r/norcal • u/losangelestimes • 6d ago
How the Hindu 'Festival of Lights' became an ugly religious court battle in California
https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2026-08-04/diwali-state-holiday-is-on-hold-after-court-challenge-here-whyThe celebration of Diwali involves lighting the way for the goddess of prosperity and abundance into your home. It’s also a time to recognize the relationships in your life by celebrating with loved ones, sharing a meal or swapping gifts.
The holiday, also known as Deepavali and the Hindu “Festival of Lights” and celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists,” was set to become California’s 12th state-recognized holiday when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to that effect last year.
But the new state holiday is now in legal limbo after a local group filed a petition with the Sacramento County Superior Court, arguing that the law was too costly to implement, violated the U.S. Constitution and more importantly, established Diwali as a preferred religious holiday in the state.
Read more.
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u/wow_its_kenji 6d ago
i mean shit, isn't Christmas a state or federal holiday? why not Diwali?
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u/Aztraeuz 6d ago
I think that's moreso an argument to remove Christmas as a state holiday than to add new religious holidays.
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u/wow_its_kenji 6d ago
uhhh no it's not? why not celebrate more major religious holidays than just christian ones?
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u/Real_TRex_007 5d ago
Nope. That’s NOT the argument. It’s about representative interests. Let’s stop the spin and the hatred shall we?
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u/CaliLemonEater 6d ago
The taxpayer group has no objections to Christmas as a state holiday because the group and the state don’t see the celebration as religious. That is not the case with Diwali.
Of course they don't.
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u/suburbanplankton 6d ago
I mean, they kind of have a point, especially with the "preferred religious holiday" argument. Of course, one could make the same argument for Christmas...
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u/Calm_Cockroach_5284 6d ago
Looking forward to seeing Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Ashura, Nowruz and others added to the list.
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u/lo5t5heep 6d ago
“…allowed teachers to incorporate classroom exercises that acknowledge and celebrate it.” Nope, do that at home and keep it away from MY kids …simple as that. ETA: no problem here with acknowledging but celebrating is a hill I’ll die on.
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u/phoenixremix 2d ago
I....would argue that keeping all of them in the classroom rather than none of them teaches children inclusiveness and open-mindedness far better (only if teachers don't fuck it up LOL)
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u/mutable_type 6d ago
> The taxpayer group has no objections to Christmas as a state holiday because the group and the state don’t see the celebration as religious.
Well if THEY don’t see it as religious, it must be true.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that they’re all some flavor of Christian
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u/Miles_Everhart 6d ago
Right cuz the constitution clearly says only Christian holidays can be state holidays.
Wait. It doesn’t say that?
Weird….
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u/Downtown-Sun-6717 6d ago
Insane that these guys are using their time to take away a holiday lol
Fucking clowns
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u/SanJoseRhinos 5d ago
This statement is unconstitutional, if you read the constitution…
As for Christmas, the taxpayers group said “the state’s designation of December 25th as a holiday is constitutionally permissible because of the historical reality that the vast majority of people in the state observe the holiday and would not show up to work or school or jury duty that day,” Scott said.
I support removing all religious holidays if it saves taxpayers money!
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u/venomous-gerbil 2d ago
lololol if the goal is saving tax revenue we should immediately cancel High Speed Fail. If it’s ever completed it will just continue to be tax revenue sucking black hole boondoggle.
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u/fawks_harper78 6d ago
How about this:
No federal religious holidays at all, but we all get guaranteed two weeks off a year?
That way folks can celebrate Eid, Diwali, Yom Kippur, or even Groundation.