Here is one other thing I don't get. I live in, without question, the most religious industrialized country. And not only is it a religious country, I dare say, most people are Christian. And here is my oxymoron...even though it's so religious, I always surprises me how Easter is barely a holiday here. I would say the holiday is just as "big" as Martin Luther King Day, Valentine's Day, etc. and smaller than Fourth of July, Memorial Day or Thanksgiving. That weirds me out, since I think Easter, along with Christmas are the most important religious Holidays ever. And Europe seems to feel similar. Usually Good Friday and Easter are days off of work. There are many festivities, many traditions and also many do's and don'ts. For example, on Good Friday, Discos are closed out of respect for this day and what happened this day. So, with all that goes on for Easter in Europe, I'm always amazed at how little Easter is celebrated over here. So, that's my Easter Oxymoron.
But, luckily, I don't have to go with the crowd. I love Easter. It's my favorite Holiday, and I'll try hard to make it special each year. I'll just have to figure out what I want to do for Good Friday. Any suggestions?
Friday, April 10, 2009
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4 comments:
It's true. Easter should be right up there with Christmas. Unfortunately, maybe it's not as big because it's not as commercialized...
So true Fran.
I saw last night that 77% of Americans associate themselves with some form of Christianity. Sadly, it seems that the form of Christianity that most of those people associate themselves with is the form that requires no commitment, no sacrifice, and no activity. A casual attitude toward religion and God is very prevalent.
Troy
Good oxymoron. I agree with Mike and Kari in that Easter is probably not as big in the US because it's harder to commercialize... it's so obviously connected to Christ that it makes it hard to make money out of it (apart from the Easter bunny, but he is pretty lame).
My dad was bemoaning basically what you've described in you Oxymoron here, so I told him about your blog post. My mother said,"Oh don't get him started!" She says it's up us anyway how big a deal we make of Easter and what Christ did for us, we don't have to wait for the rest of the country to lead the way.
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