# Why don't fundamentalist Christians get worked up over the days of the week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574 "2011-05-11T21:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/81 "2011-05-15T18:49:01Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > A little off topic, but have we kept good track of what day it is ever since God rested on the seventh day? Did Naoh meticulously mark off each of the 40 days of rain and then the 150 days of the flood? Did somebody at Babel remember the word for Sunday? > > I know there are days when I have to check the date on my computer. In a large group of people, most people check with one another and come to a consensus. Noah had his family to check with (assuming Noah existed), and most communities had more than a few people whose job it was to keep track of these things. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > ::::snerk::::: > > I think they have unlimited supply of prewadded panties. > [@Revtim](#): > > I always assumed they simply didn’t know the pagan origins of the day names, and thought that Jesus made them up while he was writing the English language. @ Shirley Ujest and Rextim: QFT My own theory is that it somply hasn’t occurred to them that the days of the week are named after pagan gods. Don’t worry, someone who is prone to panicky overreaction will eventually figure this out and draw the conclusion that if nothing is done to change things, G-d will smite us all!!!eleventy-one!! Until them enjoy the show as people with narrow world-views attack problems they perceive as being more important than other people’s well being. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/82 "2011-05-15T20:06:19Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > No, because in that case English _Tuesday_ would be the same as the cognate _jeudi_ / _giovedi_ / _jueves_. I read once that the astronomical reference to the planets was primary, and the fact that the planets were named for various gods was secondary. In other words, Tuesday is Tuesday because \*Tiwaz was the name of the red planet, not because it was the name of the war god. (Of course, the planets were probably named by _interpretatio_, so it’s a bit chicken-and-egg.) That’s probably right. Mars= Mangal = Mangalbar= Tuesday. Jupiter= Brihaspati=Brihaspatibar= Thursday and so on. As you said: chicken-and-egg. I have no idea how which planet was chosen for which day. But it certainly seems to have a pre-Christian origin. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/83 "2011-05-16T07:29:35Z")
Wednesday in Sanskrit is _budha_. No, not the four noble truths, eightfold path guy. But derived from the same Sanskrit root meaning intelligent. Because Mercury is the planet of intellect. For Babylonians, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Hindus, Norse, etc. Woden goes with Wednesday and Mercury because of his intellectual development when he drank wisdom from the well of Mimir. In Akan thought, Anansi the Spider is the god of cleverness and is associated with Wednesday too. Who thought of it first? Sumerians, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![SGT42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@SGT42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SGT42)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/84 "2011-05-16T16:34:36Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > I don’t really have a dog in this fight either way but I was just struck by this today. As most of us know the names of the days of the week have pagan origins, Woden’s Day for Wednesday, Thors Day for Thursday, Saturns day for Saturday and so on. > > I was just wondering why fundementalist Christians don’t have a problem with this, some of them get upset over Halloween because of its pagan origins for example. According to Bernard Cornwell in his book “The Burning Land”, Alfred, king of Wessex, tried to change the names of the days of the week, for others mentioning Christian saints, but his people didn’t agree and continued to use the Norse gods names. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/85 "2011-05-16T17:43:56Z")
They’ll get around to it, you’ll see. A (to me) surprising number of churches don’t celebrate Halloween - they celebrate a “Harvest Festival” by, um, dressing up in costumes and giving children candy. This has been going on for 10 years or so, at least. A growing number I’ve heard of lately don’t celebrate Easter - it’s too pagan, and named after a nonchristian deity - they celebrate “Resurrection Day”. Just give them time. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/86 "2011-05-16T17:56:39Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > I don’t really have a dog in this fight either way but I was just struck by this today. As most of us know the names of the days of the week have pagan origins, Woden’s Day for Wednesday, Thors Day for Thursday, Saturns day for Saturday and so on. > > I was just wondering why fundementalist Christians don’t have a problem with this, some of them get upset over Halloween because of its pagan origins for example. Seems this criticism could be launched at atheists of the Michael Newdow stripe as well. My guess is that most people don’t know about the origins of the days of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/87 "2011-05-16T22:27:49Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > They’ll get around to it, you’ll see. > > A (to me) surprising number of churches don’t celebrate Halloween - they celebrate a “Harvest Festival” by, um, dressing up in costumes and giving children candy. This has been going on for 10 years or so, at least. > > A growing number I’ve heard of lately don’t celebrate Easter - it’s too pagan, and named after a nonchristian deity - they celebrate “Resurrection Day”. > > Just give them time. Well, it worked for Christmas. Hardly anybody celebrates Saturnalia or Winter Solstice any more. But it was by scheduling their big Christian celebration at the same time, and then gradually taking over the pre-existing festivities that it became the biggest holiday season. Because, after all, Jesus wasn’t born in December, but probably in March (assuming he ever existed at all). ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574/88 "2011-05-16T22:34:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Well, it worked for Christmas. > Hardly anybody celebrates Saturnalia or Winter Solstice any more. But it was by scheduling their big Christian celebration at the same time, and then gradually taking over the pre-existing festivities that it became the biggest holiday season. Because, after all, Jesus wasn’t born in December, but probably in March (assuming he ever existed at all). Yep. And I’ve heard of some fundie churches who don’t do the “cultural christmas” thing at all - they celebrate it solely as a religious holiday without trees, Santa, gifts, stockings, or any of it. Just lots of prayer. So having taken over the pagan holidays, they’re now trying to take out the pagan part, leaving Christianity as the only thing to celebrate. VERY CLEVER, FUNDIES! BUT I AM ON TO YOUR WAYS! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-fundamentalist-christians-get-worked-up-over-the-days-of-the-week/581574.md?page=4)