Easter Celebrations Essay, Research Paper

Non-Religious Celebrations of Easter Should be Done Away With

Have you ever sat back and thought about the different traditions that we celebrate in America as well as all around the world? Some of these traditions may include holidays, sporting events, and weddings. We celebrate certain traditions for religious reasons, for memorial reasons, and just for the fact that what we are celebrating is a tradition, and we wish to keep it that way. But some of the traditions that date back thousands of years have been altered from their original meaning. Easter is a perfect example of one of the traditions that has been altered to better suit our modern times. Originally, Easter was the celebration of the ascension of Jesus soul from the cross, on which he died, into Heaven. Today we have celebrations during Easter that include such things as a life-sized bunny, hard-boiled eggs that are dyed various pastel colors, and baskets, all of which have no religious significance. I think that the non-religious celebrations of Easter should be done away with.

To begin with, the non-religious celebrations of Easter should be done away with because they serve no relevance toward the original purpose of the tradition. Dyed eggs, bunnies, baskets, and so on do not provide us with any reason to have a celebration. Today we celebrate Easter by saying that there is an Easter bunny that will bring boys and girls candy and gifts as long as the boys and girls are well behaved. There are also Easter Egg hunts in which the Easter Bunny hides hard-boiled eggs that have been dyed various pastel colors. The children are sent out to find the hidden eggs and collect them in their Easter Baskets. We set out baskets with pastel-colored, fake grass in them on Easter Eve so that the Easter Bunny can come fill them up with goodies while we sleep. The only problem is that none of these previously stated activities serve any resemblance toward the original religious celebration that began almost two thousand years ago. So, for the fact that the celebrations of the Easter tradition have become more fantasy-based than religious-based, non-religious Easter celebrations should be done away with.

Secondly, the non-religious celebrations of Easter today should be done away with because they give children mislead understandings of the original reason for celebrating Easter. Today children are lied to making them believe that there is a life-sized bunny that hops all around the world to everyone s house. The bunny delivers candy and presents and hides dyed eggs for everyone all in one night. We are leading our children to believe that it is possible for all of these previously stated events to happen, when it is completely impossible for any of these things to occur. When the children grow up, they will find out that a life-sized bunny that hops all around the world, stopping at every person s house and delivering gifts all in one night does not exist. The children then know that they have been lied to all their lives, so the kids then feel that it is okay for them to lie to others. But, Easter is an originally religious-based holiday that has nothing to do with a bunny or eggs. And so, for the fact that non-religious celebrations of Easter today give children a false understanding of Easter s true resemblance, non-religious Easter celebrations should be done way with.

Finally, non-religious celebrations of Easter should be put to a halt because they are stressful. Preparing for the non-religious celebration requires time and money. Parents are practically forced into spending money because of the tale that the Easter Bunny brings children gifts and candy. Therefore, the parents are required to find time and money to shop for gift and candy. Not to mention, most Easter celebrations consist of gatherings in which families and friends join to eat a big meal. Preparing for such a gathering can be extremely stressful because the hosts have to make sure that all of their guests are invited in ample amounts of time. Then the hosts have to go out and purchase large amounts of food. They also usually purchase decorations to complement the theme of the celebration. All of the preparations for a celebration based around a fantasized bunny, dyed eggs, presents, and so on make for a day that should be enjoyed. Instead the day s events are often fretted over by parents and hosts. And so, for the reason that the non-religious celebrations of Easter are stressful, they should be stopped.

In conclusion, I think that if we are going to continue to celebrate and take part in certain traditions, we should celebrate them for their original meaning. I find it outrageous that we can go from celebrating Easter as a religious day in which we take time to remember and give thanks for the sacrifices Jesus made by dying for us so that we can be free to a day in which we celebrate a made up bunny that hops around and delivers candy and gifts and hides dyed eggs. A fantasy such as the Easter Bunny provides us with no grounds to have a celebration. We lie to our children, leading to believe that a bunny with such magical powers can exist. The children grow up and learn that there is no such thing as an Easter Bunny, but they have seen that their parents and friends have lied to them so the children feel that they are also allowed to lie. Not to mention, the day s events lead to stressful requirements in which parents must find time and money to shop for their children and party hosts must find time and money to shop for food and decorations. Therefore, I feel that it is only fair to say that non-religious Easter celebrations should be done away with.