So what about Lent and Easter??

Super_Becka

OK, so today is the first day of Lent (which is painfully obvious to me because I've chosen to give up my favourite snacks for Lent and right now, I have a really bad craving for Doritos), and it got me to thinking, once again, about WTS doctrine and the whole banning of holidays thing that they have going on.

I've read the reasons behind banning things like birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Mother's and Father's Day and national holidays like Canada Day and Independence Day, but I have yet to read anything about Lent and Easter.

So, what's the line of reasoning behind the banning of Lent and Easter?? And I don't mean Easter as in chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs and all of that, I mean Easter as a religious celebration of the resurrection of Christ. After all, JWs have the Memorial of the crucifixion, don't they?? So what's wrong with remembering the crucifixion on Good Friday and then celebrating the resurrection on Easter Sunday?? Hell, I don't know about everyone else out there, but as an Anglican, Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) is noted as the day that Christ rode into Jerusalem and everyone laid down palm branches along his path, and even Maundy Thursday, marking the time of the Last Supper, is noted. And Lent itself is done to observed to imitate Christ's withdrawal into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.

What makes the whole Easter season worth ignoring?? All of the above-mentioned events are Biblical, and it does commemorate a very important time for Christians, so what's the WTS reasoning behind the banning of Easter?? Any information and references on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!!

-Becka :)

Finally-Free

This might help a bit. Personally, I always liked Easter. As a JW I used to eat chocolate bunnies just to be rebellious™.

W

Scully

today is the first day of Lent (which is painfully obvious to me because I've chosen to give up my favourite snacks for Lent and right now, I have a really bad craving for Doritos)

Becka, you're giving up the wrong things for Lent. If I were Catholic, I'd give up something extremely difficult - like celibacy.

Seriously though, the JWs objections to Easter have to do with the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies and Chickens have nothing to do with what Easter is supposed to be about: Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection.

That's why they created a substitute observance called the Memorial™. If you're not careful, you might confuse it with a Passover Seder due to the unleavened bread and wine that has fermented naturally. But like everything else, the JWs have managed to take the fun out of everything, and retain the fullness of boringness of all other things JW in this "celebration".

stillajwexelder

Pagan fertility festival

Super_Becka

Becka, you're giving up the wrong things for Lent. If I were Catholic, I'd give up something extremely difficult - like celibacy.
Seriously though, the JWs objections to Easter have to do with the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies and Chickens have nothing to do with what Easter is supposed to be about: Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection.

Well, I was going to give up sex and alcohol, but I changed my mind. After all, I'm not Catholic.

Ohh, so they're gonna argue that in "Christendom", Easter is about chocolate bunnies and all of that?? What, do they deny that we have church services that recognize, remember and celebrate the sacrifice of Christ?? What, do they think that we go to church to worship Satan and eat evil chocolate bunnies and eggs??

I should try that one on the minister when I go to Church on Easter Sunday to celebrate the Resurrection. "Gee, Reverend, aren't we supposed to be worshipping Satan and eating evil chocolate??"

Ya know, the more I read about them, the more ridiculous JWs seem to be, but really, this one takes the cake for me. I can half-way see their arguments against Christmas (hey, it is at the same time as the Winter Solstice and the Church does admit that Christmas was created at that time of year to convert the pagans) and Halloween and things like that, but this argument against Easter is just completely baseless. Well, even more baseless than their other arguments.

-Becka :) (of the "teetotaling virgin" class)

M.J.

Like she said, it's not the easter egg traditions and such that we're talking about, it's the observance of Christ's Resurrection. To me, there's this cultural celebration at easter which is distinguished from the religious observance. Many Christians have nothing to do with the easter eggs, bunnies, and candies and focus on the resurrection. It's up to them.

Super_Becka

Like she said, it's not the easter egg traditions and such that we're talking about, it's the observance of Christ's Resurrection. To me, there's this cultural celebration at easter which is distinguished from the religious observance. Many Christians have nothing to do with the easter eggs, bunnies, and candies and focus on the resurrection. It's up to them.

For me, and I'm guessing that there are a lot of people who feel the same way, Easter is about Christ, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Sure, I do the whole "Easter bunny" thing with the egg hunt on Easter morning and the chocolate bunnies and all of that, but that's just a cultural thing, it's what people do here. Whether you're a religious person or not, most people around here still have chocolate eggs and bunnies and all of that for Easter, it's just a custom. Like the pinatas and luaus that the WTS don't ban anymore.

I know the Easter story, I learned it in Sunday school when I was little, I know that Easter isn't about chocolate and bunnies and all of that, and most Christians will be able to tell you that Easter is about the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, whether they're Catholic or not. Even in church services on Easter Sunday, at least around here, the minister/priest is sure to distinguish between the true meaning of Easter and the "Easter Bunny" custom, if only to ensure that the children understand the difference.

I guess that the WTS couldn't find a decent, quasi-valid reason to ban Easter and the fun associated with it, so they decided that the Easter Bunny is evil and so a "True Christian" will instead go to the Memorial and watch other people accept the Communion (unleavened bread and wine). Sounds like a good time to me.

-Becka :)

delilah

a "True Christian" will instead go to the Memorial and watch other people accept the Communion (unleavened bread and wine). Sounds like a good time to me.

yup, it was good times, let me tell you.....we waited to see if someone's kid would spill the wine, or the plate of bread. Never happened in my hall.

kristyann

Becka, what kind of Sunday School did you attend when you were little? You weren't always Catholic if you had Sunday School, huh?

Super_Becka

You weren't always Catholic if you had Sunday School, huh?

Actually, I've never been Catholic, my whole family, both sides, are Anglican, and so am I. My family has always been Anglican, it goes way back for us.

So I went to Anglican Sunday school every year from age 4 through age 12, then took confirmation classes at 12 and was confirmed just before I turned 13.

Maybe Lent and all of that is a Catholic thing, but it's also present in a lot of Protestant denominations. From what I know of Catholicism, there are a lot of similarities between it and Anglicanism anyway - I call Anglicanism, "Catholicism Lite", just because we have a lot of the same doctrines and beliefs, but only half the guilt. No confession for me!! (And women are allowed to be ordained, and ministers can get married, and we're allowed to use birth control, among other things.)

I'm not an avid churchgoer by any stretch of the imagination - I usually only go for special occasions, like Christmas and Easter and weddings - but I know that Lent and Easter are very important in the Anglican Church. This time of year, there are also church services on Wednesday nights, as well as the usual Sunday services, and there are special services on Palm Sunday (complete with palm crosses for the congregation, I have a bunch of them), Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I would even venture to say that Lent and Easter are more important in the Anglican Church than Christmas.

-Becka :) (of the "pure-bred Anglican" class)

So what about Lent and Easter??

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