Today is Easter Sunday. Among my friends we have discussed if Easter should be celebrated as a christian holiday. While I will admit that Easter does have it’s roots in pagan roots as seen in these articles.
Last night I hid Easter eggs for my daughters. It is a practice that I am not found of , but I know both of my girls where looking forward to looking for the eggs that the Easter bunny would leave. I admit it was fun watching them scurry around the house looking for the eggs filled with goodies.
I think remembering Jesus Christ is very important. I make sure my daughters understand the significance of the day. Most of the conversations I have had usually come down to 2 mindsets.
1. Christians shouldn’t celebrate Easter as a religious holiday
2. It doesn’t matter if a christian does or not because it symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus
Whatever a person believes what is important is that here in the United States we have the freedom to decide for ourselves what to believe. As a christian American I am grateful to live in a country where I don’t have to hide my religious views.
One of the arguments is that many of the rituals in Easter are pagan by nature.
I think that when the bible was written, many of the words meant something different than they do today. Take Easter eggs for example, I am pretty sure dyed eggs were given as sacrifice in the name of some pagan god or another.. But my daughters associate easter eggs with chocolate. Our morning easter egg hunt was fun and nothing more.
I do think it is important that we remember why we are celebrating on this day though. We aren’t celebrating the easter bunny, a goddess, or commercialism. Instead we have this day to remember how much god loves us.
It is a good feeling to know that life doesn’t end on this planet. That one day we will be taken to be with the lord and live for eternity. Whatever you believe I do hope you have a nice day with your family.
Related articles
- An Atheist Celebrates Easter (dangeroustalk.net)
- happy easter eggs! (dreamworldwest.wordpress.com)
- The Truth About Easter (apostleernestturner.wordpress.com)
- I AM the RESURRECTION and the LIFE (jesusmylordandsavior.wordpress.com)
I’m glad you don’t have to hide your beliefs, but because of the intolerance of many of the Christians in the United States, many atheists have to hide our lack of belief out of fear of losing our jobs, family, etc. Personally, I have received quite a few threats just because I have come out of the closet as an atheist. I even had my car door bashed in for having a Darwin Fish on my car. But at least you don’t have to hide your beliefs. 😉
I would say that whom ever is threatening you is not a christian. A real follower of christ would not act in that fashion.
You can’t use your example because it’s not a religion that is giving you a hard time it is a person(s). That is a different story altogether.
If you want to be an atheist that is your business and it is your choice. I would also disagree that you have no faith. You are pretty positive that there is no afterlife. You have as much proof as I do that there is a afterlife. So in the end I guess we are both guessing… Since I believe in heaven and hell there are repercussions for not believing.
I would say you have way more faith than I do that life ends when we die. Measuring life by your standards there is nothing to hope for.
But you are certainly free to believe that if you wish. It’s your life and as far as I can tell the country I was born in, the country that my grandfather and father fought for, allows you the freedom of choice.
BTW, America was founded on christian values. The freedom you enjoy in our country is based on christian values.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Larry
Wow, in just a few short lines you have posted a lot of ignorant and arrogant positions. I commented that atheists are not so free to express our lack of belief in this nation and you respond with ignorant and arrogant attacks most of which are absurd. So let me go through this a little.
1. You claim that those who threatened me and those who threaten many other atheists forcing them in the closet are not “real Christians.” This is just the old “no true Scotsman” argument.
2. “You are pretty positive that there is no afterlife.” How do you know what my view of an afterlife is? While I am reasonably certain there isn’t one, I am not making any absolute claims. Most Christians I know do make claims of absolute certainty about God, the afterlife, and everything else. Are you saying that you are not absolutely certain that there is a God?
3. Out of curiosity, how certain are you that the Easter Bunny doesn’t exist? Wouldn’t that require the exact same amount of faith that you are claiming I have that God doesn’t exist?
4. “You have as much proof as I do that there is a afterlife.” Here you fail to take into account the burden of proof. I don’t have to prove that something doesn’t exist. I can just hold that you have not presented enough evidence to support your claim that an afterlife does exist.
5. “So in the end I guess we are both guessing” – I’m not guessing. I’m following the evidence and as of yet there has been no evidence to suggest that an afterlife does exist. In fact, all the evidence points to the contrary.
6. “Since I believe in heaven and hell there are repercussions for not believing.” is that a threat? While this isn’t the type of threat I was talking about earlier, it could be considered a threat nonetheless. You are holding the position that not only will I be going to Hell to be tortured for all eternity because your God hasn’t presented valid evidence of his existence, but that I ought to be tortured for all eternity because your God is perfect and Just. I find such a belief to be ridiculously hostile and immoral.
7. “But you are certainly free to believe that if you wish.” well, you just claimed that I wasn’t free. You said that I will be tortured for all eternity if I don’t believe. If I put a gun to your head and told you to give me all your money, I can’t then say that I am giving you a free choice. That choice has consequences which would imposed on me. Note that it is not a natural consequence but a controlled consequence. Second, as I stated before, many atheists face real life consequences by Christians for coming out of the closet such as lose of jobs, alienation from family, harassment, unable to hold public office in certain states, etc. Here is an example that I had to face. A number of years ago, I was a witness to an assault. I was asked to be a witness in the case. I worried for days whether I should swear on a Bible (which I don’t believe in) or hold to my principles and affirm to tell the truth (a legal alternative). I knew that If I affirmed rather than swear on the Bible, the Jury may disregard my testimony and the criminal might go free.
8. “It’s your life and as far as I can tell the country I was born in, the country that my grandfather and father fought for, allows you the freedom of choice.” I don’t know what country that is, but the country that I was born in, that my uncle, and great grandfather fought for… The United States of America, claims to allow freedom of choice, but because of the many bigoted hateful god-believers living in this country and making laws, it doesn’t always turn out that way in reality.
9. “America was founded on christian values.” Absolutely not true! This nation was founded on the principles of the enlightenment philosophers namely John Locke. Our Constitution is unique in the world for being secular. Our Constitution not only does not mention or depend on the graces of a deity, it explicitly states in multiple places that religious belief is separate from the state. BTW that has nothing at all to do with your post or my comment. It is just an ignorant attempt to attack my position which is simply that you have not given valid evidence for your position.
10. I responded to your post to inform you of the fact that atheists often do have to hide our lack of religious belief. I was hoping to reach out to you and show you that while you enjoy a freedom of belief, others do not. Instead, you took that opportunity to make a ton of assumptions, poorly thought out statements, and hate-filled comments. It really is sad that you can’t see my POV. 🙁