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Mi Yodeya has a policy of allowing silly parody questions for a limited period of time in keeping with a Jewish tradition of foolishness on the feast of Purim. This year, we got an example question: Where did that camel come from? I missed it until way too late, but it was fun to try and answer in a humorous fashion. (You may decide for yourself how well I succeeded.)

Now, I don't think we should entirely steal the idea, so I'm casting about for alternatives. Let's avoid April 1, however. That date is too played out.

Should we have a period of time for asking not-entirely-serious questions? If so, what even should we connect it to?

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I propose:

Universe Creation Week

Rome was not built in a day and neither was the universe. In fact it took an all-powerful, all-knowing being six (6) days and was so much work He had to rest on the seventh! In honor of that great work and in gratitude, let us take one week to to ask the really important questions: the not-so-serious ones.

When did creation occur? James Ussher famously selected "the first Sunday following the autumnal equinox", which was October 23, 4004 according to the Julian calendar. We shall follow suit. (In 2013, that's September 29 to October 4.) During that week, we will allow parody questions and answers with the following restrictions:

  • Parody questions may only be posted during Universe Creation week.

  • All parody questions must be tagged with exactly one tag: (or, on Meta, only and ).

  • All parody questions must include the following disclaimer code at the bottom:

    ---

#This question is [parody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody) and 
is not intended to be taken completely seriously. 
See [Universe Creation Week](http://meta.hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/509).#

  • Parody answers are only permitted on questions, not on sincere questions.

  • After the time period specified above, all questions will be closed as "too localized". At the discretion of the moderators, some exceptional questions may be re-opened during future years' Universe Creation Weeks.

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    Does it need to be time-limited? Could it be rate-limited instead? Each user gets to ask one silly question per month? (Personally, I want to post most of the lyrics of "God Shuffled His Feet" as a question at Christianity SE.)
    – TRiG
    Commented Mar 26, 2013 at 19:23
  • @TRiG: Heh. I looked up the video for that and it's a pretty dead on parody of religion (and certain brands of Christianity). Since I already get a free pass on one (or more) silly questions a month, I'm not sure how your suggestion would be any different. ;)
    – Jon Ericson Mod
    Commented Mar 26, 2013 at 20:05
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    If you schedule this about two weeks earlier in 2013, on September 14th, it'll be on Yom Kippurim ("Yom Kippur," for short), whose name can be taken to mean "a day like Purim." How appropriate would that be!
    – Isaac Moses
    Commented Mar 29, 2013 at 15:56
  • It would need to always be on Tishrei 10, not a specific Gregorian day of the year.
    – user862
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 4:22
  • I like it. :) Should also note James Barr's article on Ussher's date ("Why the World Was Created in 4004 BC: Archbishop Ussher and Biblical Chronology", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 67/2 (1985), pp. 575-608) should any scholarly legitimacy be needed. (It isn't!) Not sure about @H3br3wHamm3r81's suggestion for 10 Tishri though. Rosetta Calendar puts 4004 BCE "out of range". I'd prefer (FWIW!) a day, like "Talk like a Pirate Day". Short, sharp, 'n' snappy!
    – Dɑvïd
    Commented Feb 17, 2014 at 12:12

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