# Non-Christians:do you celebrate Easter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030 "2011-01-18T01:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/41 "2011-01-18T15:59:44Z")
Not so much now—though I always try and grab a Cadbury egg or two, when they’re available. And there was that odd variety of pastel M&Ms that I remember that I’m still looking for…—but when I was a kid, it was fairly biggish. The whole extended family is pretty irreligious, but when there were a lot of tykes around, my aunt would host a big easter egg hunt for everyone. A lot of fun for all, but it was strictly bunnies and chocolate stuff. There were a few favorite Easter Specials I remember, too, though I think the only one with anything close to a christ figure was the “Peter and the Magic Egg” that PAAS made, and the guy didn’t actually die. It did have a horrifying steampunk cyborg farmer, though. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/42 "2011-01-18T16:12:12Z")
I go home and see Mom because she would be upset if I did not. But we don’t celebrate it as a Holy day. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/43 "2011-01-18T16:33:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m curious: what exactly would be a religious celebration? What you guys are describing is pretty much all my family ever did as a Christian: egg hunts and candy. Sure, we also went to church, but we did that every Sunday. And of course I was in the Easter choir, but, again, I was always in the church choir. > > In other words, what special religious things are we Christians supposed to do on Easter? Go to church, refer to it as a religious holiday at all. It was ages before I realized that Easter had a religious aspect to it at all. Of course, I didn’t really begin to figure out the differences between different religions until I was about 12 or so. Until then, it was all some baffling monolith that I didn’t know anything about. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/44 "2011-01-18T16:48:12Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Not in any way. This. I mean we’ll but some Cadbury cream eggs when they come around, but no Easter baskets or candy specifically on Easter morning in celebration. I’m Jewish (atheist). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/45 "2011-01-18T16:50:47Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Maybe I’ll have some chocolate eggs and bunnies, that’s about it. I got chocolate eggs when I was a kid because every kid in the UK gets chocolate eggs. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/46 "2011-01-18T17:54:00Z")
I go to CVS for the half price easter candey sales the day after. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/47 "2011-01-18T18:03:39Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > IANAAtheist, but know quite a few people my age who fall into what my mother and I call “folkloric atheism/agnosticism”. The same people in her generation are “folkloric catholics”. > > The label they give themselves is different; the behavior is the same: they don’t go to a Mass unless it’s attached to a wedding/baptism/funeral, but they go to religious parades, to the week of special prayers held before their local saint’s feastday, sing to “their” Virgin or “their” saint or “their” Cristo Redentor. Theology, no thanks; folklore, yes of course. I love this description, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/48 "2011-01-18T18:09:12Z")
I celebrate the Spring Equinox. Easter is not even on my radar, really, since both my kids are too old for egg hunts and baskets of candy and we don’t do church. That’s about all Easter is, in my experience. And of course, Easter is simply a co-opting of the celebration of spring anyway…same symbolism, same season. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/49 "2011-01-18T18:27:05Z")
Atheist here, raised mainstream Protestant. We have a neighborhood egg hunt for the kids the day before Easter. On Easter morning, we do more eggs and Easter baskets. That’s it. And the reason to do it is just for the fun and tradition of it. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/50 "2011-01-18T19:42:46Z")
I am not a believer. When the kids were young they wanted to know why they didn’t get an Easter basket like their friends. I told them I would make them one if they agreed to get up on Sunday morning, get dressed nicely and go to church like their friends. Either we follow the religion or we don’t. Never heard a word about it again. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/51 "2011-01-18T20:30:41Z")
Raised Jewish, mostly atheist now. Would never consider celebrating Easter any more than I’d consider celebrating Christmas. Although I like stale Peeps. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/52 "2011-01-18T20:47:59Z")
We’re atheist UUs. I like Reeses peanut butter eggs and I usually get the kids some chocolate. Other than that, my family doesn’t do anything. Last year, my mom invited us over for the afternoon. She made a ham and taught my son how to play poker. I think the poker cancels out the ham. My UU Fellowship does do a special Easter sermon, but the focus is on new beginnings and rebirth in a very metaphorical sense. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/53 "2011-01-19T04:20:54Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > I always forget which long May weekend is Easter and which one is just the May bank holiday One easy way to remember is to recall that the latest day on which Easter can occur in the C of E is April 25, so none of the long weekends in May contains Easter Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Linsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Jenny\_Linsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Linsky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/54 "2011-01-19T04:43:03Z")
Atheist here-- I strictly observe Holy Monday, when all the chocolate is half price at the supermarket. But the candy is the only reason I even know when the holiday is each year. Sometimes I do something on the vernal equinox, but it’s so separate from the Easter stuff I grew up with that it doesn’t register as being Easter-y at all. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/55 "2011-01-19T12:14:17Z")
Only when it falls on my birthday. But then I’m only really celebrating my birthday and not Easter. The next time they coincide is 2057. This year I get my birthday off since it falls on Good Friday. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/56 "2011-01-19T12:32:06Z")
I eat more chocolate than normal around Easter. Other than that I don’t pay it any attention at all. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/57 "2011-01-19T12:32:57Z")
I tell the kiddies the whole Easter story. All about the Last Supper with Santa and the elves, and how Santa was made to wear a crown of holly before he was crucified. And how he rose from the dead and flew away on his sleigh. At Christmas time I tell them about the immaculate conception of the bunny born in the barn in Bethlehem. They need some kind of grounding. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/58 "2011-01-19T13:55:52Z")
Jewish. Nope. Don’t celebrate it at all. Also, first time I had a chocolate bunny was about 8 years ago. I was griping that those chocolate bunnies looked good but I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy one. A friend got me one as a sort-of gag. Th’ damned things are HOLLOW!!! I was so disappointed. I thought they were solid. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/59 "2011-01-19T14:12:15Z")
Atheist, growing up, my parents (also atheist/agnostic) got me eggs, as did other relatives, one religious relative sends me a card every year- my parents own a tourist attraction in the english Lake District, and Easter Weekend is normally the busiest weekend of the year for them, so they were always working, and as soon as I was old enough so was I. Would normally go out for dinner, but that was a celebration of the fact they’d had a busy day and everyone was too tired to cook 😉 . Now I may or may not be at work, but if I’m not I don’t pay more attention than is required to eat chocolate (notmally the following week when it’s cheap). I suppose I just think of it as a spring celebration. My brother, by the way, gives up alcohol for lent every year- despite the fact he’s the most anti-religious one of the family. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030/60 "2011-01-19T14:16:04Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > One easy way to remember is to recall that the latest day on which Easter can occur in the C of E is April 25, so none of the long weekends in May contains Easter Sunday. Easter is the one in _April_? :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christians-do-you-celebrate-easter/568030.md?page=4)