Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To judge parents who do not even tell their children Easter is a religious festival

793 replies

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 15:59

I'm shocked that 12 out of 20 children in my childs class had no religious knowledge of the meaning of Good Friday or Easter Sunday for Christians.
All aged 9yrs old.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Daffodildahlia · 02/04/2026 16:56

@Whathappensinthissituation Oh my kids know the fairy story about it because school pushed the narrative of some random guy being so super special he died and came back to life shortly after their sister died, and they were convinced she was special enough to come back to life too.

What are you talking about ? 🤔

ohmuffins · 02/04/2026 16:56

My year 1 daughter knows it’s about Jesus and she goes to a non faith school. Where are you getting your statistics from?

OneCoralGoose · 02/04/2026 16:57

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 02/04/2026 16:54

Never knew about the sister! 😆

I would reread what you just replied to and maybe edit your post

Sskka · 02/04/2026 16:57

Bollihobs · 02/04/2026 16:52

I know this is just a jokey post but I've actually been wondering this recently - if we're not religious - and by the posts on here so far most people aren't, then should we appropriate another's religious festival for ourselves?

Most posts on here aren't even just saying "I'm not Christian" they are actively mocking those who are. Why? Why the mind set of "I'm going to celebrate this religion based festival entirely my own way and at the same time mock the original source of it" . Why that sense of entitlement and lack of the most basic respect? I genuinely don't get it.

For the record I'm an Atheist myself.

I think it’s because those people’s formative age was about twenty years ago, when the dickish side of new atheism was somewhat cool. They’ll be striking that particular pose forever.

NaiceCupOTea · 02/04/2026 16:58

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:04

If a child at 9yrs old does not know the meaning of Good Friday or why we celebrate on Easter Sumday, as Christians, it's a very sad state of affairs.

How do you know that 12 out of 20 don't know the meaning of Easter? Did you do a poll?

Are you presuming that all the children in the class are Christian? What about other religions? Not everyone in the UK is Christian you know

I know most UK schools will usually cover Christian religious celebrations (Easter, Christmas etc) but if the children are of a different faith they don't care about the Christian significance of Easter as a non-Christian.

mangoamango · 02/04/2026 16:59

To be honest, I'm more likely to judge parents who tell their children that the Christian story of Easter is true.

I live in a country that has strict separation of church and state so no religious education in state schools, no nativity plays or Easter events etc but the traditional culture is Catholic and modern society is very multicultural. I remember when my son was about 4 or 5 walking past a house that had put up lots of decorations in their garden for Christmas, including a nativity scene. My son asked me why they'd put a doll in a shed and it made me realise how much of a gap there was between his primary school experience here and mine in the UK.

We've always just gone with a quick 'some people believe...' as and when subjects have come up but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to tell you the story of Easter (he's 10 now[. He might talk about his chocolate coming from the bells that fly to the Vatican to be blessed and drop off chocolate on the way back though.

Daffodildahlia · 02/04/2026 16:59

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon Whereas this is about a man dying hideously and then it’s celebrated with a chocolate egg

Whaat? Way off beam there !

Beachtastic · 02/04/2026 17:00

It depends whether you view the life of Jesus as literal or metaphorical.

Springtime festivals of renewal long pre-date Christianity. Eggs and hares were ancient fertility symbols. The dating of Easter is complicated because it aligns with the spring equinox cycle.

Whether you consider Easter a religious festival or not, it is hard not to feel excited by the vivid, visible return of life at this time of year and want to celebrate it. Chocolate eggs seem an excellent way to do this, among others.

CousinBette · 02/04/2026 17:01

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:04

If a child at 9yrs old does not know the meaning of Good Friday or why we celebrate on Easter Sumday, as Christians, it's a very sad state of affairs.

Why though?

Sskka · 02/04/2026 17:01

@pointythingsI mock all religions

lol, I bet you don’t! I bet there’s one religion you keep very quiet about.

Pearlstillsinging · 02/04/2026 17:01

Well where have they been since they started school? I would have expected every class in UK state schools to have taught something about Easter and the Resurrection, at the appropriate time, each year. Obviously they haven't been listening then, or haven't made the link between the Bible stories and chocolate eggs.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 02/04/2026 17:02

Daffodildahlia · 02/04/2026 16:59

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon Whereas this is about a man dying hideously and then it’s celebrated with a chocolate egg

Whaat? Way off beam there !

Not really.

Resurrection isn’t real. So this is what we’re left with.

blackrabbitwhiterabbit · 02/04/2026 17:02

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:04

If a child at 9yrs old does not know the meaning of Good Friday or why we celebrate on Easter Sumday, as Christians, it's a very sad state of affairs.

In your opinion.

Oreo07 · 02/04/2026 17:02

It might look like Easter is borrowed from pagan spring festivals, but Easter comes from the Jewish Passover, because Jesus’ death and Resurrection happened at that time. In most of the world, the word for Easter comes from the word Passover. Eg Pacques in French.
Springtime symbols like eggs were added later in various cultures.

niknak1234 · 02/04/2026 17:02

Sskka · 02/04/2026 17:01

@pointythingsI mock all religions

lol, I bet you don’t! I bet there’s one religion you keep very quiet about.

Quite.

Luxlumos · 02/04/2026 17:02

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:22

So why enrol your child in a christian school?

In Ireland many people have no alternative choice except a catholic school. Mine attended one, attached to the church, with the pp on the school board. They learned about eating “holy bread”, that “some people” believe a man called Jesus “might” have existed. And dd said they didn’t do a single religious lesson for the entirety of 5th class.

Far from taking it seriously, my experience has been that there’s a quiet disdain in schools for Catholicism, and I’m fine with that. They should take it out of schools, put on Sunday school for those who want that and teach the actual doctrine those who want religious instruction instead of wasting everyone’s time being wishy washy.

In secondary they teach them about 5 major religions which includes Christianity, not Catholicism specifically.

Marieme · 02/04/2026 17:03

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:45

I know i should not say this but i wonder how many of these posters who blatantly mock christianity and Catholics, were first to try to get an Irish passport after Brexit.
Christian values are very much upheld in Ireland. So you don't want to respect snd uphold our beliefs, you just want to grab the passport!

I am Irish and an atheist! My wider family are catholics and my child attends a catholic school, they attend that school because it’s a great school but personally I feel all schools should be integrated. Why should I not send my child to the best school to receive the best education, I don’t care about religion and don’t teach my child about Easter.

ThunderCatsHooo · 02/04/2026 17:03

My kids go to a catholic school (unfortunately where we live the best schools are Catholic) so they have had a full week or 2 of jesus with some Easter Bunny mixed in, I wouldn't expect kids who aren't Christian to know about Easter, why would parent's tell them about something that is likely a fairytale to them? I certainly don't tell my children about Ramadam or other religious festivals, because well I don't know anything about them and certainly don't believe in them.

If I'm honest I don't think any religion has a place in any school, it's all just belief, it could all be made up and never really happened. Why are we teaching this stuff thousands of years later as fact?! It is bonkers when you think about it.

Fedupmumofadultsons · 02/04/2026 17:03

Tigerbalmshark · 02/04/2026 16:05

Mine knows the whole story. How the Easter Bunny crucified Jesus who then rose from the dead and handed out Easter eggs, whilst lambs gambolled in the fields of Jerusalem, while being fanned by palm leaves held by little donkeys. Have I missed anything?

Brilliant funny and I am a Christian

saveforthat · 02/04/2026 17:03

rainbowsandraspberrygin · 02/04/2026 16:54

Never knew about the sister! 😆

I believe this poster"s daughter died so her children's sister. At least that's how I read it.

scalt · 02/04/2026 17:03

For those who say that the Easter story is "nasty": yes, that's true. My brother (then aged six) cried on hearing the story of Abraham and Isaac: not because Abraham was about to kill his son, as ordered by God, but "what about the poor ram", who was killed in Isaac's place? With the ubiquitous story of Joseph, how does one explain to children why Joseph was in prison, because he was shagging Mrs Potiphar?

But then, many fairy tales are quite nasty, especially the original versions, and Henrich Hoffmans's grisly book Struwelpeter was sold as entertainment for children. Were children made of harder stuff in the nineteenth century? Harry Potter is not exactly cosy reading, either. "You got that scar in the car crash when your parents died. And don't ask questions."

Incidentally, there was a Catholic head teacher who banned all things to do with Harry Potter from her school, because "the occult is very real, and very evil, and children should not be reading about it". The owner of a certain well-known toy shop chain had a "calling from God" to become a Christian, and none of his shops are open on Sundays, and they do not sell anything to do with Hallowe'en or Harry Potter.

While traditional Christianity might seem out of place to some people in the modern world, as others have said, it has certainly shaped our history, and as such, should be known and taught about. (And I say this as a child who didn't see the point of learning history and religion, because it was all in the past.) Nowadays, when this is taught in school, it is very much with the caveat "some people believe". When I was at school, it was still taught as fact: I remember my teacher saying "in those days, God spoke to people".

canisquaeso · 02/04/2026 17:03

Tuliptana · 02/04/2026 16:22

So why enrol your child in a christian school?

Why wouldn’t they?

My DD has always attended catholic school and had pupils from all over the place, being catholic wasn’t a requirement. Their fee money was worth the same.

Girasoli · 02/04/2026 17:04

To be honest I am surprised they haven't learnt it at school at some point...my DC could tell you a lot about Easter/Christmas because they are Catholic but also a little bit about Diwali, Ramadan and Eid from school.

Fedupmumofadultsons · 02/04/2026 17:05

Upsetbetty · 02/04/2026 16:22

🤣🤣🤣🤣love it!!

Who would have thought he was brilliant in Jesus christ superstar

Daffodildahlia · 02/04/2026 17:05

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 02/04/2026 17:02

Not really.

Resurrection isn’t real. So this is what we’re left with.

Depends what you mean by "resurrection" ... there are pages and pages of "woo" stories on this site yet people deny a resurrection - seems very odd to me🤔

Swipe left for the next trending thread