[LINK] Why Easter stubbornly resists the commercialism that swallowed Christmas

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
Despite the awesome theological implications (Christians believe that the infant lying in the manger is the son of God), the Christmas story is easily reduced to pablum. How pleasant it is in mid-December to open a Christmas card with a pretty picture of Mary and Joseph gazing beatifically at their son, with the shepherds and the angels beaming in delight. The Christmas story, with its friendly resonances of marriage, family, babies, animals, angels, and—thanks to the wise men—gifts, is eminently marketable to popular culture. It's a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life.

On the other hand, a card bearing the image of a near-naked man being stripped, beaten, tortured, and nailed through his hands and feet onto a wooden crucifix is a markedly less pleasant piece of mail.
Source: Happy Crossmas! Why Easter stubbornly resists the commercialism that swallowed Christmas

Those who remember my Black Friday as a symptom of a diseased culture thread probably also remember how frustrated I get when I consider how commercialized Christmas has become. That's why Easter remains one of my favorite, if not my favorite, holiday of the year. While I don't agree with everything the author of this article writes, I believe he raises some excellent points.

Credit for finding the article goes to my wife, who sent the link to me on her lunch break.
 
This was a really good article. I certainly hope Easter never gets as commercialized as Christmas.

Although here in the Bible Belt there is something approaching a commercialization of Easter. My female friends are all given money to go buy a new dress to wear to church on Easter. I hadn't heard of this tradition until recently but apparently it's fairly widespread? I guess it's just because I'm a dude.

Anyway, I'll be wearing jeans and sneakers to my Easter service. :) Makes me wonder a little bit why we don't try dressing in the plainest clothes we can find to go to such a service.
 
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Good article. Myself, in response to Kraniac, is that I personally don't dress up nice just to fit in. To me it's more a matter that we shouldn't just throw on our everyday clothes that we so often don't put much thought into on Easter, because God deserves our best and not the typical everyday routine. Don't get me wrong, I don't go in a dress suit and stuff...but some nice khakis, oxford shirt...etc, makes you actually have to put forth some reasonable effort.
To avoid confrontation, once again this is just my opinion.
 
I put on my cleanest and newest pair of jeans. :p I hadn't heard the tradition of females buying a new dress. Maybe it's something done in the South? I haven't heard of it in Colorado.

Christmas used to be my favorite time of the year, but I haven't been able to enjoy it for several years now due to all the commercialism and controversy over store employees saying or not saying Merry Christmas.

Easter has become my favorite time of year! Christ paying for our sins. The death and resurrection! How awesome is that!
 
I'd say that while Easter hasn't been "commercialized", it certainly has been changed by the secular community. "Easter vacation" is "spring break" and revolves around some demonic rabbit that breaks into people's houses and terrorizes chickens long enough for them to lay an egg that somehow gets filled with candy.
 
This was a really good article. I certainly hope Easter never gets as commercialized as Christmas.

Although here in the Bible Belt there is something approaching a commercialization of Easter. My female friends are all given money to go buy a new dress to wear to church on Easter. I hadn't heard of this tradition until recently but apparently it's fairly widespread? I guess it's just because I'm a dude.

Anyway, I'll be wearing jeans and sneakers to my Easter service. :) Makes me wonder a little bit why we don't try dressing in the plainest clothes we can find to go to such a service.


My church "allows" (for lack of a better word?) sneakers and jeans pretty much all the time. I personally think that Jesus wanted us to come as we are.
 
hmm... you obviously haven't seen some of the ads around here. that and the fact that one aisle of Wal*Mart/Kroger/(insert grocery store name here) becomes pastel around February 15th.
 
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