Is your Easter a Jesus Free zone?

[antumbra]

Does religion play any part in your easter- or like me are you happy to have a cracking secular/pagan celebration?

Jesus free here too, and thankfully their school went down the celebration of spring route as opposed to "some people believe in a chap called Jesus who was put on a cross etc" route

Must say, I am a bit bemused by the people calling it a pagan festival, just so that they can still be part of this most Christian of festivals. It seems like they want to reject their culture background but not be left out at the same time.

kingofthebongo- you make me laugh.
Oh yes- very christian- Oestra, the eggs, bunnies, easter egg hunts, rolling the eggs- all mentioned in the bible too.

Torture & zombie free zone here too

kingofthebongos- it may be the "most christian of festivals" but only if you are a christian.

Interesting reading:
silver-fish.hubpages.com/hub/Easter-Christian-or-Pagan

The zombie comment is offensive but you know that.

But then christianity offends me.

Easter is a god free zone whether pagan or Christian in my house. We're in it purely for the chocolate. We know the stories but we also know they are stories. That said, paganism is far more sensible than Christianity at Easter.

We'll take the kids to church on Sunday morning and have an Easter egg hunt afterwards.

Of course it is the most Christian of holidays. There wouldn't even be any Christianity without the Resurrection.

I've looked into the "Jesus Myth" theories before. I don't believe any of it (and neither do 99% of scholars, regardless of their religion).

This one is a good starting point ... www.mrctv.org/videos/are-ancient-myths-osiris-and-horus-foundation-jesus-life-updated

Happily murder and zombie-free in this house too.

Chocolate, gardening and relaxation all round.

But it is only a christian festival for christians.
Christians don't "own" Easter.

I had religion forced upon me as a child.

Not so keen on it these days.

"Christians don't "own" Easter."

Well, Christians started it, so I think that gives us some right to call it our festival. And if you don't celebrate Easter, you still get two bank holidays because it's the central Christian festival and this has historically been a Christian country. Don't forget modern paganism is a modern concotion reconstruction of practices for which there is very little historical evidence ever having existed in the pagan past.

niminypinimy what is the root of the word "Easter?"

In common with most religious festivals, this one is about sex and death. I am on a generally celebratory mood, what with the longer evenings and brighter mornings and occasional glimpses of the sun. So I think I'll go ahead and celebrate, without worrying about offending Christians.
I'm quite offended that they're shutting the pins early when I'm on holiday.

Pubs.

Good living types don't generally take part in the pub thing, not sure why it being open on their special day makes them cross.

Christians did not "start" Easter. Celebrations can be traced back many thoussands of years before christianity. Many cultures have had a spring festival around this time.

I don't see how the eggs, the rolling, the easter egg hunt is a christian influnece- bit of a clue there.

I celebrate easter- and christmas without jesus. I have as much right to celebrate these festivals as you do.

Well, wikipedia says that it's derived from a Germanic root word meaning 'east', and that there is a theory that it may be derived from a goddess mentioned by the Christian historian Bede. But it is not a certain derivation, and certainly there is no evidence that there was a pagan festival dedicated to Eostre that Easter 'took over'.

Apart from anything else, the date of Easter was resolved by the council of Nicea in 325, some four hundred years before Bede was writing; and the root of the word for Easter in the romance languages comes from Pesach, or Passover, with which Easter really is connected.

The Eostre/Easter link is, I'm afraid, just made up.

I'm Catholic and Easter is full of prayer and Church services for me (though not for my athiest DH). But it's also about family getogethers, Easter egg hunt, Darth Vader Easter egg (will make my DD so happy!), school holiday activities and outings, roast lamb...

Well, Christians started it, so I think that gives us some right to call it our festival.

How arrogant.

Easter is my festival- as much it is yours. Easter may be important to christians, but it is also an important secular and cultural festival for others- much for christmas.

And your claim to easter does not trump mine.

No religion here. We don't believe. It's chocolate, food and fun for us. No Jesus. I think there probably was such a person, very charismatic, but I don't believe he was son of God, I don't believe in God at all, or resurrection.

And regarding Easter eggs, the wikipedia article I cited earlier says this:

"Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given out to celebrate the Easter holiday. The custom of the Easter egg may have existed in the early Christian community of Mesopotamia,[citation needed] who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.[97] In later traditions the egg is also a symbol of the empty tomb.[17][18] The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute eggs made from chocolate, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jellybeans."

Of course, pre-existing spring festivals became incorporated into Easter customs. That's not because of a Christian plot, but because that's how cultures work.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism

antumbra, I didn't mean to give offence, or to imply that you shouldn't enjoy your Easter holiday. I merely meant that it is a Christian festival - as Diwali is a Hindu festival and Passover a Jewish festival. It's an adjective, not a keep out sign.