Are You Ready For... : Dispatches from the Creation Wars

ScienceBlogs Book Club: Inside the Outbreaks

Profile

Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)

Search

Other Information

Ed Brayton also blogs at Positive Liberty and The Panda's Thumb

Ed Brayton is a participant in the Center for Independent Media New Journalism Program. However, all of the statements, opinions, policies, and views expressed on this site are solely Ed Brayton's. This web site is not a production of the Center, and the Center does not support or endorse any of the contents on this site.

Ed's Audio and Video

Declaring Independence podcast feed

YearlyKos 2007

Video of speech on Dover and the Future of the Anti-Evolution Movement

Audio of Greg Raymer Interview

E-mail Policy

Any and all emails that I receive may be reprinted, in part or in full, on this blog with attribution. If this is not acceptable to you, do not send me e-mail - especially if you're going to end up being embarrassed when it's printed publicly for all to see.

My Ecosystem Details

« First Freedom First Simulcast on March 26th | Main | Nightline on Creationist Museum Tours »

Are You Ready For...

Posted on: March 23, 2008 9:23 AM, by Ed Brayton

The War on Easter? Come on, you knew it was coming.

Comments

I attend a school with a Jewish majority, and all I ever hear lately is Easter Easter Good Friday Easter Easter. I just can't wait until it's over and the Peeps go on sale.

Posted by: Brandon | March 23, 2008 9:51 AM

More ominously still, St. Patrick's Day falls this year during Holy Week for the first time since 1940. The usual green-beer binges did not abate in honor of the solemnity of this week. The saint himself, famous for having brought the bonfires of the Easter Vigil to Ireland, may well turn over in his grave.

Sorry dear, but in the battle between green beer and corpses emerging from caves, the green beer will always win.

Posted by: Gretchen | March 23, 2008 10:13 AM

Unleash the hordes of chocolate bunny wabbits!

Posted by: blf | March 23, 2008 10:17 AM

When will these Christians realize that a little real persecution is what they really need to, as the Bible says, "weed out the wheat from the chaff?" They're so damned insistent on having society adore and admire them that they forget they're supposed to be in the world, but not of it. Every bit of social and political power they attain is ever more corrupting to true faith.

It's really sad, looked at from a Christian perspective. God's love just isn't enough for them--they need the rest of us to love them as well.

Posted by: James Hanley | March 23, 2008 10:21 AM

Someone noted the other day that Easter seems to be turning into another gift giving holiday like Christmas. Lots of parents running around doing shopping for things for the kids.

Might be the season change necessitating clothing shopping as the seed. I remember that the holiday was usually associated with getting new clothes and/or shoes. (Might also have been keyed by visiting Pennsylvania from another locale for the holiday to visit relatives and my parents taking advantage of the state's lack of a sales tax on clothes.)

I also find interesting is that the secular/popular imagery of the holiday is primarily the pagan bits that have carried over (rabbits, eggs).

Posted by: Kurt | March 23, 2008 10:21 AM

Would Ms. Allen like a little whine with her cheese. "We gave a party and no one was interested in coming! Waaaah!"

Posted by: Eamon Knight | March 23, 2008 10:29 AM

"St. Patrick's Day falls this year during Holy Week for the first time since 1940."

Well, actually, no it doesn't. It was officially moved back to Saturday the 15th precisely because it isn't allowed to fall during Holy Week. It was moved in 1940 as well. The fact that hardly anybody takes a blind bit of notice (or is even aware) of Rome's official decrees is quite funny; but that Ms. Allen claims to be such a good pious Easter-observing Catholic and doesn't know this is effing hilarious.

Posted by: sharon | March 23, 2008 10:45 AM

I don't understand this. No one is stopping Christians from celebrating Good Friday and Easter in any way they want. That the rest of us chose not to celebrate should be irrelevant to them. I, as a atheist will not celebrate Food Friday. I will attend an Easter dinner as it is important to my wife.

Why is it not ok that Christians can celebrate and the rest of us can ignore the event if we so choose?

Posted by: mess | March 23, 2008 11:03 AM

Shorter Charlotte Allen: "WAH! The days deemed sacred by my particular religious group aren't held sacred by everyone in society! The end is nigh!"

Well boo-hoodily-hoo. Cry me a river...

However, she does obliquely touch on what seems to me to be an upward trend: the "transformation" of Christianity from a religious to a cultural identification. How many self-identifying Christians can't seem to be bothered to read the Bible or make it to church on a Sunday morning and yet respond vociferously to each new manifestation of the increasing secularization of our society?

Posted by: Bill Snedden | March 23, 2008 11:52 AM

Of course there's a war on Easter. The Apostle Paul started it in Corinth when he preached that followers of Christ should observe Passover, as Jesus commanded, and avoid the pagan tradition of Easter. Sorry sweetie, can't blame this one on atheists and secularists.

Posted by: Abby Normal | March 23, 2008 12:01 PM

After her rant about magazines abolishing the word "Easter" and lack of articles on dyeing eggs and other crafts, I was prompted to check out some magazines I have laying around.
Perhaps she needs to change her subscription to Ladies' Home Journal, which has at least two articles containing the word "Easter". And if dyeing eggs is such an essential part of celebrating the Zombification of Jesus, she needs to check out Better Homes and Gardens who has a whole spread on such wholesome activities. She might be disappointed though... it uses that awful word "Spring" instead of Easter. Allen's perceived persecution of her beloved holiday is ridiculous. She needs to get over that not everone wants a parade for every single religious holiday... most of us have better things to do.

Posted by: Jocelyn | March 23, 2008 12:01 PM

Isn't this the same Charlotte Allen who wrote the recent Washington Post article calling women dumb? (Presumably including herself?)

Posted by: ShellyD | March 23, 2008 12:13 PM

Umm, doesn't the term "Easter" stem from the name of an Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess, Oestre? And why would the author of that ridiculous NRO article wish to preserve the egg and rabbit traditions that relate to the aforementioned fertility theme, and not, in any readily conceivable (ha!) way, to the resurrection story?

It will always be the Spring Vertebrate Oocyte Holiday to me...and the last candy holiday until Halloween. :-(

Posted by: Barn Owl | March 23, 2008 1:15 PM

Indeed she is. I wasn't particularly familiar with her, but when I looked her up, it turns out she has a whole range of catty contrecoups: praising Katrina as a good thing. Denying that women were historically oppressed. Basically calling the controversy over racism in Jena a hoax. And... well you get the point.

Posted by: Bad | March 23, 2008 1:16 PM

Hellz yeah I'm ready for the War on Easter! I got a whole cache of anti-bunny weaponry right next to me, and thermal-goggles that will allow me to locate and neutralize any bunnies that may be well camuflaged in the remaining snow.

Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | March 23, 2008 2:23 PM

She isn't really complaining about the lack of Easter-ness. That isn't the point of this story. Basically, times have changed, and no-one is doing what she used to do "back in the days".
So, this is a religious "back in the good old days..." story basically.
Did I celebrate Easter? you're damn right I did, we get a long weekend. I ain't staying in and watching the telly.
Did I spend it in church? nope...cleaning the floor with your knees is not my idea of a celebration.

Posted by: Richard Eis | March 23, 2008 2:51 PM

"So, this is a religious "back in the good old days..." story basically."

I think it's a bit more than that though..

And sorry for the botched link above. She makes comparative reference to the "campaign" to "force" people to say "Happy Holiday!" puts in a little dig at gays and lesbians wanting to be part of the Egg Roll, and basically faults the media for pussying out, as she sees it, on calling certain things what she thinks they should be called (since, as we know, Christian observance is the most important and dominant and we all need to be reminded of that at every opportunity).

Posted by: Bad | March 23, 2008 2:55 PM

Well boo-hoodily-hoo. Cry me a river...

Second that.

Posted by: twincats | March 23, 2008 3:43 PM

Charlotte hasn't thought this through. Imagine if we were not a pluralistic society, as she so desperately desires. That would mean that every holiday, and the events staged to acknowledge them would perforce be attended by everyone!

My God! The logistics alone are of biblical proportions!

Posted by: Crudely Wrott | March 23, 2008 4:02 PM

Say, isn't that the same Charlotte Allen who said that "womynz iz stoopit?"

Posted by: J. A. Baker | March 23, 2008 5:11 PM

Well of course "the war against Easter... seems over." They weren't able to use the slogan "Keep the CHRIST in EASTER!!" They would have had to say "Keep the Pagan Goddess of Spring ESTRE in EASTER!!" and that would have defeated their purpose a bit.

I grew up without religion, but celebrated Easter as a holiday about spring. I remember that there were little decals which came with the Egg-Dye Kit, and there among the bunnies and chickies and lambies were -- crosses? I asked my parents about them, and got a told a story which I just found confusing, and not particularly interesting as such stories go.

Still, that little decal of the cross had a great big lily on it, so I dutifully transferred it onto my hardboiled eggs anyway, every year.

I still have trouble remembering that Easter also happens to be some sort of Christian holiday, too.

Posted by: Sastra | March 23, 2008 5:22 PM

I am wondering how she would feel about the fact that I am getting the boy together and ready for an Easter trip to our local public library. They close for president's day. They close for memorial day. They close for MLK day. They do not close for Easter.

Unfortunately, we may not make it, as the six year old is fortifying his castle against the onslaught of the barbarian "whores." Or after attempts to correct him, barbarian "fords."

Posted by: DuWayne | March 23, 2008 6:27 PM

The biggest enemy of Easter in my area is the damn squirrels in my back yard. I go outside to hide eggs, and within minutes the furry little bastards are taking them up the trees!

I wanted to get video footage of it this year, but we had nine inches of snow on Good Friday, so no outdoor egg hunt this year.

I figure either God declared war on Easter, too, or maybe just this pagan (and perverse) bunny/egg celebration.

Posted by: James Hanley | March 23, 2008 6:45 PM

Another idiot that wants people to believe and act as they do. Wonderful.

Posted by: paul | March 23, 2008 7:00 PM

First off...the xians steal the winter solstice and the vernal equinox for their wierd rituals and then have the nerve to complain that their idolatry is not more widely observed.

Second, my wife pointed out that the primary component of the people in the Easter Parade I went to today consisted of ... GAY MALES! Which its my understanding that the xians have a thing about.

Third: "Someone noted the other day that Easter seems to be turning into another gift giving holiday like Christmas."

what is up with that? as my wife by my son a $50 video game for "Easter"!

Lastly I have to save I have done my part in the war on easter and have slaughtered and devoured numerous bunnies, chicks, eggs and various other chocolate entities that needed to die...(so that they could be resurrected later,.. same as that cross guy.)

Posted by: Kevin | March 23, 2008 11:15 PM

"the awesome themes of suffering, death, atonement, and resurrection".

Awesome is definitely the word that comes to my mind. Suffering-Death-the bullshit concept of atonement-and the really, really bullshit concept of resurrection.

Posted by: soboco | March 23, 2008 11:36 PM

The blatant classism and WASPy sniffiness at the Hispanic neighborhood's celebrations seem very much in line with the Buckley legacy, don't they?

Posted by: Brian X | March 23, 2008 11:43 PM

A "war on Easter"?????? Really????? What planet has Charlotte Allen been living on all these years, I wonder? When my daughter was in preschool(a lot of the kids in it were enrolled by parents of the Catholic persuasion), one parent remarked, apropos of something I don't remember, that Easter was religiously important, but was not a holiday like, say, Christmas. This woman was of the Catholic persuasion, too. Nobody has ever stopeed anybody(that I know of), from celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, in any fashion they desire, and nobody in my lifetime has(fortunately) attempted to stop Jews from celebrating Passover, or Muslims from celebrating the end of Ramadan, etc. As long as we live in a society where there are those who follow any number of religious traditions, or none at all, there are going to be these jarring(to some people) scenes that Ms. Allen described. But most people(that I know of) are wise enough to just accept that these things happen in a pluralistic society.
Anne G

Posted by: Anne Gilbert | March 24, 2008 12:05 AM

I wish there were a War on Easter, then I wouldn't have to have resorted to getting lunch today at a fast food joint and having to pick up toothpaste at the supposedly Christian way overcrowded Wal-mart.

Posted by: Rob H. | March 24, 2008 1:43 AM

"The working-class Latino neighborhood through which I drove, whose residents nominally shared my Catholic faith and for whom Viernes Santo is a solemn fast day commemorating Christ's death, was unseasonably merry: roaring crowds on the sidewalks, glittering lights from the bars, beer bottles smashing periodically against the asphalt."

So while driving through this neighburhood she heard beer bottles "smashing periodically"?

All I can say is she must drive very slowly and have an extremely quiet engine in her car.

Posted by: Ian Gould | March 24, 2008 6:46 AM

"...Mike Huckabee and his in-your-face December campaign ad reminding viewers that Dec. 25 celebrates the day Jesus was born..."

But Mike says that was pure coincidence. Surely she isn't calling that goodly Man of God a liar?

"Even the famous White House Egg Roll on Easter Monday has turned at least in part into a political occasion for gay and lesbian parents."

So everybody should be celebrating Easter except the dirty queers? And what does an egg hunt have to do with "suffering, death, atonement, and resurrection" anyway?

Posted by: Ian Gould | March 24, 2008 6:51 AM

Abbey:

Of course there's a war on Easter. The Apostle Paul started it in Corinth when he preached that followers of Christ should observe Passover, as Jesus commanded, and avoid the pagan tradition of Easter. Sorry sweetie, can't blame this one on atheists and secularists.

Do you have a cite for this? (book:verse?) I would love to add that to my readily available list of 'fuck off, it's in your book' quotes. =)

Cheers.

Posted by: FastLane | March 24, 2008 9:44 AM

"The 'Easter parades' of yore in which people strolled in their finery after church are much diminished, if they continue to exist at all."

Indeed, we all miss the Easter parades of yore. First there was the scourging and self-flagellation. Imagine, between 50 and 100 dedicated souls whipping their own backs until they bled. Wow! Of course, now the squeamish nanny government is concerned about blood born diseases and all that blood getting on the pavement, the spectators and each other.

Then comes the hammering of nails into the palms of those who volunteer to be crucified. Of course, now they use sterilized nails. No one has any faith any more; those who are pure of spirit will not get infected, develop septicemia and die. They probably all have tetanus shots, too. Wimps!

Finally, the big moment. The crosses are raised, with a volunteer portraying Jesus flanked by two volunteers portraying the good thief and the bad thief.

Yeah, they don't have Easter Parades like that in America any more. The only place where you can still see the real McCoy is in third world nations where the true faith has not been eroded by commercialization and materialism. Places like the Philippines, as recorded by the National Geographic special on crucifixion that was shown on Easter Sunday evening http://www.rickyhitmanhatton2.com/video/video/tQKB4qFzvDk/crucifixion-delusionists-delight.html.

Give me that old time religion. Those folks know how to celebrate Easter.

Posted by: NJ Osprey | March 24, 2008 11:51 AM

My bad. Perfectly good rant and I get the URL wrong. Try this URL direct to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJR0Pf1gFgU.

(I am so embarrassed. How will I ever be able to face my heathen friends again.)

Posted by: NJ Osprey | March 24, 2008 12:09 PM

My bad. Perfectly good rant and I get the URL wrong. Try this URL direct to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJR0Pf1gFgU.

(I am so embarrassed. How will I ever be able to face my heathen friends again.)

Posted by: NJ Osprey | March 24, 2008 12:09 PM

I am wading through the turgid text (second only to "Mein Kampf" in my humble opinion) to find that quote for you Fastlane. But I found this (which Ted Haggard et al. should contemplate on):
2 Corinthians 4
"1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
Don't see to many televangilists tacking this one, do you? -DJ

Posted by: Dingojack | March 24, 2008 12:16 PM

"For Christ OUR PASSOVER also has been sacrificed. LET US (Christians) therefore CELEBRATE THE FEAST, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the UNLEAVENED BREAD of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

"For I (Paul) RECEIVED FROM THE LORD that which I ALSO DELIVERED TO YOU, that the Lord Jesus IN THE NIGHT HE WAS BETRAYED took BREAD; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "THIS IS (the symbol) of MY BODY which is for you, DO THIS IN REMEMBERANCE of ME." In the same way He took the CUP also, AFTER SUPPER, saying, - "THIS is the NEW COVENANT in MY BLOOD; DO THIS, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you PROCLAIM the LORD'S DEATH until He comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

It is argued that the "do this in remembrance of me" states (perhaps among other things) to observe the passover.

Posted by: Lee | March 24, 2008 1:50 PM

Fastlane, here's an interesting article on the subject. It's replete with Biblical references supporting the No Easter argument. Unfortunately there's no specific passage that says, "Do not celebrate Easter."

In fact there's no reference to Easter at all. Which is part of the argument against it, as the Bible explicitly lists the holy days (Leviticus 23). You'd think they'd include the "holiest holiday" on that list.

There was a lot of disagreement about Easter among the early Christian sects, if it was okay, when it should be, etc, until the First Council of Nicaea, 325 AD. The Roman Church's claim that Easter mass fulfilled Christian's Passover obligations became universal and the festival was codified. That pretty much settled the mater until the Protestant Reformation. And now here we are.

Posted by: Abby Normal | March 24, 2008 3:27 PM

King James First Corinthians 7 & 8 says:
"7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Hmm nope no Eater there.
How about 1 Corinthian 11:23-26?

"23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Hmm nope no Easter hers either.

Anything more specific? -DJ

Posted by: dingoJack | March 24, 2008 3:42 PM

Abby:

In fact there's no reference to Easter at all. Which is part of the argument against it, as the Bible explicitly lists the holy days (Leviticus 23). You'd think they'd include the "holiest holiday" on that list.

You're kidding me, right? You expect that the Jewish law would contain a holy day commemorating something that wouldn't happen for centuries? Sorry, but if this is meant to be a substantial argument against the Bible, then it fails miserably.

Posted by: The Christian Cynic | March 24, 2008 4:31 PM

The argument, as I understand it, is that Lent and Easter both predate the Old Testament. But to your point, they weren't Jewish traditions. Yet, both were practiced in the time and region of Jesus. If he'd wanted to change them to celebrate him, the anti-Easter folks say, he'd have mentioned it. They say Easter and Lent are just examples of pagan traditions Catholicism co-opted in it's quest for converts.

I'm not really taking sides in the battle. I don't care one way or the other about whether or not Christians celebrate Easter or call it holy. My point is simply that the "War on Easter" is much older than the American PC speech, or even America.

Posted by: Abby Normal | March 24, 2008 5:31 PM

I only just realised this year, after a decade or so of doing extensive business with US companies, that Americans don;t get Easter Monday or Good Friday as public holidays.

Here in Australia and in the UK and most of Europe, both days or public holidays. Hell, Easter is the biggest holiday on the calendar after Christmas/New Years.

If this silly women was possessed by the total "America is the world" myopia of so much of the American right, she might have been led to wonder why it is that godless perverted pagan foreign scum observe this holiday more than do God's Own People.

Posted by: Ian Gould | March 25, 2008 2:38 AM

... or the mostly African American and presumably fervently biblical ward

Scuze me?

Stupid War on Easter obviously failed where I live. I needed a new toaster oven and wasted way too much time trying to find an open store. All of the restaurants were open, of course - have to feed the churchers - but stores were totally hit or miss.

Posted by: Andrea | March 25, 2008 2:32 PM

And speaking of the "ominous" St Patrick's Day overlap, here's a fun article -

... on this particular Friday, March 21, it seems almost no believer of any sort will be left without his or her own holiday. In what is statistically, at least, a once-in-a-millennium combination, the following will all occur on the 21st:

Good Friday
Purim, a Jewish festival celebrating the biblical book of Esther
Narouz, the Persian New Year, which is observed with Islamic
elaboration in Iran and all the "stan" countries, as well as by Zoroastrians and Baha'is.
Eid Milad an Nabi, the Birth of the Prophet, which is celebrated by some but not all Sunni Muslims and, though officially beginning on Thursday, is often marked on Friday.
Small Holi, Hindu, an Indian festival of bonfires, to be followed on Saturday by Holi, a kind of Mardi Gras.
Magha Puja, a celebration of the Buddha's first group of followers, marked primarily in Thailand.

(and more at link)

Posted by: Andrea | March 25, 2008 2:40 PM

Speaking of war on X. Check out the cost of the War on Gophers.

Posted by: Abby Normal | March 25, 2008 5:51 PM