Community Easter Egg Hunts?

Christin - posted on 04/06/2010

we dont go just because we are not a fan of crowds and being around a bunch of people and we really dont like being around a bunch of kids. i think its ok to go if you dont celebrate. with my family they celebrate holidays mainly bc of my cousins kids now and we have a baby but they see holidays as a religious thing but i dont see the religiousness in holidays ( i guess thats a word lol) i see it more as like christmas being the season of giving, so we want to start helping those in need for christmas, easter to me is just another holiday and stuff like thanksgiving i really dont think it has a religious meaning but people gave it one. of course i know about the religious meaning behind them, but i think its ok to go to that stuff even if you dont celebrate. theres lots of other stuff to do. im not much into holidays anymore being an adult but now we have a baby we plan on celebrating for her, but i really didnt want to celebrate much after i turned 18 and once we got married we really didnt celebrate holidays.

Good Day! - posted on 04/06/2010

Cathy, I understand what you were saying now. And I don't deny that most of the Easter traditions are pagan. But for me, I love celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus, whether or not we celebrate it on the "correct" date. The other stuff (eggs, bunny) are just fun extras.

Charlie - posted on 04/05/2010

Yes i think its alright , half the people going dont know they are playing pagan ritual games anyway !



The word Easter comes from the word Ostara , goddess of fertility .

Rosie - posted on 04/05/2010

definitely think it's alright. it's just commercialized harmless fun! just be thankful you didn't find what a couple kids in my community found while hunting, a dead body. happy frickin easter, gives me the willies thinking about it!!

Sharon - posted on 04/05/2010

Eggs, bunnies the may pole - all symbols of fertility and sex. They have NOTHING to do with Jesus.

Sapphire - posted on 04/05/2010

Now that my in-laws moved away, we no longer celebrate Easter, nothing really to celebrate. They would make a small meal and we'd spend the day. They would get my son an Easter basket. But, then again we would always go over every other Sunday or so. We do spend Christmas Eve at a friend's house. We do put up a Christmas tree, as well as a Hanukah menorah. But no, there is no real sense of religion in our home.

Cathy - posted on 04/05/2010

I'm doomed to hell....
http://www.remnantofgod.org/easter.htm

Cathy - posted on 04/05/2010

Sara, I wasn't trying to suggest that Jesus wasn't crucified on the cross at this time of year. But Easter is a Pagan celebration which convienantly fit into the churches plan of intergration.



The Dating of Easter -

According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was crucified on the eve of Passover and shortly afterward

rose from the dead. In consequence, the pagan easter festival commemorates gods and goddesses with their rites of fertility at the same time. In time, a serious difference over the date of the pagan easter festival arose between pagans and true Christians. Those of Jewish origin celebrated the resurrection immediately following the Passover festival, which, according to their Babylonian lunar calendar, fell on the evening of the full moon (the 14th day in the month of Nisan, the first month of the year); by their reckoning, Passover, from year to year, fell on different days of the week. Catholics of Gentile origin, however, wished to commemorate the resurrection of Persephone on the first day of the week, Sunday; by their method, pagan easter occurred on the same day of the week, but from year to year it fell on different dates.

An important historical result of the difference in reckoning the date of easter and Passover was that the Christian Churches in the East, which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observed only the Passover according to the date of the festival. The churches of the West, descendants of Greek-Roman civilization, celebrated pagan easter on a Sunday.

Rulings of the Council of Nicea on the Date of Easter -

Constantine I, Roman emperor, convoked the Council of Nicaea in 325. The council unanimouslyruled that the pagan easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Catholic world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following.

Sarah - posted on 04/05/2010

I'm not religious, but we have Easter eggs at Easter.
I mean, in all honesty, chocolate eggs don't have an awful lot to do with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins do they????
It's more like a Spring celebration than anything else.

Jess - posted on 04/04/2010

Sounds like you guys had a great time ! So am I right in thinking you had some form of easter and christmas, just with no religous aspect ?

Sapphire - posted on 04/04/2010

I participate cause they are not religious events. They are events held at the park, open to the community. Several churches in the area have their own Easter egg hunts held on their church grounds-whch is something I would never participate in. There is absolutley nothing wrong with playing on the baseball field looking for plastic eggs, jumping on the bouncers, and playing with the animals at the petting zoo. No religious overtone or innuendo-just plain fun. And then yesterday afternoon, my son & I filled 50 plastic eggs to have them ready for the Easter bunny. Last night, my husband & I hid them around the house. Again, for fun, and no connection to a religion.

Jess - posted on 04/04/2010

If it makes your son happy than why not ? The only question I have though, is if you don't celebrate these holiday's why would you want him partcipating in these events ? Usually people who don't *believe*, don't participate in any way.... so just asking as I am curious.



Personally we celebrate all the holidays, I think its magical for children to have these odd days in the year to look forward to. My 7 month old had the biggest smile on her face today and she didn't know what today was, it was just the buzz we had in the house ! Happy Easter Everyone

Good Day! - posted on 04/03/2010

Easter also happens to fall the same time as the Jewish passover which is when Jesus was actually crucified according to the Bible. The name "easter" was "stolen" but the timing was not. Just sayin'

Jocelyn - posted on 04/03/2010

Carol said exactly what I was going to say ^_^

Lea - posted on 04/03/2010

Jeanette, way to shelter and restrict your kids.

Sharon - posted on 04/03/2010

Go for it.



Its entertainment. Its a get together.



I had a jewish friend who always attended a christmas party when asked. they declined the host(ess) gifts or declined the gift exchange, but enjoyed the company and festivity of the evening.



Besides, an easter egg hunt isn't friggen religious. Geezus. Its a PAGAN thing. The catholics stole it trying to get the pagans into their religion without a lot of fricken blood shed. The eggs represent fertility. So does the bunny.



My children aren't confused about it either. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He did NOT see the easter bunny on his way there either. You know why? Because their mother is an intelligent creative person who is able to discern these types of knotty problems. good lord.



edited to add a "T" to Festivity.

Lea - posted on 04/03/2010

You know honestly a lot of religious people boycott such events for being too secular! Go for it! I consider it more of a cultural festival.

Cathy - posted on 04/03/2010

Easter is yet another date and name hijacked by christianity to better intergrate the masses. The name Easter is derived from Anglo Saxon goddess of spring and it's no coincidence that it happens to fall around the same time the pagans celebrate the spring equinox. It's a celebration of new life and fertility. Everyone should be free to share in the joys of Spring, the name shouldn't be restrictive.

Jenny - posted on 04/03/2010

I do not attend my community's Easter egg hunt as after the egg hunt they corral you into a room and show a "play" of the crucifiction. It is very violent and gruesome and some children were visibly bothered by it according to reports from last year. It is advertised as a community egg hunt and is in one of our public rec centres. So we do our own thing.

Krista - posted on 04/03/2010

Feh, Easter and Christmas have evolved into cultural holidays as much as religious ones. They're such a huge part of our culture, why shouldn't we be able to celebrate them if we so wish?

Mary - posted on 04/03/2010

Well, if that was the case, only Irish Catholics should celebrate St Patty's day...and do so by going to mass ;-)

Johnny - posted on 04/03/2010

The Easter egg hunt and Easter bunny are just like Santa Claus. They are pagan symbols of religious holidays. I don't think one has to follow that religion to enjoy a holiday event. One of the most popular events in my city is the Chinese New Year. Everyone goes out to celebrate, have special dinners, attend the parade, and yet most people, including very many Chinese people, do not believe in the zodiac and had celebrated regular New Years already on December 31st. These holidays have become cultural, not simply religious. If the religious people want them to be exclusively religious, they're going to have to give up their statutory holiday status because we need to separate church and state. In that case, stat holidays should only apply for holidays that we are all allowed to enjoy, and not those that are exclusively religious. We'll be taking our daughter to an Easter egg hunt and we are not Christians. I suspect most of the people in attendance will not be Christians either (given the ethnic make-up of my neighborhood).

Good Day! - posted on 04/03/2010

I don't see anything wrong with it. I have a friend who refused to let her daughter go to an egg hunt because Easter is a Christian holiday and they are not Christian. I can understand, but her reasoning was kind of silly because the egg part of it is not even a Christian tradition. I know Christians who don't allow their kids to hunt eggs because of that reason, it's not a Christian tradition. So, in your case, if your kid is having fun, go for it.

Esther - posted on 04/03/2010

I don't think that's wrong at all! It's just a fun thing to do for the kids. We took our son last weekend and it was a lot of fun, although some of the other parents were just UNBELIEVABLE. They had the little kids on one field and the older kids on another and on the young kids field (under 3) some of the parents were running around grabbing eggs with both hands and stuffing them in their pockets so their kids could get the most. Some other kids weren't able to get any. I guess this is how Wallstreet CEOs and teabaggers are created.

Sapphire - posted on 04/03/2010

Valid point Jeannette. Honestly, since it is a community event run through parks & rec and not a religious event, that is why we go. Also, my tax dollars support the parks & rec programs so we might as well attend. Every year at the Easter egg hunt, the town sponsors a shoe drive, so I gathered a bag full to donate. The event in December is a fun one. We are in teh Phoenix area, and the parks & rec truck in dump trucks full of snow. Under the gazebo, Santa is there for pictures, and the town sponsors a toy drive. Again, I support that because it is not religious in nature, but community fun.

Jeannette - posted on 04/03/2010

I honestly don't understand ppl who celebrate holidays that are not in line with their beliefs. I don't celebrate any holiday outside of my belief system...and I would not want to confuse my children by doing so.