Easter

More Than Just The Easter Bunny

Easter arrives on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, i.e. the first day of Spring. I don't know much about that myself, but it presumably comes from the determination of the date of Passover by the ancient Jews. It's celebrated by Christians worldwide for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead.

For anyone unfamiliar, Jesus of Nazareth ran afoul of the religious leaders in Israel for basically making the ancient version of mean tweets when he called them out as hypocrits. The religious leaders also constituted much of government, although under the Romans, since they did not have separation of church and state. They wanted to have the Romans execute him for blasphemy but the Roman governor Pilate said, hey, this dude did nothing wrong, but Pilate was maneuvered into the execution to avoid a street riot. Jesus was then executed by crucifixion, being nailed to a cross through the wrist area (the hands would not support a body weight.) He lasted for about three hours, an unusually short time, and upon his death there was earthquake and darkness in the daytime. This was a Friday and the following Sunday morning (on the third day, not actually three days later) his tomb was empty and he appeared to various people and circulated around for awhile before ascending. A Roman guard was placed on the tomb so that his body could not be stolen, but the guards were found to be “as dead men,” that is, unconscious. Though the Bible doesn't say much about them, we may assume that it was a force sufficient to fight off a determined but small band coming to steal the body so as to fake his resurrection. Probably a contubernium, the smallest unit of the Roman army, consisting of eight soldiers, and roughly equivalent to a modern squad, and they would probably have had at two if not more awake and on guard duty the whole time. Roman soldiers found sleeping on guard duty were subject to execution, but the Bible says nothing about their fates.

Mixed in with Easter are things like Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny. I don't think that that is strange at all since northern cultures are delighted with the arrival of spring and the new life that comes with it. Newborn rabbits exist in profusion just outside our country home in Michigan at this time of year. There were probably always such celebrations, and the resurrection of Christ fits right in with it's hope and promise that miracles can occur, and it did happen in the Spring.

I have found that those of an atheistic disposition usually argue against such things with arguments that come down to, “it can't be true, therefore it's not.” They have a valid point in that remarkable claims require remarkable proofs, but it seems more like they just want to be atheists. After all, who wants to think that they may be accountable for their actions? No doubt they would reverse that argument.

"People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive." ~ Blaise Pascal

The secular often think that the religious are one solid block, not realizing that they have many different opinions and viewpoints, and the secular may be wishing to promote the belief that the religious are simple minded who think of God as a little old man in the sky. That makes it easy to dismiss them and claim intellectual superiority.

"Man is clearly made to think. It is his whole dignity and his whole merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. And the order of thought is to begin with ourselves, and with our Author and our end." ~ Blaise Pascal

Pascal was the French mathematician and physicist who elucidated Pacal's Law concerning liquids, force and pressure, that is hydro-statics, thereby allowing the development of hydraulics. And where would we be without hydraulics? And he did other neat stuff, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

Is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead really so incredible that, it can't be true, therefore it isn't? As people go through life they sometimes have miraculous experiences. YouTube provides a wide selection, (if you believe the stories, after all anyone can say anything. I wonder if YouTube will start shadow banning them if the powerful want them gone.) The difference with Jesus is that he could perform them on demand, whereas a normal person might receive divine intervention suddenly in a life threatening event. I've met individuals in my life who have had extraordinary experiences, though I haven't myself. Easter gives people a sense of hope, and the feeling that the world is, at the bottom, not as dark as is apparent.

Our present political class seems to want to pour cold water on anything like this, presumably because it makes people harder to control. The First Amendment prevents Congress from creating a state religion, though it doesn't actually mention separation of church and state. I do think that you don't want a religion turning into a politically powerful force, after all that was the situation in Israel when Jesus was executed, but present attempts to claim that conservatives want to create a theocracy are ludicrous. It seems in fact that we do almost have a state religion, either that of atheism or scientism. Possibly some brilliant lawyer can find a reason to sue the federal government on the grounds of creating a state religion.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

"It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives." ~ John Adams

This attitude that all thoughts of God must be expunged from the public square is a relatively new phenomenon, and would have been considered ridiculous at the time.

"Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle.Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace. We must march together, all out for God." ~ George S. Patton

I always think he looks a bit like Trump.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." ~ John Adams

An essay of mine that I think is relevant to the discussion:

Stay Brave, Stay Free