Should Churches Host Easter Egg Hunts?

This topic came up in a recent Facebook post. My friend posted that she felt it appalling that churches would hold an Easter egg hunt. She and her husband felt the church should avoid anything whose origins were pagan. They reasoned that Satan uses these rituals, even today, to distract people from God and should not be practiced.

I am from an agnostic family, but frequently went to church with friends. I attended Assembly of God, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and Disciples of Christ Churches during my youth. Not one of them held such an attitude regarding Easter. In fact, I don't recalling knowing that any Christian's were opposed to these traditions.

It wasn't until I became older and moved to the south end that I began to encounter a new breed of Christian. I met believer's who were against Christmas Trees, the Easter Bunny, and even Harry Potter. Has Christianity become more extremist or has the south end always been this way? I really don't know, but I never agreed with such insanity. To me, this is the kind of thinking found more among extremist Islamic societies, not mainstream Christianity.

What could possibly be "Satanic" about Harry Potter? It quickly became obvious to me that this view was held ONLY by Christian's who had not actually read it. Obviously, this is a work of fiction--a fantasy. No one reading it would ever confuse it with reality. Why don't these Christian's also oppose the Wizard of Oz or The Chronicles of Narnia?

My favorite Halloween costume has always been a witch. I love witches, magic, and making the cackle. Note I am NOT a Wiccan, do not practice magic, and do not believe in magic. My love for ghost and witch stories has not turned me into a witch (which these particular Christian's would brand 'Satanic').

Much like Halloween, many of our Easter traditions stem from ancient pagan rituals. These rituals were practiced by the ancients who knew nothing of science. They developed complex myths to explain the world around them. These myths attempted to answer questions, such as, "Why is there death?", and, "Why didn't the crops grow?". In such a society, people make connections between events and prior actions. So, if a spouse cheats  and there's a thunderstorm afterward, the superstitious minds of the ancient people would perceive that as the wrath of a god or gods.

These societies would always be attempting to guess what the gods wanted from them to ensure their survival and happiness. Naturally, the ultimate deciders were those in authority. The practices which developed ensured the survival of the community by forging a common mindset among the people.

The ancient rituals have nothing to do with Satan, but are based on these myths. Just because these myths are disagreeable to our modern way of thinking doesn't mean that Satan inspired them. People are quite inventive on their own. This was a culture who didn't understand science and didn't have a supernatural being to guide them. These religions evolved over thousands of years as a way to explain what the ancient's didn't understand. They had no knowledge of science, so they were naturally superstitious and developed their 'theology' as a way to explain the universe. This is a well-known socio/psychological phenomenon.

This celebration preceded the resurrection of Christ. Christ did not resurrect on that day. Rather than abolish a celebration that was deeply rooted in the culture, the church decided to invade the holiday and take it over. They took old traditions and put a different spin on them. They "Christianized" them. The church redefined these symbols and rituals. Easter Sunday (or whatever you prefer to call it) NEVER had anything whatsoever to do with the resurrection.

Who cares what these rituals meant to the ancient societies? They are completely devoid of any superstition today. They have been "purified" by their association with Christ and, nowadays, secular fun. If people want to engage in innocent fun on Easter, it doesn't detract from Christ, since he has nothing whatsoever to do with in the first place. That being the case, there's no reason for hundreds of 'once a year' Christians to go to church that day.

The Story of Noah's Ark

I don't normally like to post 3 videos in a row, but this one says everything I wanted to include in a blog entry. He exposes some critical scientific facts about the possibility & consequences of a worldwide flood. If you are not a scientist of a particular field of study, you probably don't know that if it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, the chemical reaction would cause all life in the sea to perish. It is also discusses the biggest problem I have with the whole ark story: Inbreeding. A brilliant piece by TheThinkingAtheist.

A Letter to Strict Tithe Payers

When you accept a mortgage loan, utility service, or other obligation, you are bound by God to meet your obligation. It is a contract. To not live up to the contract is dishonest. If you want a service or asset, you must pay for it.

If you choose to donate ten percent to your church when you cannot meet your contractual obligations, the result is deliberate dishonesty, because you deliberately choose to donate rather than live up to your contractual promise. When you deliberately break a promise, that is sin! To say otherwise is to say that God allows sin in order to support his church operations. So, in essence, you are saying it is okay to break a legal contract in order to make a voluntary payment. You are defaulting on your word, so your word means nothing.

The Evolution of Christianity

When I was growing up, Christianity was a much different creature than today. Today's brand of Christianity has become increasingly fundamentalist in nature. This is a disturbing trend, and—I'll admit—has drawn me away from many Christian individuals and organizations. Christians are increasingly becoming mindless, intolerant ideologues. They don't seem to question what they hear on Faux News. They supported George W. Bush long after the facts were revealed (before his re-election in 2004). They rarely speak up when Pat Robertson calls the an entire culture "evil" and deserving the wrath of God.

The Bible Without Adam & Eve

The scientific facts supporting evolution are overwhelming. Proponents of intelligent design tend to distort/misunderstand the facts, and make reference to rumors which have long ago been debunked in an attempt to refute the evidence. This is understandable when you consider that, should evolution become accepted as fact, the consequences to the religious community will be nothing short of devastating. Darwin's On the Origin of Species threatens the very fabric of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.