Yeah, you read that right. Of all the holidays during the entire year in in the entire world, the USA’s Independence Day – a.k.a. the Fourth of July – has to be the hardest to get the date wrong on. Seriously – it’s in the name for pity’s sake!

The US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia has managed to do just that, though. This year, they celebrated it on the Fourth of June. That’s not the holiday, guys! June Fourth is too close to Memorial Day for another major federal holiday, anyhow.

Why on Earth?

It is in the middle of Ramadan and Indonesia is a Muslim country…and you are way ahead of me now.

That’s right, the American Embassy choose to change the date they celebrate our nation’s birthday to accommodate the religion of another nation. Perhaps someone should distribute copies of the Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, to them since they missed the memo about separation of church and state.

No one changes the date we celebrate in this country because another holiday or event conflicts. We haven’t altered it in the past in other countries, either, no matter what their faith or beliefs. That includes Muslim countries.

Do they need to do that?

During Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours. I can see that it might be rude to have the delicious smells of a barbeque wafting around when your neighbors are fasting, but there are plenty of ways to avoid that. Assuming you are set on a barbeque, the simplest way is to barbeque after dark. Then any Muslims you want to invite can even join in eating anything that isn’t against their faith. Any who just smell the food, well, they’re probably on their way to get their own food, so no biggee.

Another possibility is to grill inside, on a stove, where the smells won’t carry to anyone fasting. They could even have the whole event indoors, which admittedly is counter to a normal 4th of July celebration.

And, as mentioned above, it’s never been moved any other time and hasn’t caused an international incident before.

Bonus to holding it after dark, when Muslims are not fasting: sparklers and fireworks show up even better at night.

At least they are still celebrating our Independence Day.

Well…. Not so much.The focus was on green energy.

That is so messed up I couldn’t have imagined it. It could only come from the minds of political-correctness-obsessing-bureaucrats.