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Post by sevenofnine on Jan 21, 2023 12:51:27 GMT -5
It is day off on fourth week of Easter goes back to Dutch Reformation As William Shakespeare might say, something is rotten in the state of Denmark. In the space of just a few months since taking office, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's coalition government has managed to anger the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ten bishops, nine opposition parties and hundreds of thousands of Danish voters. And all because of a public holiday. Not too long after The Bard wrote Hamlet in the 15th century, a Danish bishop came up with the idea of celebrating a "Great Prayer Day" -- store bededag -- which combined a number of other minor holy days into one date on the fourth Friday after Easter. It's been on the calendar of the Nordic nation for more than 330 years but all that could be set to change, after Frederiksen proposed scrapping the holiday from next year. The money saved would be used to boost defence funding, in part as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, so that Denmark can reach a NATO target of spending 2% o www.euronews.com/2023/01/21/livin-on-a-prayer-denmark-turns-to-god-to-save-public-holiday
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