Here's what this atheist has written about Easter

It's the day after Easter, and I didn't write a irreligious blog post yesterday. But, hey, Monday is another day! So here goes. 

The best pithy comment I saw yesterday was on Twitter:

Nicely said. This sums up my attitude toward Easter, which celebrates the supposed resurrection of Jesus. For further delving into how I view Easter, here's links to my previous blog posts about this religious holiday, with an excerpt from each.

Before Easter, I escape death. I feel sort of Jesus'y.

If I believed in reincarnation (I don't), then it would be easy for me to imagine that I am worthy of worship as a Christ figure whose earthly mission this time around is to overturn the money changers of religion, so to speak, having evolved beyond the spiritual dogmatism of my earlier Jesus incarnation.

The main thing I learned from the skin biopsy experience, where, while waiting for the test results, I was halfway convinced that I had malignant melanoma, is that the prospect of death (even if imaginary) is a marvelous method of focusing one's attention on what really matters.

In short, life. 

Ooh, Easter eve! Time for a blasphemous un-sermon

We all have ways to get through the days. And weeks. And years. And a lifetime. Life isn't easy. Happiness isn't always at hand. It's natural to seek solace from sources both inside and outside our heads.

Such as religion. Such as Christianity. Such as believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected on the third day, and is waiting in heaven to receive those who believe in him.

That's a comforting belief. I can understand why someone would embrace it.

I don't have a problem with people believing in whatever they want to -- so long as they don't expect others to accept it as anything other than a weird, wonderful, irrational, and almost certainly untrue belief.

What, it's Easter?

After I bought a cup of coffee and some muffins this afternoon, the clerk said "Have a nice Easter." I thought, What, it's Easter?

I'd completely lost track of what tomorrow was. I started to say, "I'd forgotten about it. Guess that shows how religious I am."

But I decided to bite my tongue and simply say, "Thanks."

Easter means absolutely nothing to me. Probably somebody in the world celebrates a memorable day in Zeus' existence. The two celebrations are equally senseless to my churchless self.

A secular Easter thought: "spiritual" isn't supernatural or religious

My wife and I had a pleasant Easter Sunday. We didn't celebrate it. Being non-religious, this was just another day for us. We simply lived it.

I got several yard chores done. Spread bark and organic fertilizer. Laurel sprayed poison oak, then walked dogs at the Humane Society. Meaningful stuff. Pleasingly real. 

Many other people spent part of their day worshipping a God, and Jesus, we don't believe in.

A good share of those Christians consider that folks like us are missing out on the most important part of being human: believing in a divine other-worldly side to reality. Well, we heartily disagree. 

We take issue with religious believers who view being "spiritual" as requiring a belief in the supernatural and religious dogma. 

I'm not a Christian. So why is my athletic club closed on Easter Sunday?

Some holidays are secular, like the Fourth of July or President's Day. It doesn't bother me when businesses close on a genuinely national holiday. 

But Easter? It's a purely Christian day, a celebration of Jesus supposedly being resurrected from the dead. 

I don't believe in any sort of God, including the Christian variety. Naturally I also don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God, nor that he came back to life after being dead.

Easter infringes on my religious freedom

Class-action attorneys, I'm waiting for your emails. I'm a representative of a significant Easter-oppressed group: non-Christians who worship Sunday gadget shopping and latte sipping.

My "religion," though which I derive deep meaning and satisfaction, may be non-traditional. But I should be free to practice it without interference. And today, I can't.

Thumbing through the Sunday paper ads, I just realized that Best Buy is closed today. Outrageous!

Comments

[vinny]

John 8: 37
I know you are Abraham's descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you. Here clearly Jesus is aware that the secret knowledge of shabd / unified field / word is being repelled by certain Abrahimic people. Moslems may consider Abraham more important than Jesus but sadly for them the history favors Christian Innovators. Sadly for atheists modern physics is validating Word/Shabd/ Sant-mat/ Christ consciousness.

[Jen]

Why do Christians think they have the right and expect everyone to be on their wavelength?

Just do your own thing people and stop bothering us. We don't care about your stupid religion or religious holidays.

People asking did you have a nice Easter? Like they really care! I'm so tired of political correctness, pretence and fake attitudes. People pretending to be kind and loving in a totally messed up crazy world.

My reply to "nice Easter?" is "its just another day, every day is a holiday for me" - its great being old and living on pension :)

[Spencer Tepper]

My son and I spent this weekend, as every Easter weekend for the last five years, at the Anime Boston festival.

There we saw many good looking men and women cosplaying in Sailor Moon dresses, female Narutos and Full Metal Edwards. Many of the bathrooms had been redesignated for gender neutral. There were Furries and life size Pikachus.... More than just this earth, but the much broader galaxy of the imagination in orientation. Here anyone can be whomever they wish, human, alien, and all orientations imaginable, all religions, including those worshiped in the imagination of story tellers of foreign worlds, at least in Cosplay. Sam and I had the chance to hear and meet both the principle producer and screenwriter of Gundam Wing, which has remained one of anime's best anti-war sagas.

I can't think of a more compelling sermon to promote Jesus' message of inclusion and peace than what Anime conventions have come to represent, and the deep messages of humanity to be found in this art form.
It was a perfect Easter.

[Martin]

Easter was originally the celebration of Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex. Her symbols (like the egg and bunny) were and still are fertility and sex symbols. After Constantine decided to Christianize the Empire, Easter was changed to represent Jesus. But at its roots, Easter (which is how you pronounce Ishtar) is all about celebrating fertility and sex,

[Sita]

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on this earth. – Thich Nhat Hanh”
― Jeff Foster, Falling in Love with Where You Are

[Rich]

I like the Ishtar comment but is there anything to back up these claims?

[Martin]

The origin of the Easter festival is disputed and the Ishtar story is probably just a nice meme. Does seem clear though that Christianity adopted pagan spring practises for Easter. Have a look at these articles:

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

http://www.debate.org/opinions/did-easter-come-from-ishtar