How has Easter changed so much?

[PistachioTiramisu]

When I was a child (60s/70s) Good Friday was a day when you went early to buy Hot Cross Buns and this was the ONLY day you ate them. Otherwise, all the shops were closed, there were religious programmes on TV and a lot of people ate the traditional fish for dinner. Easter Saturday was a 'fun' day, buying nice food for Sunday. On Easter Sunday you probably were given a chocolate egg or two and had roast lamb for dinner. Again, there were religious programmes on TV. Easter Monday was a day for picnics, etc., but all the shops were still closed.

It seems a shame that the true meaning of Easter has more or less disappeared, having been overtaken by a mountain of chocolate in various shapes and forms, some people having Easter trees with decorations and other themed items. I saw one comment this morning (not on here) stating that 'Easter is for kids', echoing the nonsense that 'Christmas is for kids'. It is not - it's for everyone who wants to mark the event.

Op - I think many of us have an idealised view of the way things were done in our childhood. That's a good thing, it shows we had a happy childhood. The way you and your family did things at Easter though are probably very different to how other families did things even back then.

Some things do stay the same. Eggs and rabbits were a part of the Pagan spring festival. In Christianity eggs symbolise Jesus's resurrection. There are also aspects of the Christian Easter festival that originated as part of Jewish passover.

It's good you have happy memories of Easter from your childhood. That doesn't mean it the way other people should celebrate then and now.

I understand what you mean OP.

Lots of european countries maintain certain traditions around events and times of the year - even when the religious beliefs are gone.
I think these traditions are an important part of our national identity and help bind us - memories through generations etc

I don't see the relevance of that to my comment.

The post I quoted was treating 1500 years of Christian history as an irrelevance unworthy of examination or respect while accusing Christians and Christianity of whitewashing. The post also mentioned a general revival of a pre Christian or pagan tradition and implied this was a welcome return to British roots. Quite clearly, the idea that the millions and millions of descendants of immigrants did not share those Anglo Saxon or Norse or Celtic roots had not occurred to the poster.

There is a lot of unexamined xenophobia and Reformation-inspired hostility in the extolling of what is alleged to have been a gloriously British pagan past, before those pesky Roman Catholics edged the old religious observances out.

Also, you seem to be referring only to the CoE. There are other Christian churches in the UK and around the world.

You don’t need the rest of society to join in to have your religious celebration. Even if you are the sole believer, as long as it has meaning to you, that is all that matters. The rest of us just get to enjoy our own lives now without society saying we are doing something wrong by not conforming.

Love Easter as it’s so chill unlike Christmas. You can do your own thing - big religious festival lamb roast and formal lunch or not. We used to do Easter crafts and had one Easter egg each. Fond memories!

So I'm confused what to you is the true meaning of easter then? Because I know plenty of people who eat hot crossed buns, get chocolate eggs and have a roast. The only thing that seems to have changed from the 60's and 70's is people are exhausted from working 37 hours a week to barely survive so aren't going out for picnics.

I don’t remember Good Friday like that. It was a fast day - so we got no treats, no hot cross buns - we attended a service at 3pm, it was all very serious and a bit miserable, public fun was not allowed - so everything shut.
Midnight mass on Saturday and then the first chocolate since the start of lent…what a moment! Don’t remember the Sunday lunch being any different.
I’m an atheist now. So Easter holds no meaning for me - I don’t do eggs, we went to the pub for a roast on Sunday - it’s a few days off work that’s all.

Of course churches do good charity work. So do many many other non religious organisations. Christians don't have a monopoly on charity.

Are you saying Christians are only doing it to the reward of "heaven" rather than to help other people?

I couldn't care less about religion. It's all stupid. I like Christmas presents and Easter eggs though.

Shops were always open on Easter Monday. Just saying.

Before it was a Christian festival, Easter was a celebration of the spring beginning and the rebirth of nature - chicks hatching, lambs being born, blossoms on the fruit trees, little green shoots coming up etc. It's really just a celebration of that in my mind. The chocolate eggs are just a bit of extra fun for the kids and the egg hunt is fun and exciting for them. I made hot cross buns myself as we can't find them here (I'm in Germany) which keeps them exclusive as they were quite a pain to make! We will colour boiled eggs this morning. I do think it's a shame that things become more about buying stuff than shared community rituals but I don't get too worked up about the religious stuff as I don't really believe Easter is about Jesus at all in the first place. You can make Easter about what you want and carry on andm cherish your favourite traditions - it's a shame that things change, but you have control over how you celebrate it personally.

Exactly. I really don’t recognise the halcyon days of Easter the OP and others describe. It was a nice family Bank Holiday with chocolate eggs exchanged, and if the weather was good, we’d maybe go for a walk somewhere; pretty much what I still do.

The Easter weekend is - and long has been - important to garden centres. The financial press report when bad Easter weather affects their profits, so it has long been an important commercial event too.

They have to be. Can you imagine if you'd just risen from the dead, only to find all the shops closed and that there was no where to get a slap up breakfast.

I didn't say that at all, so stop pushing your negative projections onto me.

You asked me a question. I answered.

No you didn't.

I asked you "What is this 'pretence' that you speak of ?"

Which you didn't answer.

Then you went on to put your own spin on what I said.

If you can't follow a reasoned discussion maybe you should be a little less visible ?

The pretence is that the church still thinks it is relevant in the 21st century. To 85% of the country it isn't.

I answered your other question.

Is "be less visible" is an attempt to silence someone who disagrees with you? How very Christian of you!

The pretence is that the church still thinks it is relevant in the 21st century. To 85% of the country it isn't.

How can you say "what the church thinks" when you don't belong to any of it ?!
"The church" isn't one huge homogeneous edifice.
There are many branches of Christianity in UK/World so which one of those do you attribute your remarks to?

Is "be less visible" is an attempt to silence someone who disagrees with you?

But you aren't disagreeing are you? Your misquoting me to try make me look bad and make your argument valid.

How very Christian of you!
And what would you know about Christian behaviour seeing as you are a non-believer?

Here's a Newsflash for you
Being a Christian doesn't mean we have to put up with just any kind of behaviour from others. There is no requirement on us to tolerate bad morals, bad manners, bad music, bad debts, bad intentions, bad hygiene, vulgarity, profanity, obscenity, pornography, blasphemy, etc.

HTH

80s childhood here. Not too different for me at home - I don’t think stately homes etc arranged Easter egg hunts but perhaps it’s because they tend to cater to families nowadays. I remember everyone moaning about how we’d lost the true meaning back then. I just liked the chocolate. My DC seem less bothered, probably because they get chocolate all the time so it’s less exciting. Went to church with Brownies but we all found it really boring and it was probably to get us out of the house.

I remember shops being open for half a day on Good Friday, My DM and I went and bought buns and it was often dull weather, I remember feeling sad and thinking about Jesus. I’m not religious and never have been but I do like the stories and believe he was a real person.

I agree and would like to add something else.
I live in a rural area and attend a small village church.
Numbers were very low around Covid, Since then they've grown with families including children of various ages added to the 'old timers'.
Yesterday the church was almost full. The regulars all bring flowers for their chosen bit of the church and the children are included in the service where appropriate. We sing a couple of hymns without organ, chosen for our (medicre) singing ability. There is a short sermon.
I think 90% of the general population would have enjoyed being there, irrespective of religion or none, due to the shared community and relaxed feeling
The children feel noticed and valued , while elderly single folk have a 'family' experience.
It costs nothing. Surely this is a community feel, achieved because everyone contributes what is in their comfort zone?
I love to see the little children and the different flower arrangements.

Depends where you live.
In my small local town, I doubt anything much is open today.

80s+90s childhood.
Good Friday was THE worst day. Dad controlling tv all day.
As a teen, also the worst day. Nothing to do, no shops open.

I don't remember hot x buns only on one day though.

Easter Sunday was OK. Church when we were kids, followed by all the chocolate. Chocolate as adults.

I remember gardening playing a large part at Easter. That's probably the main tradition we've continued as adults.

When I was a child back in the 60s/70s we pretty much ignored Easter, I do much the same today.

It do you enjoy the loner days, spring flowers, blossom? In a way, Easter is about appreciating and celebrating those tings. It’s a mindset.