Any other Christians annoyed at what society has turned Easter into?

[Opol]

I’m resigned that the same has been done to Christmas. But for me that is “only” the birth of Christ.

As a Roman Catholic, Easter is of far more importance to me. For me, God’s love for humanity meant he sacrificed his only son. Jesus’ resurrection is literally the embodiment of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil etc.

I don’t wish to gate keep but seeing it reduced to Easter baskets and chocolate rabbits is unpleasant to witness. I’m more annoyed at society making everything hollow and superficial via consumerism and over consumption.

Christians complaining about the meaning of Easter being erased by commercialism is the ultimate in irony, really. Especially when you consider that St Patrick was actually a Roman and the “Snakes” driven out or Ireland were actually the last of the people adhering to the old Celtic ways, like celebrating the change of seasons and welcoming back the pagan goddes Eostre (From whom Easter got the name in the first place) on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox - traditionally light enough for revellers to see in the dark, etc…. Shall we return to the old ways and celebrate it as a Rite of Spring and have everyone shagging in the fields???

Not a Christian but I don’t see an issue. Most people in the uk aren’t practising Christians and yet the entirety of society caters for Christians. Fine, it is what it is but with that in mind people can celebrate the long weekend how they like.

Im far more annoyed with Christians appropriating the pesach sedar which seems to have become a trendy new thing of late. That’s a closed practise, eggs and Jesus aren’t.

Snowjive2 · Today 19:23
Please would people stop repeating the myth that Easter was originally a pagan celebration and was appropriated by Christians. A succinct explanation here:

A somewhat biased post.

Humans have pretty much always celebrated spring. There's lots and lots of evidence around the timing of Easter and linking it to preexisting secular spring rites.

For historical reasons, we have bank holidays in the UK linked to the dates of Easter, so it suits most of us to celebrate the spring then.

@ExSJA

Oh dear. They were festivals long before Christianity came along.

Oh dear. I'm sure you didn't mean to come across so patronisingly, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here.

I think it's safe to say that the cultural festival of Easter, as celebrated today with chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits, is not the way the festival was celebrated pre-Christ.

People want to paint Easter as a Christian Vs Pagan holiday. Many people are just celebrating the arrival of spring, hopefully a bit of sunshine, a hot cross bun, some fun for the kids, and a lot of chocolate. For most, they are not thinking of either Christ, and even less will be thinking of Paganism.

Where does it say ‘Easter’ the crucifixion and resurrection are not referred to as Easter.

Bede was not a monk trying to wipe out pagan religious practice, there was no pagan religious practice in Bede's time in these islands, they had been Christian for over a century. Bede was an English nationalist trying to wipe out the independence of the Irish and Scottish churches (with much longer Christian history that the Anglo Saxons) in their methods of calculating the date of Passover/Easter.

You celebrate Easter however you like. It's clearly important to you.

It isn't important to me. I don't believe in God or Jesus or resurrection or any of it. I've had a very ordinary day and a roast dinner.

I'm the same at Christmas. Christmas is important to me - I like to buy gifts for the people I care about, spend time with the people I care about, and eat and drink far too much. I love carol services and nativities and Christmas cards. But none of it has any deeper religious meaning for me.

You can't expect people to think the way you do. So keep it sacred for you and ignore what everyone else is doing.

That doesn't sound all bad tbf 😂

But it hasn't though. Its about Spring and renewal, gathering of family and celebrating new life. New life is about fresh starts and the continuance of growth of people and crops (food) Mirrored in the resurrection and Christian celebration of that.

Whatever you celebrate and however you do it, that's fine by me.

Personally I'm enjoying the budding in the garden plus some rest and family time and some Spring cleaning and getting the garden ready for Spring/ Summer.

*@SkyBloo

"Please respect that most of us aren't Christians, and aren't celebrating the resurrection of jesus. We're celebrating:"

Let's be honest here most people are celebrating two bank holidays and stuffing their faces with chocolate they are most definitely not celebrating flowers, lambs or rabbits (except for the Lindt chocolate variety).*

Not sure where you live but where i live (home counties) pretty much everyone i know has had a roast lamb today with family, had flowers cut for the table - usually daffodils & narcissi, and has enjoyed a walk outdoors. Its common to take children to farms to see chicks and rabbits and my children have been singing the spring chicken song in school. Yes there have been chocolate eggs/bunnies for the children but its not been excessive.

I don't think you understand what disestablishment means. Or establishment. There's no established church in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

And anyway I wasnt talking about established churches. Clearly I'm obviously not explaining this but music, art , literature, architecture in Western society has been hugely influenced by Christianity. The UK is culturally Christian because of that. It's the sense of what has fed into art and society. I'm not a Christian but most of my cultural influences come from Christianity. E.g I was at a performance of Verdi's Requiem last week. I suppose I could just enjoy the music without knowing anything about it, but even as an atheist it's impossible for me not to know the significance.

No, as I have pointed out repeatedly, 'Easter' is an English language word used from about the late 7th century for what everyone else in Europe and beyond had always called and still calls some variant of Paschaltide, in acknowledgement of its roots in Passover. The Bible was not written in English. Early Christianity in these islands was Latin, British, Welsh and Irish speaking. And Easter was celebrated by people speaking those languages for centuries before Bede and the Anglo Saxons started using the term 'Easter'.

I'm an atheist and see Easter, Xmas as cultural as much as they are religious and as such, celebrate them, as many people do.

We were Christians, we had a roast and Easter eggs, but none of the rest of that.

I’m a Christian and it doesn’t bother me, really. I love my church service and the meaning of Easter in a Christian sense, and I’m perfectly happy for non Christians to enjoy eggs and bunnies and celebrate however they wish. I’m married to an atheist though so we both have to be fairly “live and let live” about all these sorts of things

You do understand the birth and death of Jesus didn’t actually happen on these particular days? They chose these days because pagans had cerebrations around these days and wanted Christianity to take over. Maybe atheists are doing the same, eye for an eye and all that!

Yes, he was. It was part of what his role was. You think that what, they just turned up and Christianity was done and that was it? To erase religion takes a long, long time. Many people worshipped both religions for a time before Christianity won out.

If you actually understood the historic timeline you’d know that. You would also know that Bede praised a pagan king called Ethelfrid. Because Bede was a tosspot. He didn’t like half that had converted to Christianity because they didn’t worship correctly, to him. BECAUSE THEY WERE STILL PARTIALLY PAGAN.

You’re so rude for someone who has a teeny portion of understanding and you still won’t answer me why you think it’s acceptable to belittle other faiths than your own?!

For someone who is here asking people to care about your faith your attitude towards others is utterly disgusting

I understand exactly what they mean

You said "My cultural life in the sense of music and art would be very diminished if Christianity were removed"

And I don't get what you mean.

Christianity is never going to be removed. But it just won't be a big thing for many people.

And we won't have an Established Church in the future. At some point in the future.

You do not know this because there are no records of the Pagans prior to the Romans because they didn’t write anything down. You’re making stuff up again to fit your narrative.

Nope, I'm Catholic. My priest literally gives Easter eggs out in church at the end of Mass to the kids. Eggs are a symbol of spring and new life.
Just as Christianity has appropriated pagan festivals such as by putting Christmas in midwinter, there are secular festivals which derive from Christian festivals. We can enjoy both.

Given that Christianity pinched the festival from the pagans and Eostre in the first place, I don't think you are being reasonable.

You feel the way you do but no-one is forcing you to join in Easter egg hunts. Equally people who see Easter as a festival of spring & regrow don't need to join in with Lent or Christian Easter.

If religions learned to mind their own business and leave others to enjoy their lives in peace, we would all be a lot better off.

Christianity hijacked “Easter” from “Eostre” which was originally a pagan celebration of spring; welcoming the light and the warmth of the sun back after a long cold winter. New life is everywhere; eggs and hatchlings. An ancient and finely tuned cycle begins again and the trees and hedgerows burst with green shoots and blossom. I don’t mind what Christians do at this time of renewal - but it’s a bit hypocritical of you as a Christian to complain that your “Easter” has been hijacked by people buying eggs! As chocolate eggs are the remnant of the true symbolism of Eostre, and as such represent to me, at least, more of the natural and original meaning at this time of year than the superimposition of your faith does.

btw, the legend about St Patrick and the snakes, written centuries after Patrick's time (well documented by him in really important late antique primary narratives,) isn't an allegory on Druids or 'pagans', it's a specific attempt to compare Patrick to Moses in the desert. Because all those guys were steeped in Biblical knowledge and scholarship.

The early medieval history of these islands is really interesting, some of you should try reading some of it.

And then there's the archaeological record. No evidence of medieval pagans. Loads of evidence for medieval Christianity.

WTAF get over yourself 😂