The commenter “Christian Nation” is not going anywhere in life with that kind of attitude, I can tell you this much.

Your decision to include the Muslim holidays in the Quo Vadis calendars and your thoughtful response to the ignorant comment left by an anonymous contributor makes me think highly of the company you work for.

I cannot believe that in these modern times, and in a country that is founded foremost on FREEDOM FOR ALL, there still exist people who are so hateful and uninformed as to think Muslim holidays SHOULDN’T be included in the calendars. I am not coming from any religious leaning. Quite simply, Islam is one of the world’s major religions. Excluding Muslim holidays from your products would only further foster intolerance that the world does not need any more of.

Thank you for making the decisions that you do.

- Clarissa

Thank you for this decision! I have been very discouraged to find people removing all religious references and have long thought it much better to just include more! I think most people in this country appreciate learning about others’ religions. Plus, you are not stating that you as a company hold to one religion or another. You are just providing useful information. It is very helpful. As far as some offended by Muslim holidays, while I am not a Muslim and do not agree with their beliefs, I respect them and have Muslim friends. I would like to point out that they are not all radical or violent! It is a misconception to think they are all out to attack Americans. The vast majority living here are here because they want to be here and appreciate this country’s values. They don’t want to attack us.
As for America being founded on Christian beliefs, as stated above, while some of the founding fathers were Christian, several were Deists. Jefferson had his own version of the Bible in which several books had been removed. They held to widely accepted Judeo-Christian values, but they were not all Christian and they specifically founded a country with separation of church and state. This has been taken out of context and come to mean freedom from religion, rather than freedom OF religion in many cases these days, but I am happy to see that this company has, I believe, followed the original intent of the founding fathers. I hope the government will do so as well, rather than trying to remove religious references.

Much appreciation,
Melissa

With the upcoming 2010 year, I have found myself searching for a suitable planner that will both organize my engagements and leave room for my idle list making and doodles. I have found that in the Space 24 planner and I was thankfully surprised to find all of the cultural holidays included in this calendar. As a recent college graduate, I have many friends from many different countries and practicing various religious faiths. I will also be a part of a non-profit organization working with people all over the world and I find it a strength to be reminded of different religious holidays to be accommodating to my friends and colleagues. This country was founded on the principles of being free from religious persecution, amongst many others, and it is very un-american to persecute others for reasons of which our founding fathers were against. I, for one, applaud this decision to keep all of these holidays included in the Quo Vadis planners.

With appreciation,
Raquel F.

Ignore the zealots. You did the right thing, and the majority of us appreciate your thought and attention.

Thank you for your thoughtful response to this comment. I have used this calendar for years and was appalled to read Anonymous’ comment when I came to your website to get a refill.

Our country is founded on a rich and glorious history of religious and cultural tolerance and it is that history that makes me the flag-waving patriot that I am. I applaud your company for embracing our astounding diversity and providing a product that serves these diverse communities and, more importantly, educates those of us from different communities about the celebrations and observances that we would otherwise be unaware of.

Thank you, and please continue to expand the holidays you list in the calendar.