Stock Market Closed on Good Friday
Why is the stock market closed on Good Friday? Isn't Good Friday a religious holiday? How dare the stock market observe this religious holiday, much less a Christian holiday!
You can find all sorts of explanations as to why the US stock market closes on Good Friday, but the fact that markets in Europe are closed probably has as much to do with it as any other explanation.
And why would European markets close? If you consider that a totally secularized Europe closes on Good Friday, the fact remains it's got something to do with the fact that Europe's history is steeped in Christianity. Indeed, despite the secularization of this formerly Christian culture, the reason they close is specifically because of Europe's Christian history. And so the U.S. stock market's Good Friday holiday traces its roots to Christianity.
Now the U.S., while it's certainly much more secularized these days, isn't quite as secular as Europe. Indeed Christianity isn't as suppressed - even hated - in the U.S. as it is in Europe.
I can't prove any of this - that the U.S. stock market's closing on Good Friday explicitly recognizes that this is a most special day for all of us, based on a Christian understanding of the world, but it sure makes a lot of sense when you apply reason and common sense, doesn't it? So given the Christian root of the stock market being closed, let's ask what it is about Good Friday that calls for any kind of closing of the stock market market, or any other business. Basically, it's that on Good Friday, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified, and by suffering and dying he saved mankind from sin. As a result, Good Friday marks the salvation of mankind. So - without going into the theology of all this - it's a big deal. As a matter of fact, the only bigger deal is when Christ rose for the dead on Easter Sunday. But that's a Sunday, and the stock market is already closed on Sunday, so there's no need for a special closing.
Of course, we could go into why the stock market is closed on Sunday, along with - until fairly recently - most businesses. But we'll leave that one for another time.
You can find all sorts of explanations as to why the US stock market closes on Good Friday, but the fact that markets in Europe are closed probably has as much to do with it as any other explanation.
And why would European markets close? If you consider that a totally secularized Europe closes on Good Friday, the fact remains it's got something to do with the fact that Europe's history is steeped in Christianity. Indeed, despite the secularization of this formerly Christian culture, the reason they close is specifically because of Europe's Christian history. And so the U.S. stock market's Good Friday holiday traces its roots to Christianity.
Now the U.S., while it's certainly much more secularized these days, isn't quite as secular as Europe. Indeed Christianity isn't as suppressed - even hated - in the U.S. as it is in Europe.
I can't prove any of this - that the U.S. stock market's closing on Good Friday explicitly recognizes that this is a most special day for all of us, based on a Christian understanding of the world, but it sure makes a lot of sense when you apply reason and common sense, doesn't it? So given the Christian root of the stock market being closed, let's ask what it is about Good Friday that calls for any kind of closing of the stock market market, or any other business. Basically, it's that on Good Friday, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified, and by suffering and dying he saved mankind from sin. As a result, Good Friday marks the salvation of mankind. So - without going into the theology of all this - it's a big deal. As a matter of fact, the only bigger deal is when Christ rose for the dead on Easter Sunday. But that's a Sunday, and the stock market is already closed on Sunday, so there's no need for a special closing.
Of course, we could go into why the stock market is closed on Sunday, along with - until fairly recently - most businesses. But we'll leave that one for another time.
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