention of Boston-type Celtics (non-Gaelic soft-c), or the lovely St. Brigid who made a reed cross to show her backward Pagan father her new faith, or even the wondrous Patrick who taught the primitives about the Holy Trinity by showing them the three-leaved shamrock which grew all around them, just smile sweetly and remember who we really are.

For more on this perspective, please pick up a copy of Patricia Kennealy Morrison's latest book.