Eostre
What a holiday today. From an outsider's perspective, Easter is about as morbid and disturbing as a religious holiday gets. God crucified, god resurrected, god ascends. The crucified part is miserable and the resurrection part just comes off as absurd. And the few times I've been in a Church on Easter have been equally diappointing. At least on Christmas most sermons revolve around thinking about and helping those who are less fortunate. On Easter I recall getting an earful about how everyone needs to be more religious. So needless to say, I avoid Easter services like the plague. Plus when your favorite part of the whole Easter story is Peter's denial while the cock crows, you don't make a lot of friends.
Well anyway, there is so much of the Easter holiday that is completely based on pre-Christian tradition. So is every other holiday for that matter. So the rabbits and the eggs are still a wonderful way to celebrate the fecund season. Kind of obvious to start kids out with this. Try explaining to a three year old that everyone decided to kill god and he rises from the dead today. Not so much.
Well anyway, there is so much of the Easter holiday that is completely based on pre-Christian tradition. So is every other holiday for that matter. So the rabbits and the eggs are still a wonderful way to celebrate the fecund season. Kind of obvious to start kids out with this. Try explaining to a three year old that everyone decided to kill god and he rises from the dead today. Not so much.
posted by Ranger | 7:43 PM
3 Comments:
Gosh. You've got such a unique perspective on Christian theology that I can hardly think of a thing to say.
Have you left a single bit of room for the idea that having a common mythos and the idea of a caring and loving higher power actually makes people feel good?
Why does it bother you so much that a faith system that you don't believe in has stories you don't like? I mean, if you believed in God in any way, I could see why you'd want to compare -- but you don't believe in any faith tradition at all. You're not even pagan -- so I feel compelled to ask the question: is anything in the world Sacred to you?
I don't really get the hostility, is all. I think it's really unfortunate that you're filled with so many vitriolic comments about a faith practice towards a god that has no meaning to you. Are you intending to unleash the same treatment to Islam? Judaism and their interpretations of the Old Testament? Mormons? Jehovah's Witnesses?
Just checking.
It has to be a good thing that people feel good I believe. I've been soured by too many people who see the vengeful and hateful god - which as far as I have read is the god of the Old Testament. People who believe in a loving higher power I like. They just don't proselytize as much. They should be doing more. I'm tired of flipping past religious broadcasts asking for money or teaching hate.
Common mythos is a great thing. I love mythology. And I certainly appreciate Christian mythology, as I pointed out yesterday it makes things like the DaVinci Code and the Exorcist resonate to me. It certainly a very powerful force in the world and country in which we live, even for me.
Some of the stories I like very much. Others are strange. And I should say, I do believe in god most days, I just don't understand what that means. So I really have no idea what is sacred. In day to day life, I do respect other's faith traditions. But here I can vent because much of the time I think that several of the practices are odd.
I'm sure if there was a different dominant religion I'd be commenting about it just as much. I live in a world of Christianity, and so my I am in orbit around it, my actions and reactions to it are a central part of my character. I recognize I am not an island of faith.
I probably have more conversations about Judaism in an average day, week or month than I do about Christianity. And I have taken a few shots at them here.
Unfortunately, my recollection of Islam is slim, I studied it only sparingly in college.
But I do plan to post some content on Hinduism soon.
And I should clarify. I wasn't trying to be smug when I said the story of Peter is my favorite. I think it is the best story. Betray god and live to spread the gospel or acknowledge god and destroy his church. That's an unbelieveable moral dilemma. If he was just denying god to be an ass, then he'd just be an ass.
You come by your revulsion honestly. Never knew how to explain this holiday to you. Grandpa and Grandma Oriflame were no help - they offered nothing on the subject. A Wisconsin friend (who occasionally refers to herself as a goddess) once tried to improve my perspective by equating Easter with a more universal celebration of the annual rebirth of life (all before global warming, of course). Not a bad filter for something that is distinctly scary to non-believers...
As for "michele": I know it's hard to grasp what you have never suffered at the hands of the true believers. "Red 2", you would have come by your hostility honestly, even if you had not been the object of Christian ridicule growing up. It's difficult to be reviled, particularly at age five when you don't know what being "the child of Satan" means...
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