Unbelievers: Do you participate in Easter? Christmas?

Du-uh . . . because those are christian festivals. There might be some Mithras worshipers left in the world, but i doubt it.

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Easter has been pretty much stripped of its religious significance in many families in America.

The Easter Bunny bringing eggs and chocolate have nothing to do with any part of the Biblical Easter story. In my family we traditionally eat lamb... which I guess could be considered to be appropriate (as Jesus is the Lamb of God). But we don't attach any religious significance to this.

When I was a kid, my parents dragged us to sunrise religious service. But, I think most Americans don't do anything like this now.

My friends who are Jewish celebrate passover... which retains rituals with deeply religeous significance.

But as I said we will celebrate Easter with chocolate covered fertility symbols and flowers-- but nothing with a religious significance (at least in the Christian tradition).

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One point that i am making here which Baddog seems to miss is that not all Christians celebrate these festivals on the same date, and there are Christians who do not celebrate Christmas at all. Therefore, for someone to say that these are Christian festivals constitutes hypocrisy, in that anyone making such an assertion is claiming to speak for all Christians without any warrant to do so.

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For the record, my family does recognize Christian religious traditions of Christmas. I am no longer a believer, but Christian Christmas traditions are certainly part of my ethnic heritage.

The Christmas story is a good one. With moral lessons and good music. The themes of lights and stars and music and proclaiming freedom are all great themes.

Christianity at its best is about love for your neighbor, forgiveness and helping those in need.

No one follows this part of the Christian message any more... but having one day of the year to think about loving your neighbor can't be a bad thing.

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baddog1 wrote:

Quote:
...If there is any hypocrisy going on here, it is the assertion by any particular Christian that any particular day ought to be Christmas or Easter.

Why only a Christian?

Because only Christians presume to assign to those days any Abrahamic Mythopaeia-associated religio-spiritual significance. As others in this discussion have mentioned, equinox festivals are all but Northern Hemisphere cultural absolutes, dating to prehistory. To its own ends, Christianity expropriated long-traditional festivals from among the cultures in which it arose; immensely amusing is the hypocrisy by which is forwarded the arrogant Christian-exclusive proposition that these long-celebrated dates have any substantive connection with or relation to their own particular mythopaeia.

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baddog1 wrote:

I still choose to await ehbeth's clarification.

Hopefully the boys cleared that question up for you.

I guess my response to you hit a snag in my "English as a 2nd/3rd language" barrier.

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Coming late to this thread, it's been interesting reading.
And quite amusing.
Cheerleaders for the Christian festivals should (by now) be aware that they were adapted by the early Christians from already existing, ancient festivals.
And our cosy symbols of the Easter Bunny, the holly and the ivy, the evergreen "Christmas" tree, or the Easter egg for example, were originally perceived quite differently and employed for different purposes, emphatically not Christian.

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It always interests me how so many posts propogate to issues unrelated [or very loosely related] to the original question(s). And those doing the propogatin' - typically fail to answer the original questions. Why not start another thread if you have another agenda? :wink:

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We've answered the original question--too bad if you don't like the answers you got.

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baddog1 wrote:

It always interests me how so many posts propogate to issues unrelated [or very loosely related] to the original question(s). And those doing the propogatin' - typically fail to answer the original questions. Why not start another thread if you have another agenda? :wink:

Yes, my family celebrates both Christmas And Easter. My grandkids are all young enough to still be heavily into both the Santa Claus and Easter Bunny myths. I see nothing hypocritical there, I was once a kid too. No Christmas bonus where I work. We used to have a "profit share", but that happened closer to the Easter season.

What I dread as the Winter holiday season approaches is the inevitable rash of emails recycling all of the paranoia of taking Christ out of Christmas, Target stores belong to the anti-christ, the ACLU won't allow a traditional creche on the courthouse lawn, etc.

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Oh, I might have to shop more at Target.

So, picturing War of the MegaStores...

it is of course already happening, and seems fitting.

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ossobuco wrote:

Oh, I might have to shop more at Target.

That's the spirit!

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I am a Buddhist but I still celebrate Christmas with my family. It's not a religious holiday for me at all but more of a time to show appreciation for family and friends. Actually, we should do that all year!

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Oh, Easter is just a load of crap :wink:

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Agree, Nick. I'd be a buddhist if I would be anything. Well, ne'er mind.
I agree with the all year bit.

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That was to Nick's next to last post.

Still, I won't argue.

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Call me lazy or not readin back 6 pages, but I certainly hope that someone has already pointed out that Christmas and Easter are hijacked holidays from the Pagans.

Take all the information presented and if you believe Jesus was born and died etcetcetc, he certainly was not born in the winter nor did he die in the spring.

Millions of Christians celevrate these holidays every year and have no idea of this. further, they ask if I know the "true meaning of Christmas." How audacious.

Happy brithday Jesus? If I were him, this would be a poor consolation prize.

Christmas, Easter, and the trinity were concepts dreamed up by the early roman church to win over pagans. The Pagan winter festival worshiped the conifer trees becasue of their ability to retain their leaves (needles) through the winter, the spring festival was one of fertility (rabbits etc).

If Christians are upset about the overwelming presence of the non-christian themes appearingly dominating "their" holiday, then they have nobody to blame but themselves.

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baddog1 wrote:

It always interests me how so many posts propogate to issues unrelated [or very loosely related] to the original question(s). And those doing the propogatin' - typically fail to answer the original questions. Why not start another thread if you have another agenda? :wink:

I thought I was answering the question, in my own roundabout way. I have no religious beliefs of my own, and so no "agenda". But your question was patronising, and exclusive. You have learned by reading these posts, that not only Christians deserve a "Christmas bonus". That's a message of Christmas that needs to get out there.

I forgot to mention mistletoe in my list of borrowed symbols.
But hey, we non-Christians are a forgiving lot. We turn the other cheek. :wink:

My question: Do Christians ever throw coins in a wishing well? If so, do they know why they do that? Doesn't it make them feel like hypocrites?

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McTag wrote:

My question: Do Christians ever throw coins in a wishing well? If so, do they know why they do that? Doesn't it make them feel like hypocrites?

a) I have.
b) The kids had fun doing it and the money went to the Dana-Farber Cancer
Research Center.
c) Not in my case, no.

I went to grade school in Boston.
We got "Evacuation Day" off.
This holiday celebrates the day Washington and his fledgling army fortified
Dorchester Heights with cannonry hauled all the way from captured Ft.
Ticonderoga, forcing the British to abandon Boston.
Evacuation Day is March 17th.
I felt THAT was bit hypocitical.
I didn't complain, though.

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George wrote:

McTag wrote:

My question: Do Christians ever throw coins in a wishing well? If so, do they know why they do that? Doesn't it make them feel like hypocrites?

a) I have.
b) The kids had fun doing it and the money went to the Dana-Farber Cancer
Research Center.
c) Not in my case, no.

Only having a bit of fun at the unchristian Christian's expense, George, no offence.

The original query seems to have been satisfactorily dealt with, since it's all gone quiet.

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Unbelievers: Do you participate in Easter? Christmas?

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