2007-04-03

Have yourself a very pagan Easter

spongebob for easter
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I was bothered yesterday, when looking at the drug store ads, to see Easter paraphernalia featuring SpongeBob SquarePants. Now, I love SpongeBob as much as the next guy, but what does he have to do with the cruel murder and glorious resurrection of the son of God and savior of all mankind?

Really, I would like Easter to be a holiday purely religious. Even delightful and historical fertility symbols like cute lambs, chicks and eggs, and ever-fertile bunny rabbits are weird and out of place.

Easter is about Jesus and Jesus only.

Now, while there may be no Christmas without Easter, somehow the gross commercialism of Christmas doesn't bother me so much--perhaps because it's in the spirit of baby showers. But pastel-egging the salvation of man seems a little less appropriate---like the general agreement that we don't like Grand Canyon brought to you by McDonald's.

Oil and water.

Lady Steed and I are thinking we'll switch chocolate bunnies and egg hunts to Saturday, with egg coloring on Friday, and leave Sunday for Christian stuff. I don't say this to make us look good, but simply to add to my argument that a SpongeBob Easter is no Easter at all.

And it's just weird.....
Thritten by at

14 comments:

  1. Cicada4/03/2007 2:27 PM

    I believed in Santa, but my parents never tried to fool us into thinking that the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy were real. I like your idea of switching the days for the pagan and commercialistic activities. Because if you cut those out entirely, you'd be missing out on some of the best candy out there! Although going a year without Creme eggs and mini eggs might teach me a thing or two about sacrifice...

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  2. Celia Marie (W.) B.4/03/2007 4:18 PM

    We always did our easter egg hunting and candy receiving on Saturday. Never ever did we do it on Sunday that I can remember. I prefer it that way.

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  3. Th.4/03/2007 5:04 PM

    .

    Maybe I got the idea from you, then.

    And Cicada--DON'T TAKE SACRIFICE TOO FAR.

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  4. FoxyJ4/03/2007 6:59 PM

    Amen! My mom was the weird one who would buy one Cadbury egg and cut it into pieces for each of us. I liked our tradition of receiving new church clothes for Easter Sunday, since it emphasizes the whole church aspect and it's nice to have new spring clothes.

    I'm pretty much against the commercialization of anything and I hate the fact that most holidays have just been turned into "buy a load of cheap crap" fests.

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  5. Celia Marie (W.) B.4/03/2007 7:49 PM

    Oh yes foxyj, my mom always sewed us a new dress for Easter. I loved that.

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  6. daltongirl4/04/2007 9:00 AM

    I am a great proponent of leaving the commercialization totally out of Easter and celebrating it for the glorious event that it is.

    I do give my kids a little bit of candy, but we don't do any of the other stuff. Christmas is enough, I think.

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  7. Katria4/04/2007 7:30 PM

    Weird and wrong. On so many levels. I quite agree with you. We always color eggs on Saturday and do Easter baskets early Sunday morning, usually with something Christian in them (or all church stuff on occasion) and then we watch Easter Dream and other church movies after Church.

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  8. Th.4/04/2007 7:37 PM

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    I can't watch Easter Dream, unfortunately, as I was forcefed Punky Brewster as a child.

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  9. Celia Marie (W.) B.4/05/2007 5:01 PM

    One problem with Sunday baskets is this: they usually have candy in them and Easter has been known to fall on fast Sunday more than once. Sick and wrong to do that to a child and/or their parents.

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  10. Th.4/05/2007 6:07 PM

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    And evil.

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  11. Mrs. Hass-Bark4/07/2007 3:06 AM

    We were Saturday easter people too. My parents didn't like the way we acted on easter Sunday with all that candy in us. Oh yeah, and there was the time they gave us sugar-free candy to mitigate the sugar high and we all ended up puking our guts out. That might have contributed too.

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  12. Th.4/07/2007 10:32 AM

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    Haha! That's the weirdest resurrection metaphor I've ever heard of!

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  13. chosha4/09/2007 12:45 AM

    I totally agree re Easter vs Christmas. Christmas is special, but from some angles it's also a birthday party and the playful side of it doesn't bother me so much. Easter is so much more sacred, and it has to me the feeling that I imagine Yom Kippur inspires in Jewish people. It's a time for introspection, renewal, appreciation. I'm not adverse to a non-Valentine's holiday involving chocolate, but it shouldn't be Easter. The only thing that reconciles me to that part of it is when people at least leave the fun to the celebratory part of Easter. Chocolate on Good Friday is just naughty.

    Still, even atheists love Easter in Australia. Here it's a four day weekend, because the Friday and Monday are public holidays.

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  14. Th.4/09/2007 10:12 AM

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    How about life-size chocolate starter trees for Arbor Day?

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