Easter
On Easter we hunt for eggs. After hunting eggs we get more eggs and hide them and ask our Mom and Dad to find them. We go to my cousins house and we play there and then we paint Easter eggs and then we go on the monkey pars with our hands ful of paint. After we do everything we eat chocolate eggs and cupcakes- I like the chocolate cupcakes.
This interpretation of Easter makes me confused. There is no evidence of any church going or celebrating the belief that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on Easter. However, observing this childs room, I find a shrine dedicated to La Virgen Guadalupe, adorned with rosary, bible, and pictures. She tells me she prays every night before bed. Yet, her account of Easter has no religious significance whatsoever. The non-religious westernized interpretation of Easter is spot-on to Roxys accounts. Easter seems to have lost its religious significance to many modern day Americans. While in fact, as we discussed in class, Easter is also a celebration of spring and fertilization, for a Catholic girl, I expected her account of her Easter to include at least some mention of Jesus or reflection on the past. Yet for children, the ideas of eating chocolate and decorating eggs probably sounds much more enticing than going to church.
But as an elder, I feel religious holidays should be a happy medium of remembrance, sacrifice (if called for), and then celebration. Although I cannot account for personal opinions to Christian holidays, I can relate to the variation of religiousness in my faith. As a conservative Jew, we have Passover, which bans us from eating leavened bread for eight days. Likewise, on Rosh Hashanna, the New Year, we fast to cleanse our bodies of sins. Then, after our sacrifice, reading of the prayers, and perhaps synagogue services, we feast. But, this comes only after we have done what is required of us as loyal Jews. Yet I have come across a few, (though not as abundant as those Christians I have met) who call themselves Jewish yet choose to skip the holidays which actually require some effort and sacrifice. Instead, they may get presents on Chanukkah, the most non-religious holiday in the Jewish faith.
While folklore draws on the way in which people celebrate and does not show a critical eye, I cannot help but think when evaluating this account of celebrating holidays that perhaps they have lost some of their significance. However, I cannot be one to dictate how people choose to spend their days, nor can I judge their overall devotion to their religion based on accounts like this.