Easter for non-christian family?

margaretclare

But can you detach religion from things like Christmas and Easter without being a hypocrite?

The older I get the more I struggle with the feeling of hypocrisy and searching for a balance between being authentic to my beliefs,what I believe in and what I don't

It may surprise you, but some of us 'religious' people have a similar problem. Although I am old enough now not to have anyone who's going to be upset by what I do or don't do.

Shevs

Like Hermoine said Easter is about the death and resurection of Jesus Christ. The egg symbolises new life so you could take it that you were celebrating Spring with baby lambs, chicks etc being born with the chocolate eggs and not Easter.

As for detaching religion from Easter or Christmas without feeling like a hypocrite, people do it all the time. I was brough up as a Catholic and have many friends who were baptised christian but never set foot inside a church unless it is for Christenings/weddings who celebrate Easter and Christmas an dont give a thought about the religous side to it and probably couldnt even tell you the Easter or Nativity storys. I also have colleagues who are muslim and give easter eggs. Like your husband said for some people it is just an excuse to eat chocolate. So dont feel bad about giving your kids Easter eggs and dont feel like a hypocrite. The only guilt you should be feeling about having an easter egg is what it could do to your waist line hope you have a lovely day x

Bruja_2

I think you're being very hard on yourself for feeling hypocritical. As said in previous posts, many people celebrate Xmas and Easter without giving a thought to religion. They are just days to enjoy the company of family, treat the kids and be happy.
Consider Mothers Day, it's actually called Mothering Sunday and was originally one day of the year people returned to their 'Mother' church so people in service were given the day off to do so. In this day and age people don't even consider this a religious day, I certainly don't, but I'm not going to stop sending my Mum a card because I'd feel a hypocrite for doing so.
Kids love chocolate eggs because they're fun and different and what harm is that. I prefer wine myself.
Happy Easter

talkhard

I agree with so many of the other posts: Easter eggs are not associated with anything about what Easter is about for the religious amongst us.

Keep the Easter eggs and don't attend mass for you to have your non-christian Easter.

HTH.

grace1990

Like alot of people have been saying, easter eggs are not what the religious festival of easter is about.

jackomdj

It is so hard sometimes. Personally neither myself nor my OH are religious. We love Christmas and Easter, I do think it is important for my children to know what both these mean for people who are religious.... our eldest has asked me to tell her the Easter "story" about 30 times over the last week. At christmas time my DD watched a film about the birth of Jesus & thoroughly enjoyed it (although in places it was not really suitable for a 4 year old!) it did generate a lot of conversations ranging from why some women scream during labour (it showed 2 births & whilst Mary's was quite an easy one the other person was screaming!) through to why the King wanted to kill all the babies.... as with everything else I answered to the best of my ability fitting in with her age.

Nicky (Mum of a very inquisitive 4 year old!)

margaretclare

jackomdj

Did you find the answer to your child's question about why the King wanted to kill all the babies?

Read St Matthew's Gospel chapter 2 - it's clearly explained there. It's because King Herod feared 'who' that baby was, and commanded that they should all be killed as a way of killing just one. But the family escaped into Egypt, Matthew tells us.

All the churches these days have a 'mother and toddler' group. The one at our (Methodist) church is called 'Happy Hands' and it conforms to all the modern requirements of child care, the people who run it, the premises etc, all have to be approved.

All of those old stories are part of the heritage of our nation. I sometimes think that children today are being short-changed. So many common sayings in the language go back to that heritage - the saying 'to wash your hands of' something is what Pilate said at Jesus's trial on Maundy Thursday. I myself was brought up on Bible stories, especially the Old Testament, and I can still recite chunks of it by heart - Ruth's speech to her mother-in-law for instance. As Terry Waite said, it becomes a mental resource to be used when there is nothing else, if you're ill in hospital for example, or imprisoned as he was.

We went to Choral Evensong last evening at Waltham Abbey Church. It was based on the 17th century Prayer Book with that old language that I grew up with, and a beautiful choir - amateurs, but fantastic. The anthem was the Hallelujah Chorus and I have never heard it sung better, not even by Huddersfield Choral Society. We enjoyed it so much.

Toonie

I am not religious, nor is my family. We have however been brought up to celebrate at Easter and Christmas. What we celebrate though is more the idea of Springtime (for Easter) and family and togetherness (Christmas).

I think what your daughter came up with is the way many non-Christians see Easter, as it is a time of rebirth whether that is of Jesus or the natural world.

shelovestobuystuff

Toonie wrote: »

I am not religious, nor is my family. We have however been brought up to celebrate at Easter and Christmas. What we celebrate though is more the idea of Springtime (for Easter) and family and togetherness (Christmas).

I think what your daughter came up with is the way many non-Christians see Easter, as it is a time of rebirth whether that is of Jesus or the natural world.

I think thats how I should be thinking about it,keeping it simple.My OH is always getting on to me for overthinking things:o.The year would be so boring if we didnt have these breaks and fun times to look forward to and plan for anyway.The religious holidays for us basically mark the changing of the seasons and of course families at christmas time,I guess thats what I should concentrate on more in future rather than trying to analyse it.

mintymoneysaver

I am a Christian, but I really admire you for trying to be true to your beliefs, and not wanting to be hypocritical about it.