The Hypocrisy of Belief: Astrology vs. Birthday Celebrations

I recently had an interesting conversation with a close friend. He’s someone who can’t stand people who believe in astrology, calling them “extremely ignorant” for holding such views. Yet, despite his strong opinions, he invited me to his birthday party, an event that seems to hold great importance to him. This contradiction left me puzzled.

Let me explain.

I’ve never quite understood the significance of celebrating a birthday, especially one marked by the Gregorian calendar. This time system does not calculate the year accurately, leading to a drift over time.

To complicate matters further, there are other calendars that attempt to be more mathematically precise. Take the Persian calendar, for example. It is based on precise astronomical calculations and tries to capture the exact time of Earth's orbit around the sun, marking the new year on Norouz, the first day of spring. Despite these efforts, even this calendar can not claim that the Earth is exactly in the same place on each birthday. Why? Because the universe is expanding, and all the planets, including Earth, are constantly in motion. The celestial coordinates are always changing.

Given all this, I’m left wondering: If birthdays aren’t astronomically precise, and if our yearly markers are essentially arbitrary constructs, why is it that believing in astrology is seen as ignorant, but celebrating birthdays based on an imperfect calendar isn’t?

I can certainly understand using a day as an excuse for celebration. In fact, I’m a big fan of celebrating whenever there’s a reason to do so. Life is challenging, and finding joy, however we can, is a welcome relief. However, it does strike me as somewhat contradictory to dismiss astrology—a belief system that assigns meaning to celestial movements—while placing importance on birthdays, which are tied to the same cosmic movements, albeit in a different context.

Both astrology and birthday celebrations, in their own way, rely on the alignment of planets, stars, and time. So why do we label one as "ignorant" and the other as meaningful?

Perhaps the lesson here is one of openness. Whether we believe in the stars guiding our fates or simply enjoy the ritual of marking another year, there’s room for all perspectives. What truly matters is how we connect with these moments and each other.