This is a repost from last April 1st.

April Fool's is not one big joke! It is a day that is meant to torment others and a lot of people take it too far! April Fool's Day to me is just the Atheist's Holiday really...

Psalm 14:1
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

I would encourage you to take this quiz put together by Elizabeth and AnnaSofia Botkin: Are You A Fool? The questions are very thought-provoking and make you take a deep look into yourself!

The origin of April Fool's Day remains clouded in obscurity. Really no one knows exactly where, when, or why people began it. What we do know is that references to 'All Fool's Day' (what April Fool's Day was first called) began to appear in Europe during the late Middle Ages.
It was a folk celebration and elite participation in it was minimal (which is why it's so difficult to trace the exact origin of the day. People celebrating it back then weren't the kind of people who kept records of what they did). What is clear is that the tradition of a day devoted to foolery has ancient roots. Because no one knows for sure how it was started, there are many different ways that different civilizations celebrated. There are: Ancient Roots
Throughout antiquity numerous festivals included celebrations of foolery and trickery. The Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival observed at the end of December, was the most important of these. It involved dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts, slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had transformed into a January 1 New Year's Day celebration, and many of its traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas. In late March the Romans honored the resurrection of Attis, son of the Great Mother Cybele, with the Hilaria celebration. This involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises. Further afield in India there was Holi, known as the festival of color, during which street celebrants threw tinted powders at each other, until everyone was covered in garish colors from head to toe. This holiday was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of March). Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. And there were also popular Northern European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids. All of these celebrations could have served as precedents for April Fool's Day. Medieval Roots
During the middle ages, a number of celebrations developed which served as direct predecessors to April Fool's Day. The most important of these was the Festus Fatuorum (the Feast of Fools) which evolved out of the Saturnalia. On this day (mostly observed in France) celebrants elected a mock pope and parodied church rituals. The church, of course, did its best to discourage this holiday, but it lingered on until the sixteenth century. Following the suppression of the Feast of Fools, merrymakers focused their attention on Mardi Gras and Carnival. There was also the medieval figure of the Fool, the symbolic patron saint of the day. Fools became prominent in late medieval Europe, practicing their craft in a variety of settings such as town squares and royal courts. Their distinctive dress remains well known today: multicolored robe, horned hat, and sceptre and bauble. Mythological Roots
There have been quite a few attempts to provide mythological explanations for the rise of April Fool's Day.
It was once popular to attempt to christianize celebrations by locating its origin somewhere in Biblical traditions. In one such version, the day's origin is attributed to Noah's mistake of sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided (thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story tells that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory. But there are rival mythological explanations linking the celebration to pagan roots. For instance, April Fool's Day was often traced back to Roman mythology, particularly the myth of Ceres and Proserpina. In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld. Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres (the Goddess of grain and the harvest) for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. The fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter (commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia) was believed by some to have been the mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st. British folklore links April Fool's Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. And ever since then, April Fool's Day has supposedly commemorated their trickery. The Calendar-Change Theory
The most widespread theory about the origin of April Fool's Day involves the Gregorian calendar reform of the late sixteenth century. The theory is that in 1582 France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar established by the Council of Trent (1563). This switch meant that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, and stubbornly clung to the old calendar system by continuing to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th (known in England as Lady Day) and April 1st, had various jokes played on them. Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were given the epithet Poisson d'Avril, or April Fish. Thus, April Fool's Day was born. The calendar change hypothesis might provide a reason for why April 1st specifically became the date of the modern holiday. It is clear that the idea of a springtime festival honoring misrule and mayhem had far more ancient roots. In addition, the process by which the observance of the day spread from France to protestant countries such as Germany, Scotland, and England is left unexplained by this theory. These nations only adopted the calendar change during the eighteenth century, at a time when the tradition of April Foolery had already been well established throughout Europe. Finally, it is not clear what evidence, besides conjecture, supports the theory. For which reason, while there's certainly a possibility that the calendar-change hypothesis contains a germ of truth, it should not be regarded as fact.
hattip: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/aforigin.html Here is a look at what some countries did for All Fool's Day:
In Scotland , for instance, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts of these jokes are known as April 'Gowk', another name for cuckoo bird. The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance. In England,  jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered back luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon. In Rome, the holiday is known as Festival of Hilaria, celebrating the resurrection of the god Attis, is on March 25 and is also referred to as "Roman Laughing Day." In Portugal , April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday before lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their friends. The Huli Festival is celebrated on March 31 in India . People play jokes on one another and smear colors on one another celebrating the arrival of Spring. hattip: http://www.april-fools.us/history-april-fools.htm So basically, as we all know, All Fool's Day is to make a fool out of someone. Really nice, huh? Uhh... I am thinking no!
In going through the origins and such of All Fool's Day, I also wanted to take a look at what the Bible says about fools.
But before I do that, I had to find out what the word Fool meant. Not that I don't know already, but to get a clear wording I searched the dictionary.

Fool
1. One who is destitute of reason, or the common powers of understanding; an idiot. 2. In common language, a person who is somewhat deficient in intellect, but not an idiot; or a person who acts absurdly; one who does not exercise his reason; one who pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom.
3. In scripture, fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness.
4. A weak christian; a godly person who has much remaining sin and unbelief.
5. A term of indignity and reproach.
6. One who counterfeits folly; a buffoon; as a king's fool.
7. To play the fool, to act the buffoon; to jest; to make sport.

Proverbs 3:35
The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

Proverbs 14:9
Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. Proverbs 15:2
The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. Ephesians 5:15-16
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. Proverbs 14:24
The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly.

Proverbs 15:7
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

Proverbs 24:9
The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Ephesians 5:3-5
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
For this ye know, that no wh*remonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Edifying
Building up in christian knowledge; instructing; improving the mind.

Ephesians 4:12
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 1 Timothy 1:4
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

I don't know about you, but I want to edify and lift up my friends! Not put them down by making a fool of them on any day. Besides if I make a fool of someone else, I am in essence making a fool of myself! Let us instead edify and lift one another up this All Fool's Day! In Christ our Lord!
Love, Prayers and Blessings,

©AmandaDixon2009

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