Sunday, March 31, 2013

Botched Execution Day



Yep, that is what housemate calls "Easter" as it is celebrated by Christians-- that is to say, the holy aspects of it that involve church-going and stuff like that-- in many places.  Search engine search revealed plenty descriptions of botched executions of people put to death by various judicial systems but no searches that reference Easter as being the botched execution of Jesus Christ.  At least none that I was able to locate.  So I really don't know if housemate is the originator of the formula {Easter = botched + execution + day} or not.

The origin of the word "Easter" itself is in dispute.  Some hold that it is a word referenced within the New Testament.  Others hold that the etymology is related to a Saxon goddess.  I am no language specialist.  I have not studied this question in depth so I will admit to simply not knowing.

Most [but not all] Christians celebrate Easter as the day when Christ split from the cave where he had been laid out after his crucifixion and took his corpse with him.  [Some Christians do not celebrate holidays at all.  Others do celebrate Easter but there is a central dispute on how to calculate Easter's annual moveable date].  Alongside church attendance, American families get together and eat stuff.  Kids wait for the Easter Bunny to bring baskets full of candy.  If they are lucky, they will get to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt. 

We are atheists in an atheist household.  We celebrate whatever holidays we want to in whatever manner we desire.  Thus, tomorrow we will be getting together with some Christian and some atheist family members.  The Christians will have gone to church earlier that morning.  The dog and I will have gone for a peaceful early morning ramble in the woods.  Once we are fully assembled, the kids of the Christians and the kids of the atheists will have an Easter egg hunt.  There will be a ham [which some people claim is a swipe at Jews when eaten on Easter Sunday] and a bunch of other stuff to eat.  I will endeavor to partake of the food offered to me sensibly and not over-stuff myself.  Housemate and I will stumble home at some point to the atheist dog, the atheist cat, the atheist frogs, and the newest atheist kitten.

sapphoq n friends say:  Easter is both a religious holiday and a secular holiday here in the U.S.A.  Although I am beyond the superstition of fertility eggs and I don't cotton to the Christian ideology of Easter, I enjoy watching kids zooming around the yard looking for those colored eggs and getting together with some good friends.  If you object to my enjoyment, quite frankly I give zero frucks.  As an adult and an atheist, I get to determine how I will spend Easter and what significance I attach to it.  At any rate, I wish you a happy day regardless of what you are celebrating or not celebrating. 

 

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