Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter, My Ass!


Easter is probably the most twisted holiday we Americans are forced to endure: we attend church services to honor the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, while wearing our finest clothes, eating chocolate bunnies, then coloring, hunting or rolling hard-boiled eggs. It beats Christmas for religiousity, Fourth of July for pride and Valentine's Day for consumption of chocolate. There is no connection between Christ on the Cross and the Easter Bunny except for the concept of spring and the earth's "resurrection" from winter.

Did you know that the concept of a dying-and-rising god was rather passe when Christ was crucified? Huh? Well then, how many could there have been? Try twenty. Yes, twenty. 20. One score. The most famous of these were Osirus and Mithras (who, BTW, was born in a cave of a virgin birth.)

The most original concept related to Easter, however, came with the maturation of Christianity: supreme guilt. The doctrine of Original Sin (attributed to St. Augustine - way to go, Auggie!) made Christians look at everyone in a different light. And they all looked BAD. Christ had died for EVERYONE'S sins. All of us should be extremely grateful! No? Then go to hell! 

Yes, Easter should be a time of rejoicing: because of Christ's death, we are forgiven all our sins. 

I'm sorry, but I can't rejoice. Perhaps because the hypocrites of the world have taken Easter and turned it into a time of extreme self-loathing. Yet what we really need to experience is a time of energy and progression - to a more peaceful and habitable world.




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