NationStates Jolt Archive

Your thoughts on easter....


I won't post mine, it may interefere with that there poll...

easter means a celebration of fertility to me what with chocolate eggs and such

other than that nothing, at least I hope so unless zombies do exist :eek:

It's a holiday the early Catholic Church began celebrating as a way to entice non-believers into becoming part of the church. It's a melding of the traditional spring equinox celebrations with the resurrection of Jesus--assuming that Jesus was indeed crucified and resurrected at this time of year in the first place. It's a co-opting of symbolism in order to help the church grow.

I believe... um... Option 9?

Easter is a celebration of the coming of Spring. The name comes from an Old English word for the dawn (some say it was named after a Goddess of the Dawn specifically, but I'm not so sure about that); the feeling being that the coming of Spring is the "dawn" of the new year.

As for that Jesus guy, I go with the Quranic intepretation: he was a prophet of Islam who was crucified, but was brought bodily up to heaven by his God before he actually died.

It's a holiday where you get chocolate bunnies. Probably pisses off PETA and health nuts.

Easter for me is number 2 on my hieararchy of holidays. I'm not remotely religious, as the only time I've ever been to church is for weddings, and I've never been baptized. Easter is about family and feasting.

Christmas, for similar reasons is #3 on the list, since it's like Easter, but you're required to scramble on Dec. 24th and buy stuff for people, in return for getting gifts that you didn't really care to get in the first place. At least, you still have the big meal.

Thanksgiving gets the nod for the best holiday of the year. No pretention, just celebration of eating.

Other: there isn't enough evidence to show what happened to any degree of certainty.

Jesus may well have been right, but the resurrection of which he spoke need not have been a physical one. I see no reason to propose that the lack of a biological revival of the dead body of Christ is in any way a denial of his authority as a teacher and an early proponent of the New Theology.

I would certainly be of the view that neither Disciples nor Temples were involved in the removal of the body, thereby permitting a "spiritual resurrection" within the disciples of a new sort of Christ figure (read "systemic" if you're familiar with my philosophy of mind, "conceptual" if otherwise skeptical of the notion of spirit). However, I think that the story of Jesus getting up and walking out of the tomb with the assistance of angels is a mythological explanation that the disciples were persuaded into by the empty grave, and I do suspect the interference of outside forces in the physical act. The Roman empire and the Hellenic aspects of its culture had been trying to deal with "the Jewish Problem" for some time, and in hindsight the renewed urgency and fanatical witch-hunting in the Temples caused by the Christian movement can be seen as a vivid prelude to Jerusalem's uprise against their occupiers and eventual destruction at the hands of the imperials.

Now, as the Pastafarians would agree, correlation does not necessarily equal causation. I'm just saying, it's very convenient, and so far the removal of the body by Greco-Roman culturalists (possibly with the support of the guard at the tomb) seems like the most rational evaluation of events to me.

I believe easter is just another celebration Christians/Catholics stole from pagans, and I believe its a day when I get chocolate.

Thats all.

Pagans are probably greatly annoyed about Christians stealing the day and claiming it is theirs.

Other: fabricated story

Easter to me means another day off from work.

It means chocolate, if indeed I had any.

easter is a great spring holiday. a good excuse to get together with friends and family.

jesus is a myth.

i believe it's the most annoying religious holiday there is. it always catches me by surprise cuz it never seems to be on the same date. fell foul of it this year with the postal service meaning my essay is not going to arrive at my faculty office in time for the deadline, bugger.

but really, it's just another day of the year. except the chocolate is a radically different shape for a few weeks around it.

... except the chocolate is a radically different shape for a few weeks around it.Crosses and corpses?

Other: Nothing ever happend. Jesus didn't exist.

It's a holiday the early Catholic Church began celebrating as a way to entice non-believers into becoming part of the church. It's a melding of the traditional spring equinox celebrations with the resurrection of Jesus--assuming that Jesus was indeed crucified and resurrected at this time of year in the first place. It's a co-opting of symbolism in order to help the church grow.
That's the one I'd go with, although technically it wasn't the Catholic Church back then - just the Church.

Crosses and corpses?

no, no, no. egg shaped and full of air, or buttons. sometimes rabbit shaped too.

That's the one I'd go with, although technically it wasn't the Catholic Church back then - just the Church.literally the catholic church....

no, no, no. egg shaped and full of air, or buttons. sometimes rabbit shaped too.filled with buttons? :eek:
and why rabbit shapes and no crosses or corpses?

filled with buttons? :eek: http://www.taquitos.net/dbimages13/Cadbury-Buttons.jpg :)
and why rabbit shapes and no crosses or corpses?

dunno, best ask mr lindt i guess.

The Chocolate-Bunnyman, illegitimate son of the mighty Claus of the North, died for the skins of his bunnies and was thus resurrected into the land of marzipan and candy canes. We celebrate his death and rebirth annually, with ritual fondues and bunny-like activities, climaxing with nailing effigies of the mighty Claus of the North to trees, and pelting them with festive decorated eggs.

You know, normal stuff.

The Chocolate-Bunnyman, illegitimate son of the mighty Claus of the North, died for the skins of his bunnies and was thus resurrected into the land of marzipan and candy canes. We celebrate his death and rebirth annually, with ritual fondues and bunny-like activities, climaxing with nailing effigies of the mighty Claus of the North to trees, and pelting them with festive decorated eggs.

You know, normal stuff.Liquor filled easter eggs?

Liquor filled easter eggs?

Only in the more orthodox, alcoholic tradition. That's been kinda passe since Dean Martin kicked the bucket.

I believe these are the eggs people were ment to eat. Not all that nasty animal fetus shit.

The entire story is fiction through and through.

Mithras was god from the same region, invented around 600 BC, whose cult taught that Mithras was born of a virgin, performed miracles including turning water into wine, has a last supper with 12 of his disciples, was executed on the day of the spring equinox on a day called Eostre, then rose from the dead three days later. His followers called him the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and the Saviour. He had a very elaborate empty-tomb story.

Dionysus: nearly the same story. Born of a virgin. Executed on a hilltop around the spring equinox. Rose from the dead three days later. Had an elaborate empty-tomb story.

Osiris: Born of a virgin. Birth announced by a star. Birth attended by three wise men who followed the star. Miracles included walking on water and turning water into wine. Executed between two other criminals on a hilltop. Rose from the dead three days later with an elaborate empty-tomb story.

Tammuz: Born of a virgin. Commonly portrayed with his ancient sacrificial symbol, the cross. Executed on a hilltop. Rose from the dead some time later. Called 'the son of God' by his followers.

etc.
etc.
etc.

The list goes on.

The Bible is a fraud cover to cover, with the extremely minor exceptions of some of the geographies of the Old Testament. Even the lineages don't line up.

Other: there isn't enough evidence to show what happened to any degree of certainty.

Well, yes there is.

1. Jesus was a human. He was slain.
2. Humans are mortal.
3. The accounts are biased and 'self-serving'.
4. They were based upon human observation.

I mean no offence...but it is complete BS. Obviously. Only option. Jesus wasn't too bad. Clearly delusional. "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians etc. etc."

Meh, its just Egg Day to me.

I don't think God exists. So Easter means litlle to me apart from a break from college.

Cadbury Eggs. Thats what it means to me. I look forward to this time ALL year just to get my hand on them.:D

I'm a follower of Asatru, the old religion of much of Northern Europe and England.

The entire story is fiction through and through.

Mithras was god from the same region, invented around 600 BC, whose cult taught that Mithras was born of a virgin, performed miracles including turning water into wine, has a last supper with 12 of his disciples, was executed on the day of the spring equinox on a day called Eostre, then rose from the dead three days later. His followers called him the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and the Saviour. He had a very elaborate empty-tomb story.

Mithraism was a mystery cult and we have no direct records of their beliefs; what we know has been pieced together from surviving statues, artwork, and descriptions from later writers such as Celsus and Porphyry. We have no evidence for their Christian-like beliefs until after the spread of Christianity, so academic opinion is split as to whether Christianity copied them, or they copied Christianity, or they both copied someone else and ended up borrowing the same ideas.

Well, yes there is.

1. Jesus was a human. He was slain.
2. Humans are mortal.
3. The accounts are biased and 'self-serving'.
4. They were based upon human observation.

I mean no offence...but it is complete BS. Obviously. Only option. Jesus wasn't too bad. Clearly delusional. "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians etc. etc."

I meant that we can't know for sure whether his body was stolen, or whether the disciples only ever believed in a spiritual resurrection, or whether he never existed at all. The divinity option is also a possibility, although not one that I personally accept.

Hindu.

No Easter/Jesus for me.

I believe these are the eggs people were ment to eat. Not all that nasty animal fetus shit.http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/sign/sign0094.gif

About that Mithras thing.. I thought the consensus was Mithras was born of a rock? Am I confusing it with some other silly religion or what?
http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/sign/sign0094.gif

I'm vegan, but to my surprise and delight, my wife (who isn't) somehow got a hold of some vegan easter eggs. Munching on one right now, in fact. Dog bless her little soles.

I'm vegan, but to my surprise and delight, my wife (who isn't) somehow got a hold of some vegan easter eggs. Munching on one right now, in fact. Dog bless her little soles.What eggs are you talking about?

What eggs are you talking about?The chocolaty kind. If you don't know what Easter Eggs are, check the Wiki. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_eggs)

Easter is a hybridized holiday that focuses on celebrating Hope and New Beginnings. :)

Easter is a hybridized holiday that focuses on celebrating Hope and New Beginnings. :)To me it'll always be about sex and chocolate. And with that, I'll take my leave.

To me it'll always be about sex and chocolate. And with that, I'll take my leave.

I've had both today. :)

I believe that about two thousand years ago, some guy said something along the lines of "Hey, wouldn't it be neat to try being nice to one another for a change?"

For this he was promptly nailed to a tree.

For about the past two thousand years, people have been killing each other over exactly how he said it.

I don't know if he was divine or not. If he was, hey, good for him. If not, well, sometimes even the blind squirrel finds the nut.

None of it, apart from the chocolate.