while i like crosses, and lots of other religous paraphenalia, like candles and
holy books, I strongly adhere to the belief the the easter bunny is an extremely important facet of modern christianity, filled with spirit, and whose import should never be downplayed...please don't disregard the spirit bunny....i cherish this creature more than life itself....praise the lord

Now you're coopting our Easter Bunny?

Hands off, Phillanthrop!

Neighborhood Pagans.

Isn't it just amazing what people will believe? The dead come back to life, virgins have babies and people can talk to god. I do understand that it would be wonderful if the dead could come back, and that people might wish it, and to wish that someone somewhere really loves you, but to really believe it?

Some people's beliefs are amazing. I can't see how some people believe that a big bang happened somewhere and over a period of eons, life as we have it today just "happened" by some lucky coincidence. I really don't have enough faith to believe in that.

So a world filled with war, torture, starvation, disease, painful death, poverty, tsunami, flood, drought, earthquakes, hatred, cruelty, and child molesters was designed by a loving god. Right.

God never promised a world free from problems. He didn't promise that life would always be fine and dandy. Many of the problems listed above are caused by sinful man, not God. In most of the natural disasters, God provides many caring people to help those who need help. As parents,we do not want to remove our children from all the problems in life, no matter how much we would like their lives to be problem free, as that does not prepare them for the future. Rather we aim to teach them how to deal with life's problems. Likewise, a loving God shows us that there is much evil in the world, but there is also much good and we should dwell on that and be thankful for the good we see in people. Hatred breeds hatred, but love and kindness will bring their rewards also.

God did design a perfect world. Unfortunately, man (Adam) disobeyed the one rule God gave him and allowed Satan a foothold. Since then, there has always been sin, but that is what man did, not what God did.

The Easter message shows that there is a path back from this sinful world and it is up to each individual to decide for themselves. It is more important to be concerned with your own individual relationship with God and what you do in the world and let others do likewise. For those who choose to do evil, that is their problem. All we can do is help those whom they hurt and punish them in an earthly fashion. It is then up to God to judge them for eternity.

God did design a perfect world. Unfortunately, man (Adam)

Oops, the bit I lost reappeared. Sorry for the repetition.

So your evidence that god created the world is that you say so. Or someone who said he spoke to god says so. "God never promised a world free from problems." Bad people don't cause floods, droughts, earthquakes, disease, starvation, death.
But it is not useful to argue about this, believers want to believe. My reason for posting is to try to stop the intimidation by religious people who make it impossible to know how many nonbelievers there are. So many people are afraid to speak the truth because they will be called impolite or shamed or seriously violently punished.

My reason for posting was to thank the Weekly for showing pictures of crosses rather than Easter eggs and bunnies. I don't think that is intimidating. After that I stated my belief after others stated theirs. I don't think that is intimidating. I then answered questions raised. I don't think that is intimidating.

In my experience, it is often those who believe in God are the ones being intimidated anytime they want to do something that has for centuries been allowed or acknowledged as being the normal way to do things.

I know that there are many non-believers and I do not think most people are afraid to speak about what they believe because they may be called impolite (unless they are), or shamed, or seriously violently punished regardless what they personally believe. This is Palo Alto and I think tolerance and diversity are well handled here. If anyone feels that this has caused their beliefs or lack thereof to have been compromised in any way, then I suggest that a re-read of the thread with an open mind may respectfully show otherwise.

Amen

I would have preferred NOT to have had that picture shoved in my face when I logged on. I supposed Mel Gibson would love it. I have always thought that Christianity's obsession with Christ's torture and death is sick. Even as a kid I thought that a torture device (the cross) was an awful symbol to use and it was just beyond me why something more beautiful and positive wasn't chosen to represent Jesus. The focus, the point of it all, should be on Jesus' life and teachings. I have always thought that if Jesus were to come back he would be truly horrified and greatly offended by most of what passes as Christianity.

By the way...I heard that the sale of fake blood from theatrical supply places is highest at Easter, rather than at Halloween, as one might expect. At Halloween small amounts are purchased compared to Easter, where churches buy it literally by the GALLON for their blood-soaked passion plays. Way too dark, perverse and kinky for me...and we haven't even gotten into the symbolic cannibalism of communion yet! EeeeeeUuuuuuWwwww!

Christ's death is the point, not only of Easter, but of Christianity. The point being that Christ died so that we might live.

St. Paul, in his letters in the New Testament says that if anyone wants to be a true follower then he must take up his cross daily. This is not literally that believers should carry wooden crosses around on a daily basis, rather believers should use Christ's sufferings as an example in their own lives.

As for the gory details of His death, yes it was gory. As for having a reminder of it at Easter on a page in our newspapers or online, it is no more horrific a picture than many others we see in our newspapers daily.

Christ's life and teachings remain wonderful. But, His death and resurrection is what Christianity is all about. To take away His death and resurrection, remembering only His life, would be to deny His true purpose.

I am fully aware of the horrible things people do to one another, and have throughout history. I would like the choice of whether or not to look at these horrid images, whether from Iraq prisons or from an Easter enactment. Silly me, I just don't enjoy watching torture, real or theatrical. Therefore, I was offended by the picture.

I accept that Jesus lived, taught valuable lessons of peace, love and responsibility for those less fortunate. He was a street person who associated with people whom most would shun and like all of his type throughout history, he fell afoul of the powers-that-be who put an end to him. I do not believe that he was any more or less divine than you or I. I do not believe that he, or anyone else, was ever born of a virgin. I do not believe that he, or anyone else, ever rose from the dead. I do not believe it necessary that anyone should die for my sins...that would be most unfair and irresponsible, if indeed it turns out that we face some sort of divine judgment (something I don't believe either) when we die. I believe that one life should be sufficient, making it the more precious and important, and I do not selfishly crave another. As far as belief in God is concerned, I am a life-long agnostic who had exposure to Christianity as a youth. Couldn't buy it then, can't buy it now. I've never taken issue with Jesus' teachings or personal example but I have a lot of issues with organized Christianity, supernatural beliefs, and the idea that some people, by believing some special or magical things, will be given special treatment by God, if, in fact, there is one (or more) or be exempt from the laws of nature. I think organized religions (as opposed to personal spirituality) are a curse upon the human race and one of, if not the worst, sources of war, division, hatred and evil in the world. I believe people are stunted by religion, kept in a child-like state of fear and dependency. I believe religions were invented by people trying to avoid responsibility and trying to deal with the natural fear of death. Were I to meet the traditional Judeo-Christian patriarchal God I would give him a bad performance review. I have higher expectations for Godly behavior than I've seen demonstrated thus far in my life and I just turned 68.

This says it all (South Park's take on Easter Bunny) LOL!

Web Link

For those concerned about easter egg hunts at Eastertide, this web site should prove informative.Web Link