Easter for non-christian family?

shelovestobuystuff

OH and I have decided we no longer want to have any easter celebration in our home.
I didnt want to buy easter eggs this year as we are not religious,OH is an athiest and I am a humanist(but the older generation in our families consider themselves christian but dont go to church)and I think its daft to celebrate it just because eveyone else seems to and its become a habit.I didnt want the kids to feel bad though as its something they are used to so I suggested kind off weaning them off easter by changing to just chocolate bars this year instead of eggs.They were not pleased when I suggested this,they felt like they were being punished for something not getting eggs at easter.Late last night we gave in and OH went and bought some eggs.
Just curious to know what other athiest,humanist families do at easter.Do you feel pressure to follow the flock as it were so the kids dont feel left out?
Its difficult as we have bought easter eggs in the past just because our families always have.I am trying to find a way to ease the transition for the kids as its just not right to celebrate something you dont believe in out of habit.

JailhouseBabe

I'm an atheist and I love easter eggs! There's just something about them, I think it's just the 'thinness' of the chocolate compared to a normal bar. I've always given easter eggs to DD and nephews, in the same way that I would still give christmas presents.
IMO, you don't have to attach a religious significance to it - just enjoy the chocolate

Bruja_2

Do you feel the same way about Christmas? Are you not going to celebrate that either.

splishsplash

Many traditions come from the Earth originally - Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Spring Equinox or some such - so it's really celebrating or recognizing the arrival of Spring.

Pagans associated Easter with hares and eggs, which were both symbols of the goddess Ostara - Christianity adopted the custom of giving eggs and melded it with their own beliefs.

No need to let religion get in the way, and certainly no reason not to buy Easter eggs . Your poor kids.

hermoine_2

I am a practising Christian and feel that Easter Eggs have no part in the Easter Celebration. They are a purely commercial product.

Easter is actually all about the death of Jesus on the Cross on Good Friday and the Resurrection of him on Easter Day. I do not see any easter eggs, bunnies or chicks in that. Although I do appreciate the rebirth connection.

I can see no harm in eating Easter Eggs whatever your religion or otherwise.

Off to church now.

H

shelovestobuystuff

Bruja wrote: »

Do you feel the same way about Christmas? Are you not going to celebrate that either.

Yes actually,I didnt want to celebrate it this year and really struggled with it.In the end we did still give and recieve presents and have a big family get together and a week of over-eating and parties.It was brilliant,it aways is.I love decorating the house for christmas with twigs and candles and I love entertaining,I love the fact that all the family get together.
We never have focussed on the religious side of christmas anyway and I have never lied about santa but I still felt like such a hypocrite to celebrate it at all last year.
I would like to find a way to validate it to myself as I love it.But can you detach religion from things like christmas and easter without being a hypocrite?
The older I get the more I stuggle with the feeling of hypocricy and searching for a balance between being authentic to my beliefs,what I believe in and what I dont,and not upsetting the family especially the kids.

rainmac

I am not religious but do celebrate Easter and Christmas. I use these times to enjoy being with friends and family and give and receive presents/eggs to those we love. I have 2 young boys and love enjoying these times with them.

margaretclare

I agree with Hermoine.

Easter eggs have nothing to do with a religious celebration of Easter, so you can eat them quite happily, secure in the knowledge that there were no Easter eggs, chocolate or otherwise, on what we Christians call the first Easter morning.

You could either adopt a much earlier religion and worship the goddess of spring, Eostre, whose totem animal was the hare - the origins of the Easter bunny - or you could do nothing at all.

Regarding Christmas, I find I am 'celebrating' it less and less with every passing year, purely because it has been overtaken by commercialism. So you could celebrate what Christmas has become and feel sure that you're not attaching any religious importance to it at all! By the way, 'Santa' has nothing to do with what we Christians call the Christmas Story, any more than Easter eggs have with Easter.

However, if I was in York today I might just join the Archbishop of York - a man for whom I have a lot of time - in his public mass baptism outside York Minster.

A Happy and Blessed Easter to all!

ecoelle

Hi there, i am not religious and neither is my fiance, we do get time off work at Christmas and use that time to visit friends and family, share a meal with them, and what we usually do is instead of presents we all bring something for the meal, a drink or something foody to add to the meal. At Easter myself and my partner do not buy eggs, we get the day off from work, we are both in retail, and we spend the day together, usually a late breakfast and a walk in the park as i love Spring, all the colours and birdsong. I will continue to do this when we have children, if you do not want to celebrate things in the same way as you used to then i think that's fine, but if your children are used to one way of celebrating and you decide to change it, i think you need to sit and tell them about your reasons in a way they will understand.

jamespir

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

OH and I have decided we no longer want to have any easter celebration in our home.
I didnt want to buy easter eggs this year as we are not religious,OH is an athiest and I am a humanist(but the older generation in our families consider themselves christian but dont go to church)and I think its daft to celebrate it just because eveyone else seems to and its become a habit.I didnt want the kids to feel bad though as its something they are used to so I suggested kind off weaning them off easter by changing to just chocolate bars this year instead of eggs.They were not pleased when I suggested this,they felt like they were being punished for something not getting eggs at easter.Late last night we gave in and OH went and bought some eggs.
Just curious to know what other athiest,humanist families do at easter.Do you feel pressure to follow the flock as it were so the kids dont feel left out?
Its difficult as we have bought easter eggs in the past just because our families always have.I am trying to find a way to ease the transition for the kids as its just not right to celebrate something you dont believe in out of habit.

easter eggs have nothing to do with the christian aspect so your makeing a mistake in that sense the easter egss is based on new life as cows sheep and some other animals tend to give birth around this time if you dont want to celebrate the christain aspect you dont have to

shelovestobuystuff

My daughter,aged 7 and desperate to keep getting easter eggs,has just come up with a validation I think I can cope with.
I will try to write this in her words,She says the easter egg is to show birth and new baby animals and plants growing again after winter,so easter(and easter eggs) can be to celebrate springtime.

I asked OH,the athiest,what he thinks easter is.His reply,'an excuse to eat chocolate'.