What's special about Good Friday that it should be exempt from being hijacked if religion makes no difference.

For me it's an enforced day off without pay. Everything is closed and it holds no special significance to my family and as such we don't have a regular get-together. Some family members do go away for the long weekend, just as they might for the Queen's Birthday weekend.

If you remove religion from the equation why is Good Friday sacrosanct?

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

For me, the day is pretty boring usually unless your on holidays at that time. A football game that day would be more exciting then watching some movie if l am home. NBA play on Christmas Day and it is probably their most popular blockbuster day of the season.

As l am not religious, it is just another day to me. Pretty simple, If your not religious, don't go to the game or watch the game. Pretty simple.

The tv ratings will be popular, l'm sure that all the 300k+ fantasy coaches will tune in to scout players, plus a lot more non Kanga / Bulldogs fans because nothing else is worth watching on TV. Having said that, it could be on foxtel and be a flop.

If Carlton were playing on good Friday, then l think a lot of people on here would be all for it.

..historically, and so traditionally as well, 'good friday' has never been a public holiday (they themselves are historically 'new')..

..however, a game of footy on good Friday being the sole thing to turn a day from boring to fun, I don't understand.. ..in our times, there's more entertainment out there than ever before.. ..in regards to holy days being public holidays, I'm against.. ..we're meant to be a secular country, a multicultural one at that, that enjoys freedom from religious persecution.. ..state sanctioned Christianity influencing public life I'm not so keen about..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

well without good friday u dont get a holiday

see i dont have a problem if its not a holiday or it is.
my business is actually shut for orthodox good friday every year....

so get rid of the holiday.. and then u dont get bored and need the doggies v kangas game so badly

but when u take holidays and expect other people to work to entertain u... it says an awful lot about you.
the great thing about good friday... is the spirit that comes out of the day
charity and no corporate encroachments into peoples lives.

i just think blind unthinking people wanna throw the baby out with the bath water

your lives will not chaange one iota.... take that as 'gospel'



also were an anti war society and multucultural we still celebrate anzac day and remember.

im sure the chinese indians vietnamese italians greeks croats and turks etc dont need to celebrate it /

get rid of it.. if its about good friday and its symbolism so it should not have any kind of significance because were secular today and wernt for 170 years of our history

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

..I don't think we're an anti-war society at all, or rather our gov't (democratically elected) is not.. ....how we like to think of ourselves doesn't always line up with how we actually are..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Each to their own.
I'm not religious and because of that, l see no difference between good friday and a lot of other public holidays, which don't have a lot of significance. I donate my coins at the traffic lights, but don't sit around watching the good friday appeal show like some. So if a football game is on, l don't see the big deal.

What business you into? you could give it a plug on TC.

I think Synbad makes a great point.

Whether you are religious or not, you had one day in the year when you can't go to Chadstone or Highpoint.
No professional sport being played.
A lot of restaurants closed.

It is a day of living without artificial stimulation (or as little as possible in our society). One of 365.
If you arent religious, you can just spend time with your family, go for a drive, have a nice dinner, even watch a DVD if you want someone else to entertain you.

One day is obviously too much. Even though there is footy Thurs, Sat, Sun and Mon that week, that's not enough.

I love Good Friday, which sounds bad to Christians. But we have our rituals and its a real family day off.

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T E A M

I'm not going to love Good Friday anymore now that I can't look at a Fillet o Fish the same way anymore.
Time to hit up a fish and chip shop I suppose. They open Good Friday?

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dane's trolling again

..every Friday is a good Friday for fish and chips.... ..it's our national past time.. (or is that pass time?)

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

the very reasons I like Christmas Day. Do exactly the same thing. Spend it with family, eat, drink, enjoy the day. There isn't enough instances of this during the year!!a

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

..huh?, any time you want you can, no need to wait for a state holiday..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Why do we need to be forced to have a day off?

If you need to be forced to spend some time with your family, then why force your own inadequacies on everyone else? (I'm not specifically referring to you, buzzaaaaah, rather a more general 'you')

There is Good Friday Rugby League in NSW, I don't see that causing the breakdown of society and the destruction of families here. Well, no more than it's already happening.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Sounds like the average Sunday at home.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Bit hard when your family lives in 3 different Australian Cities and two of them don't get along.

To me it's just a day off, give me football of any variety.

Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday. The day is to fast and penance for religious people.

For the rest of the non religious people, it is what you make of the day. Everyone is different. I used to people tennis on good Friday during an Easter tournament and i am pretty sure other sporting events on the domestic scale happen. I don't think it is a big step up to have a game of footy on tv.

each to their own and everyone has their own opinion on how to spend it. If the footy is on good Friday and you don't want to watch it , then don't. Pretty simple.

EFA

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Conversely, and in an AFL context this often seems difficult for people in Melbourne to believe, there is a world beyond Melbourne and the AFL who already play professional sport on Good Friday. Their world hasn't ended. Their communities haven't become more ruined by corporations than they already were.

Having a game of AFL on Good Friday does not stop you or Synbad, or anybody else, from spending the day as you have in the past.

Freedom of choice.

To date the AFL has exercised its choice to not play a game on Good Friday, now they're going to try it and see what happens.

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..I think the worry is 'an erosion of family values'..

..i'm (somehow) less cynical.. ..i'm just not a fan of a secular country with good human rights, feeling the need to push one religion on it's citizens.. ..we have religious freedom, allow 'x' amount of days off work for holy days, and scrap state holy days.. ..atheists can get RDOs, a bit more super, or some such to balance it out.. ..thing is, be a secular country..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Well said, Camel.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Pretty sure I have said this but I love the fact that Good Friday is basically an enforced do nothing day. It's a nice start to Easter break.