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Somewhat off topic but for Easter Google did what? http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57577171-1/google-cesar-chavez-doodle-on-easter-ignites-furor/ http://new

Somewhat off topic but for Easter Google did what? http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57577171-1/google-cesar-chavez-doodle-on-easter-ignites-furor/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57577171-1/google-cesar-... It's their site and all but as a business they should be more inclusive. Ironic since billions of people are (at least nominally) Christian and most probably observe or note Easter.

antoinec 13y ago
Supporting gay marriage always bring more popularity than almost any other cause
- throwaway10001 13y ago
  No offense but popularity among who exactly, the Silicon Valley crowd? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marr... Christianity has over 2 billion "members" worldwide and Easter is a major holiday.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - charonn0 13y ago
    So what? Islam has 1.5 billion "members" and I don't recall any special Ramadan doodles. In short: not everything is about Jesus. Hopefully, this trend will continue.
    - bargl 13y ago
      Just going to throw this out there but I think it would be really cool if they DID include a Ramadan doodle... I'm a Christian and I think it's cool when I see a religious and non-Christian theme. It helps to make me more aware of other religions and their holidays. You may think that's strange for a Christian, but it isn't actually. Just strange for the ones you hear from in the media.
    - throwaway10001 13y ago
      >> So what? Islam has 1.5 billion "members" and I don't recall any special Ramadan doodles. Not sure if they are any doodles for Mohammed or Ramadan in Arabic and largely Muslim countries but I don't see why they should be any in countries where Islam barely registers. That applies to any other religion of course. Google would be insane to put a Christmas doodle in Pakistan, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia for example. Local sensitivities should apply. >>In short: not everything is about Jesus. Hopefully, this trend will continue. Like I said, this is Google's page but simply because they did it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Google surely loves to take boatload of adwords money for Easter and Christmas. Why do they respect local sensitivities when it comes to making money?
      - charonn0 13y ago
        Can you imagine the righteous Christian indignation and uproar that would ensue if Google ever turned down money from some Christian advertiser on the basis you suggest?
      - beedogs 13y ago
        You're really going very far out of your way to be offended by Google.
      - snogglethorpe 13y ago
        > Not sure if they are any doodles for Mohammed or Ramadan in Arabic and largely Muslim countries but I don't see why they should be any in countries where Islam barely registers OTOH, why not? Spreading knowledge is usually a good thing... As long as <non-local-religious/cultural-event X> doesn't conflict with something local, and isn't the sort of thing that raises local hackles (a few things do; most things, not really), why not show it, and teach some people a little thing about another culture...?
  - tassl 13y ago
    These numbers are highly exaggerated. For example, the largest christian church has more than 1 billion members (member=baptized) and I don't think that currently there is any way of officially leaving the church after being baptized...
    - icebraining 13y ago
      The right of apostasy is considered part of the ICCPR treaty[1], so it should be respected by all the parties. At least here in Portugal, you have the right to demand they stop using you in statistics and such. Of course, most people don't bother even if they aren't actually religious, so the Church still claims 80% of us are Catholic, even though many don't even get married in a religious ceremony anymore, much less attend mass. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy#International_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy#International_law
  - CatMtKing 13y ago
    Indeed, that makes me wonder how many non-Christians there are worldwide. And how many people that are opposed to the Christian religion...
    - rdouble 13y ago
      5 billion?
charonn0 13y ago
You're right: it is off topic and it is their website.
cshenoy 13y ago
I don't think that's irony. From what I've gathered, they've never really "doodled" anything that could remotely resemble a religion in the event that it looks like they endorse or favor it over others. Cesar Chavez was a civil rights activist akin to MLK or Gandhi so it seems pretty apt that they'd honor him in a doodle. EDIT: Looks like I was wrong about religious-based doodles. But it still stands that they don't have to pander to a certain segment of the population (especially a major one) on an annual basis. Personally, I feel the doodles are more about educating and informing. I often come across doodles that represent some person or thing that I had no idea about before and find myself clicking on the doodle and the subsequent links it pulls up as part of the search. Seems like it's not always about celebrating the most commonly known ideas/people.
- unfletch 13y ago
  "From what I've gathered, they've never really 'doodled' anything that could remotely resemble a religion..." Maybe that's policy now, but it hasn't always been. They've done easter: http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 In fact, having already done Easter was part of their response to this "controversy" -- there were two subjects for the same day, so they picked the one they hadn't already featured.
- stonemetal 13y ago
  They doodle Christmas, saint Valentine's day, and all saints eve every year. Easter is the only commercialized Christian holiday they don't cover every year.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    It is likely not a coincidence that it is also the least secularized of those.
  - nostrademons 13y ago
    Christmas usually isn't "Christmas", it's a generic holidays-themed doodle: http://www.google.com/doodles/search?query=christmas http://www.google.com/doodles/search?query=christmas
yohui 13y ago
How does highlighting Chavez (the American farm worker advocate, not the Venezuelan ex-president) slight Christians? Heck, Cesar Chavez himself was Catholic. Insofar as it matters, Google did have an Easter doodle back in 2000: http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 So you can't even say they've ignored the holiday, just that they prefer to highlight different ones from year to year (with exceptions presumably due to internal popularity or artists' personal predilections). (Sorry for wasting thread space on this old, off-topic, manufactured controversy.)
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Invariably when you hear about a "war on Christianity" in first world countries, the topic is a manufactured non-issue. It never stops, and logic plays no part in it.
  - drivebyacct2 13y ago
    Dude, they're having a hard enough day. My heathen-self can now marry and remotely, instantly ruin their marriage. POOR THEM JLGRECO, POOR THEM.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      I should not have been so insensitive! :/
    - btilly 13y ago
      If you look at divorce rates by religious affiliation, they seem to be ruining their own marriages.
  - lke 13y ago
    > In first world countries Is that a thing outside the US ? I've never heard of it outside of US news. I'm pretty sure they are people who beleives that in other countries. But do they get media attention like in the US ?
jpdoctor 13y ago
> Christian and most probably observe or note Easter. This was already on HN at the time: There is no agreement on a date for Easter.
- ImprovedSilence 13y ago
  indeed. It is a moveable feast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moveable_feast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moveable_feast
  - russellsprouts 13y ago
    Different segments of Christianity celebrate Easter on different dates, even in the same year.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > There is no agreement on a date for Easter. Sure there is. In fact, there are several agreements among different subsets of Christianity.
- lotharbot 13y ago
  There's also no agreement on a name for the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Most of my Orthodox friends call it "Pascha" (and set its date based on the Julian calendar), and my Messianic friends consider it part of the larger "Pesach" (or "Passover" when they decide to communicate it in English). Some simply call it "Resurrection Sunday".
anigbrowl 13y ago
They have done the Easter Bunny before, Easter egg hunts and suchlike. They just didn't do it this year. They don't mark gay pride every year either, that I'm aware of.
- packetslave 13y ago
  There hasn't been an Easter doodle since 2000. The doodle team goes to great lengths to avoid recognizing people/subjects that are controversial (not that this is always successful)
sliverstorm 13y ago
You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is Christian, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your Christian holidays on occasion.
- throwaway10001 13y ago
  You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is Christian, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your Christian holidays on occasion. You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is for Gay Marriage, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your pro-Gay Marriage ruling. Personally I am barely a "believer" and don't oppose gay marriage but your argument made no sense. No doubt you can find people opposing Mandela, Mother Teresa and even Einstein, so no doodles for them to be inclusive?
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    You are being obtuse; Einstein, Mandela, and gay marriage are not religious topics. I would expect that they would tread lightly around Mother Teresa, being not only a religious figure but a particularly controversial one (read: accusations of human rights issues. Proper heavyweight controversy.)
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    I'm not saying "omitting Easter is inclusive because not everyone is Christian". I'm saying allowing Easter to be overshadowed by something else occasionally is inclusive. If it has to be about you every time, year after year, that's not inclusive.
  - MartinCron 13y ago
    Not everyone supports gay marriage and not all opinions are deserving of the same amount of respect. It's OK for companies like Google to have the courage to have an opinion.
    - kazoolist 13y ago
jules 13y ago
Google has had a front page logo for many christian celebration days, like Christmas. Given this, you're acting incredibly entitled by hijacking a thread for your pet issue to complain about a rainbow color around the search box for a specific search term. Google is already giving much much more attention to Christianity than to gay marriage, but you demand more.
faddotio 13y ago
So they should show symbols of Pagan symbols of renewal?

antoinec 13y ago

Supporting gay marriage always bring more popularity than almost any other cause

throwaway10001 13y ago
No offense but popularity among who exactly, the Silicon Valley crowd? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marr... Christianity has over 2 billion "members" worldwide and Easter is a major holiday.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- charonn0 13y ago
  So what? Islam has 1.5 billion "members" and I don't recall any special Ramadan doodles. In short: not everything is about Jesus. Hopefully, this trend will continue.
  - bargl 13y ago
    Just going to throw this out there but I think it would be really cool if they DID include a Ramadan doodle... I'm a Christian and I think it's cool when I see a religious and non-Christian theme. It helps to make me more aware of other religions and their holidays. You may think that's strange for a Christian, but it isn't actually. Just strange for the ones you hear from in the media.
  - throwaway10001 13y ago
    >> So what? Islam has 1.5 billion "members" and I don't recall any special Ramadan doodles. Not sure if they are any doodles for Mohammed or Ramadan in Arabic and largely Muslim countries but I don't see why they should be any in countries where Islam barely registers. That applies to any other religion of course. Google would be insane to put a Christmas doodle in Pakistan, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia for example. Local sensitivities should apply. >>In short: not everything is about Jesus. Hopefully, this trend will continue. Like I said, this is Google's page but simply because they did it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Google surely loves to take boatload of adwords money for Easter and Christmas. Why do they respect local sensitivities when it comes to making money?
    - charonn0 13y ago
      Can you imagine the righteous Christian indignation and uproar that would ensue if Google ever turned down money from some Christian advertiser on the basis you suggest?
    - beedogs 13y ago
      You're really going very far out of your way to be offended by Google.
    - snogglethorpe 13y ago
      > Not sure if they are any doodles for Mohammed or Ramadan in Arabic and largely Muslim countries but I don't see why they should be any in countries where Islam barely registers OTOH, why not? Spreading knowledge is usually a good thing... As long as <non-local-religious/cultural-event X> doesn't conflict with something local, and isn't the sort of thing that raises local hackles (a few things do; most things, not really), why not show it, and teach some people a little thing about another culture...?
- tassl 13y ago
  These numbers are highly exaggerated. For example, the largest christian church has more than 1 billion members (member=baptized) and I don't think that currently there is any way of officially leaving the church after being baptized...
  - icebraining 13y ago
    The right of apostasy is considered part of the ICCPR treaty[1], so it should be respected by all the parties. At least here in Portugal, you have the right to demand they stop using you in statistics and such. Of course, most people don't bother even if they aren't actually religious, so the Church still claims 80% of us are Catholic, even though many don't even get married in a religious ceremony anymore, much less attend mass. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy#International_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy#International_law
- CatMtKing 13y ago
  Indeed, that makes me wonder how many non-Christians there are worldwide. And how many people that are opposed to the Christian religion...
  - rdouble 13y ago
    5 billion?

charonn0 13y ago

You're right: it is off topic and it is their website.

cshenoy 13y ago

I don't think that's irony. From what I've gathered, they've never really "doodled" anything that could remotely resemble a religion in the event that it looks like they endorse or favor it over others. Cesar Chavez was a civil rights activist akin to MLK or Gandhi so it seems pretty apt that they'd honor him in a doodle. EDIT: Looks like I was wrong about religious-based doodles. But it still stands that they don't have to pander to a certain segment of the population (especially a major one) on an annual basis. Personally, I feel the doodles are more about educating and informing. I often come across doodles that represent some person or thing that I had no idea about before and find myself clicking on the doodle and the subsequent links it pulls up as part of the search. Seems like it's not always about celebrating the most commonly known ideas/people.

unfletch 13y ago
"From what I've gathered, they've never really 'doodled' anything that could remotely resemble a religion..." Maybe that's policy now, but it hasn't always been. They've done easter: http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 In fact, having already done Easter was part of their response to this "controversy" -- there were two subjects for the same day, so they picked the one they hadn't already featured.
stonemetal 13y ago
They doodle Christmas, saint Valentine's day, and all saints eve every year. Easter is the only commercialized Christian holiday they don't cover every year.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  It is likely not a coincidence that it is also the least secularized of those.
- nostrademons 13y ago
  Christmas usually isn't "Christmas", it's a generic holidays-themed doodle: http://www.google.com/doodles/search?query=christmas http://www.google.com/doodles/search?query=christmas

yohui 13y ago

How does highlighting Chavez (the American farm worker advocate, not the Venezuelan ex-president) slight Christians? Heck, Cesar Chavez himself was Catholic. Insofar as it matters, Google did have an Easter doodle back in 2000: http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 http://www.google.com/doodles/happy-easter-2000 So you can't even say they've ignored the holiday, just that they prefer to highlight different ones from year to year (with exceptions presumably due to internal popularity or artists' personal predilections). (Sorry for wasting thread space on this old, off-topic, manufactured controversy.)

jlgreco 13y ago
Invariably when you hear about a "war on Christianity" in first world countries, the topic is a manufactured non-issue. It never stops, and logic plays no part in it.
- drivebyacct2 13y ago
  Dude, they're having a hard enough day. My heathen-self can now marry and remotely, instantly ruin their marriage. POOR THEM JLGRECO, POOR THEM.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    I should not have been so insensitive! :/
  - btilly 13y ago
    If you look at divorce rates by religious affiliation, they seem to be ruining their own marriages.
- lke 13y ago
  > In first world countries Is that a thing outside the US ? I've never heard of it outside of US news. I'm pretty sure they are people who beleives that in other countries. But do they get media attention like in the US ?

jpdoctor 13y ago

> Christian and most probably observe or note Easter. This was already on HN at the time: There is no agreement on a date for Easter.

ImprovedSilence 13y ago
indeed. It is a moveable feast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moveable_feast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moveable_feast
- russellsprouts 13y ago
  Different segments of Christianity celebrate Easter on different dates, even in the same year.
dragonwriter 13y ago
> There is no agreement on a date for Easter. Sure there is. In fact, there are several agreements among different subsets of Christianity.
lotharbot 13y ago
There's also no agreement on a name for the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Most of my Orthodox friends call it "Pascha" (and set its date based on the Julian calendar), and my Messianic friends consider it part of the larger "Pesach" (or "Passover" when they decide to communicate it in English). Some simply call it "Resurrection Sunday".

anigbrowl 13y ago

They have done the Easter Bunny before, Easter egg hunts and suchlike. They just didn't do it this year. They don't mark gay pride every year either, that I'm aware of.

packetslave 13y ago
There hasn't been an Easter doodle since 2000. The doodle team goes to great lengths to avoid recognizing people/subjects that are controversial (not that this is always successful)

sliverstorm 13y ago

You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is Christian, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your Christian holidays on occasion.

throwaway10001 13y ago
You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is Christian, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your Christian holidays on occasion. You know what would be inclusive? Acknowledging that not everybody is for Gay Marriage, and being OK with the Google home page celebrating something other than your pro-Gay Marriage ruling. Personally I am barely a "believer" and don't oppose gay marriage but your argument made no sense. No doubt you can find people opposing Mandela, Mother Teresa and even Einstein, so no doodles for them to be inclusive?
- jlgreco 13y ago
  You are being obtuse; Einstein, Mandela, and gay marriage are not religious topics. I would expect that they would tread lightly around Mother Teresa, being not only a religious figure but a particularly controversial one (read: accusations of human rights issues. Proper heavyweight controversy.)
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  I'm not saying "omitting Easter is inclusive because not everyone is Christian". I'm saying allowing Easter to be overshadowed by something else occasionally is inclusive. If it has to be about you every time, year after year, that's not inclusive.
- MartinCron 13y ago
  Not everyone supports gay marriage and not all opinions are deserving of the same amount of respect. It's OK for companies like Google to have the courage to have an opinion.
  - kazoolist 13y ago

jules 13y ago

Google has had a front page logo for many christian celebration days, like Christmas. Given this, you're acting incredibly entitled by hijacking a thread for your pet issue to complain about a rainbow color around the search box for a specific search term. Google is already giving much much more attention to Christianity than to gay marriage, but you demand more.

faddotio 13y ago

So they should show symbols of Pagan symbols of renewal?