Why again do you Celebrate this?

[Tank_Guy#3]

This is a question I've stewed over ever since coming to the light of athiesm: Why on earth would you celebrate the nailing to the cross (yes I know its crucifixion) of your "messiah"? Wouldn't that be something that you'd be more inclined to mourn?

 

[GinandTonic]

Celebrating the reserection and assention by telling kids a giant bunny has left chocolate eggs hiddern in the garden has always confused me.

 

[IglooDame]

This is a question I've stewed over ever since coming to the light of athiesm: Why on earth would you celebrate the nailing to the cross (yes I know its crucifixion) of your "messiah"? Wouldn't that be something that you'd be more inclined to mourn?

Per my wife, paraphrased: It is the celebration of Christ giving mankind the gift of ultimate salvation, via his self-sacrifice.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

I thought Easter was when Jesus came back from the dead? Isn't that the reason for the celebration?

The chocolate eggs are related to lent or something aren't they? Becuase people give something up, say chocolate and then at Easter they can eat it again, so they stuff themselves full of it...or something, I dunno I'm just guessing.

By the way, this makes me think of that song from the Simpsons:

IIIIIIIIIIIIII Want Candy

 

[CurtSibling]

Aha! Death and rebirth...A common paganistic theme.

It has been rebranded by the christians into a fairy tale to charm the followers
and to keep them all waiting for all eternity, for their precious messiah to return...

As if he will somehow fall from the sky one day...How can modern, educated people
fall for such obvious bunkum? The church really knows how to play these people for dupes.

From birth, religious people are made to feel in awe of this whole legend, but it is merely
myth and fable. Years of worship does not change the fact that once you are dead...

....You are dead! No coming back!

The nailing bit is to try and make them all feel guilt-ridden about thier idol
giving it up for all our supposed sins...A hook clause if there ever was one!

There is no sin, it is a concept only held by those who fear. And while the
faithful want us to think JC croaked for us all, he really died becuase the
Romans and Jewish authorities wanted him out of the picture...Allegedly.

Assuming that the person actually existed at all...But that is another debate.

The cult of christ exists to offer reverential treatment of the ambiquious
historical facts about the whole existence of this holy man. In other words,
they will say just about anything to make him seem like a miraculous figure.

It is another exercise in control and while it offers a nice little spring holiday
for everyone, there is nary a shred of micro-truth to the ressurection tale.

All mumbo-jumbo and metaphor...Hardly fitting in our 21st century world.

.

 

[Hotpoint]

Both the Eggs and the Easter Bunny are more to do with Pre-Christian Celebration of Spring I believe.

They are both fertility symbols.

 

[Darth_Pugwash]

Yeah, that sounds likely...

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

@ Curt: I have people make the arguement, if he didn't get resurrected and go to heaven, where'd his body go?

TG3's Answer: Maybe the Romans weren't done with him, or maybe grave robbers took the corpse (because he must have been valuable to his followers).

Then the question they ask "What about the guards protecting the tomb?"

TG3's Answer: I know a lot of people that have fallen asleep at work, and who's to say they didn't step away for a drink or maybe they got knocked out.

And finally, people have said Templar's worshipped the head of John the Baptist or something, so maybe Jesus' followers took the body and continued to worship it.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

Also, I have heard the this statement from one of my friend's that hasn't seen the Light of Athiesm: "You will have your stay in hell to atone for your sins."

TG3's Answer: I thought Jesus being nailed to the cross paid for all the sins of all future generations of "his" people? If this is so, then why must we stay in hell? That is a pretty weak storyline, at least athiesm ties it's remarkably few loose ends together.

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

@ Curt: I have people make the arguement, if he didn't get resurrected and go to heaven, where'd his body go?

Ancient texts are prone to "change".

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Despite what Curt Sibling says, it is not a certainty that the Christian message is false, no matter what year it is . . .

My religion does not, particularly, celebrate the crucifixion. However, we do see it as part of Jesus' overall mission to allow all humans to one day live after death, and be reddemed form our sins. The crucifixion was part of this, and it shows the sacrifice that he was willing to make.

The fact that rebirth is a major pagan theme doesn't mean that it is false in Christianity, just that humans saw the rebirth inherent in nature which is just a foreshadowing of Jesus' rebirth.

The celebrations of Easter all come from paganism, but I never attached religious significance to the Easter Bunny, so it doesn't matter.

 

[IglooDame]

Ancient texts are prone to "change".

Though as Plotinus and others have pointed out before, evidence indicates that the Bible has remained remarkably unchanged down through the centuries.

 

[CurtSibling]

@ Curt: I have people make the arguement, if he didn't get resurrected and go to heaven, where'd his body go?

I agree with your reasoning.

The Romans were very imaginative when it came to execution.
It is quite likely they took the body and destroyed it, or sold it.

Leaving the christian cult with no choice but to come up with a patented
'flying to heaven' fable...Which they would have probably used in any case.

.

 

[CurtSibling]

Though as Plotinus and others have pointed out before, evidence indicates that the Bible has remained remarkably unchanged down through the centuries.

Which bible...And which christian community the world over do you refer to here?

.

 

[IglooDame]

I agree with your reasoning.

The Romans were very imaginative when it came to execution.
It is quite likely they took the body and destroyed it, or sold it.

Leaving the christian cult with no choice but to come up with a patented
'flying to heaven' fable...Which they would have probably used in any case.

They were clever enough to whisk away the body, but not clever enough to see that the Jewish cultists' followers would have a much better case with a miracle disappearance rather than a corpse?

 

[CurtSibling]

At the time, the Romans probably did not care - Could Rome see centuries into the future?

.

 

[Snow]

Why? I don't care really. I just wanted to eat some chocolate and a big ham.

I don't think most people put deep thought into why they go through these holidays every year, they're just used to it.

EDIT: In fact my families not even religious but we still take part in these type of christian holidays, I think alot of non-religious families do.

 

[GinandTonic]

Ham? You get ham at easter?

 

[Snow]

Yeah, you don't just eat chocolate eggs do you? That would suck.

We have a big meal at christmas with a turkey, why not a ham on Easter?

 

[IglooDame]

Which bible...And which christian community the world over do you refer to here?

The Bible discussed here (particularly the posts in the #90s or so). And I didn't refer to any Christian community at all.