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If you don't believe in Christianity or in any other religious faith, that's up to you, but imho you *should* teach your kids a little about the history of the church. Ignoring it won't make it go away. If you don't believe in war, that doesn't mean you should pretend there was no American Revolution, no Civil War, no WWI, WWII, no Korean or Vietnam "wars."
There's a fair amount of religious history taught in high school history classes. A lot of the world's conflicts just don't make sense if you don't have religion as an explanation.
What's interesting is that many Christians have a strong view of adhering to the Commandment forbidding idolatry yet they celebrate Christmas and Easter, which does have a mix of Christian and pagan practices. A similar thing goes with denominations that have a reverence for saints and the Virgin Mary.
Note: I am not as religious of a Christian as I should and I should reading the Bible a lot. I just wanted to add this disclaimer so there wasn't a conflict of interest or hypocrisy coming from the person that wrote this post.
Ah, but some of us don't see traditional pagan celebrations as idolatry. We're not worshiping eggs and bunnies and we don't consider them deities. I am not Catholic, but I know Catholics feel the same way about their saints. They don't see them as something to be worshiped as they do the God they believe in. Some of us DO, however, see the veneration of The Bible and the raising of it to the equal level of "God's Word" as idolatry.
If anyone feels the urge to argue about any of this, the Religion and Spirituality forum is just a bit further down on the page. Hours of entertainment. Plenty of sides to take and people to argue with.
The Christian poster above who makes it a point to stay out of any church probably has the best idea, hehehe.
Enjoy coloring your eggs and eating your chocolate bunnies, everyone!
sure. We dyed eggs, had the egg hunt, served out the easter candy and even had a holiday dinner. My kid enjoyed it. All his pals at school were doing it, i would not have had him feel left out over something so trivial.
However, qualification on my answer, i am extremely religious, just not on the .judeo-christian axis. I'm pagan and all the egg hiding and easter bunny thing is derived from pagan traditions. Not my religion's traditions, though, and my child still participated.
my current easter tradition is to get to the stores early the morning after easter to scoop up the half price chocolate easter candy.
There's a fair amount of religious history taught in high school history classes. A lot of the world's conflicts just don't make sense if you don't have religion as an explanation.
Often it was not the religions themselves causing the wars, but the desire for power using the religion as its justification, which makes me give a to our founding fathers for not establishing a state religion.
I think the OP can skip that discussion with the five-month-old this year, though. Let's see how she reacts to the giant rabbit.
Often it was not the religions themselves causing the wars, but the desire for power using the religion as its justification, which makes me give a to our founding fathers for not establishing a state religion.
I think the OP can skip that discussion with the five-month-old this year, though. Let's see how she reacts to the giant rabbit.
Now there's an Easter tradition. LOL.
I love seeing my friends pictures of their little ones crying and screaming and traumatized sitting next to a person in a giant, creepy, anthropomorphized rabbit suit.
We didn't for the first few years when our kids were little. But once they caught wind of the whole thing (I think 3 or 4 years old), it was on.
We just do/did Easter baskets, plastic egg hunt in the yard and dye (then make deviled eggs) out of a dozen eggs. A few times I have made an Easter Dinner...but not every year.
This year my kids are tweens and I kind of want to put a stop to it. It isn't a religious thing to us, but it seems like a very important and sacred day to Christians. So part of me feels a bit guilty for making it all about a mutant bunny. And also, I don't have positive memories of it myself. My family was Christian and really, it was all about getting dressed up cute and shown off to 100 old ladies at our church. I always felt uncomfortable. I know I enjoyed it as a kid...but what I remember isn't the fun parts.
I am glad to see this brought up, early in the discussion. There is something to be said for respecting religion and not "co-opting" people's religious expressions. That's how I feel about people wearing crosses as costume jewelry. However, as a Christian, I don't think it's bad to dye eggs, have a nice dinner, and all the secular stuff whether you believe or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nov3
My husband and I were on the same page in raising our sons. Neither of us forced our spiritual faith on them. It would be later (8-10 years of age) that they became inquisitive of secular faiths . So up until then we celebrated holidays in a "family" way. Fourth of july fireworks, Mother day dinner, Father day mini golf, easter egg hunts, Christmas presents and donations to the community. We still believed in giving. Ohh and Thanksgiving was such fun with dinner and family games! So create your own "tradition" , that is family centered or community enriching.
The holidays in bold are not religious. Not even Thanksgiving. It's supposed to be a secular day of giving thanks. That's how we celebrate Father's Day, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WyoNewk
With a 5-month-old? You don't have to explain anything, or you can tell her that Easter is all about the big rabbit.
When she's older you can explain it as it is -- a Christian Holy Day. Just like Christmas. One is to observe Jesus's birth on Earth, the other to observe his death on Earth.
If you don't believe in Christianity or in any other religious faith, that's up to you, but imho you *should* teach your kids a little about the history of the church. Ignoring it won't make it go away. If you don't believe in war, that doesn't mean you should pretend there was no American Revolution, no Civil War, no WWI, WWII, no Korean or Vietnam "wars."
Now there's an Easter tradition. LOL.
I love seeing my friends pictures of their little ones crying and screaming and traumatized sitting next to a person in a giant, creepy, anthropomorphized rabbit suit.
Somewhere there's a formal photographic portrait of a two-year-old me all gussied up for Easter c. 1949, looking up very dubiously at a giant (human) Easter bunny who was holding forth - and holding me - at a big department store (probably Stewart's) in Louisville.
I only remember that the Hall of the Easter Bunny was lined with giant orange carrots adorning the side walls.
Now there's an Easter tradition. LOL.
I love seeing my friends pictures of their little ones crying and screaming and traumatized sitting next to a person in a giant, creepy, anthropomorphized rabbit suit.
In the town where I used to live, someone had written an angry letter to the local paper about their visit to see the Easter Bunny at the local firehouse with their kids. They got there late in the day and looked around for the bunny, but didn't see one. They saw some firefighters sitting on one of the trucks, and as they got closer, they realized that one firefighter was wearing a rabbit costume but the head was next to him and his head was back and he was guzzling a beer. He saw the family and quickly put the beer down and yelled, "Hey kids, want to see the Easter Bunny?" and then picked up the head and put it on. The kids started crying and wouldn't go near him.
Somewhere there's a formal photographic portrait of a two-year-old me all gussied up for Easter c. 1949, looking up very dubiously at a giant (human) Easter bunny who was holding forth - and holding me - at a big department store (probably Stewart's) in Louisville.
I only remember that the Hall of the Easter Bunny was lined with giant orange carrots adorning the side walls.
Probably a good thing we don't have much memory of events at an early age.
I never got the privilege of being photographed with the "Easter bunny". When I was a wee tot I got to sit on Santa's lap once. He made the mistake of giving me one of those small candy canes which I apparently put in my mouth, got it all sticky and got it stuck in his beard.
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to our founding fathers for not establishing a state religion. 
Let's see how she reacts to the giant rabbit.
With a 5-month-old? You don't have to explain anything, or you can tell her that Easter is all about the big rabbit. 
